Customer Reviews

Control Products FA-D2 Deluxe Freeze Alarm

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

My rating of "3" is the average of "5" for potential benefit/ease of use and "1" because I got a defective unit. A friend recommended the Intermediate model; he has used it for 2 winters and is very happy with it. I bought the Deluxe model because of its call-ahead feature, so we could turn up the heat by phone before we arrived at our cottage. (That is not so easy, BTW. You must add a 2nd thermostat wired in parallel, and connect the monitor unit to each so it can switch from one to the other when you call.) The instructions are clear; setup was reasonably easy; and the low-temperature test worked as advertised (more on that below). After driving home from our cottage, we had an odd experience. The freeze alarm called us about 12 hrs later -- at 4:00 am -- saying the *high-temp* limit (100 deg) had been exceeded. I suspected the alarm was faulty, but couldn't be sure, so drove 100 mi back to our cottage to check. Fortunately everything was normal -- except for the bogus high-temp alarm which still continued even though the actual temp was only 60 deg. Over 2 hrs, the reported temp varied from 95 to 105 while the actual temp remained steady at 60. I suspect this was just bad luck due to a random defective unit. Everything else worked nicely, including the ability to reprogram the unit and its settings remotely by phone. I do plan to order another unit... but this time will get the Intermediate model. Amazon was easy to deal with for the return and refund. My advice to anyone buying a freeze alarm is to try it in your main residence for a couple of days, so you can be sure it is working properly before you leave it in your cottage or anyplace a long distance from home. Another word of advice is to test it in water at 2 or 3 known temperatures -- say, 5 deg above and below the alarm point -- so you can be sure the alarm goes off close to the desired temp. (Use a thermometer to measure the water temp, and add hot water or ice to adjust the temp up or down. Then insert the sensor.) If you just stick the sensor in ice water as the instructions suggest, you will know the alarm goes off at 32, but you won't know how far above 32 it gets triggered.

I have a vaction home and was looking for a new Freeze Alarm.

I pick the Deluxe Freeze since you can call it and check the current temp.

This is a key feature since you need to know if the house is warming up after the repair man "fixed it". My old alarm would stay it alarm until the room temp was above the set point. The problem was you had to wait hours not knowing if the heat was back on or if the oil tank gelled again.

The set-up was easy and the quality seems good!

I plan to use the remote switch funtion, to provide for a remote warm funtion. This feature does require another Thermostat and some wiring work.

Seems like Freeze Alarm to get!

Product performed as advertised. Installation and set-up were very user friendly. Less than 2 weeks after installing, I was notified of a power outage and was able to remotely monitor the temperature while the lines were being repaired. Lithium Battery seems like a must. I plan to add a remote water sensor prior to spring to ensure the basement sump pump is working properly.

If you have a second home in a cold climate this product is perfect. I have the capability to call ahead to turn up the heat so my lake home is warm when I arrive -- which is terrific. I wired this myself and it took a couple hours to do -- not a big deal if you like little projects like this. You do need a telephone jack and a power recepticle nearby so I spent the bulk of the time determining where I wanted to locate the Freeze Alarm so it was out of the way. I decided to locate it in a basement closet so I had to run the power receptical and telephone jack there -- which took the lion's share of my installation time.

It is also great if you are concerned about your furnace in the winter. It can call three numbers if the temperature gets below a threshold that you set. Works great and provides peace of mind.

It is a little expensive for what it is but it certainly appears to be a well engineered and quality product.

My husband and I have a second home in the Adirondacks. We don't live too far away but still wanted something to give us peace of mind to monitor the heat and power in case we aren't able to get there quickly. This system has been great. We set it for high and low temps and is a blessing. We can call it anytime to know what the temp is of the house and if the power is on. And it will call us if there is a power failure. When we are on our way we call to switch the remote to heat or cool the house as we want. The only glitch was figuring out how to bypass the answering machine--which really wasn't hard once we read the instructions!! LOVE IT and can't imagine being without it. If our power goes out in the winter for a long time we could have our pipes burst and have a lot of damage. This is a life saver.

Have had the products: Deluxe Alarm,water sensor,3 motion sensors. System has worked flawlessly so far. Purchased over 1 year ago. My fingers are crossed.

I purchased 2 of the Control Products Basic Alarms and 1 deluxe alarm to monitor 3 zones in my vacation home. I settled on the Control Products after extensive research mainly due to their reputation and product features. The deluxe alarm will enable me to call ahead to ramp up the temperaure before I arrive. I like the feature of the deluxe alarm to also be able to call in for temperature and power status. If you only have one zone to monitor, the deluxe alarm is the way to go.

It's really nice to be able to control and monitor a location by telephone. The install was easy and it functions perfectly. I only wish I had purchased it years ago.

Product set-up instructions were easy to follow, albeit a bit complex.

Only negative is the product exterior design. Device aesthetics make one want to hide in a closet or storage space, not in view. However, to view indicator lights, the device should be in a visible location.

Works great. I own a vacation home in Maine and it is peace of mind to know that I can call my telephone number and know what the temperature is in the house.