"willshak" wrote in message news:ld872c$n21$1@dont-

stuff snipped

house. Years ago, there was a similar situation when there was a long
spell of below freezing weather (I don't think it was as long as the
current spell) pipes in numerous houses belonging to 'snowbirds' (people
who spend the winters in Florida) froze because no one was home to see
that there was no water running which would indicate a frozen pipe.

I remember that. If you own a second home, it really pays to have some kind
of alarm/monitoring system for such events. These days with smartphones you
can get all sorts of remote monitoring setups, from
water/smoke/fire/intrusion detection to video monitoring. If I had a second
home I would make sure I could remotely answer the door/video cam. I've
learned through bad experience that burglars often ring the bell to make
sure no one's home before they break in.

If I were young enough to start a new business, I'd been selling "remote
video doorbell/intercom" packages to homeowners with smartphones. I don't
think a burglar would know if he was talking to someone actually inside the
house or 1,000 miles away and I doubt they would break into a house they
thought was occupied. I'll bet you wouldn't even need a high speed
connection, just a dial up line.

--
Bobby G.