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Snowbird & Rental Tech

For the house you're not standing in

Tucson is full of homes that are only occupied part of the year, and technology is what lets you know an empty house is fine. Whether you head north in May or you're renting the place out while you're gone, the setup is the same problem: seeing and controlling a house you aren't in.

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  • Seasonal shutdown before you leave, startup before you're back
  • Remote monitoring while you're away
  • Leak and temperature sensors that protect an empty house
  • Vacation rental setup — locks, Wi-Fi, noise monitoring
  • Move-in day: everything working before you unpack

Leaving for the season

A checklist visit before you fly out. We put the house into a state where you can see it, control it, and get told if something goes wrong — rather than finding out in October.

Where sensors go in a house left empty for the seasonA floorplan with four monitoring points marked: a leak sensor at the water heater, leak sensors under the sinks, a leak sensor at the washer, and a smart thermostat that raises an alert if the house gets too hot because the air conditioning has failed. A small puddle has formed at the water heater, and a leak alert has been sent to the owner's phone.Leak alert: water heaterGarage / utilityKitchen & bathsLaundryLivingWater heaterleak sensorUnder sinksleak sensorWasherleak sensorThermostattemperature alertWater — a slow leak runs for months, not hoursHeat — a failed AC in a shut house does damage
  1. Leak sensors at the water heater, sinks and washer, and a thermostat that watches the temperature.
  2. A drip starts at the water heater. Its sensor goes off and the alert lands on your phone.
  3. Water and heat are the two ways an empty house gets wrecked, so they're what we watch.
Four inexpensive devices, and the first thing we set up on a seasonal shutdown.
  • Thermostat set to an away schedule that protects the house
  • Cameras verified and remote viewing tested on your phone
  • Leak sensors at the water heater, sinks and washer
  • Temperature alerts if the AC fails in a closed-up house
  • Router set to reboot itself so you don't lose remote access
  • Someone local you can call if something does go wrong

Coming back

We'll get the house awake before you land — or the day after you arrive if you'd rather be there for it.

Waking a house back up after a season awayA timeline runs from May, when you leave, to October, when you come back. Four devices sit below it: the router, the thermostat, the cameras and the phone apps. While the house is empty, pending updates pile up on all of them. On return each device is updated and checked, shown with a green tick, and a card summarising what happened while you were away lists the thermostat history, sensor alerts and camera events.May · you leaveOctober · backRouterThermostatCamerasAppsWhile you were awayThermostat historySensor alertsCamera events
  1. While you're gone, updates pile up on the router, the thermostat, the cameras and your apps.
  2. Before you land, or the day after, we clear them and bring each device back tested.
  3. Then a look at what actually happened while the house was empty.
A season of backlog, cleared in one visit, so the house works the day you're home.
  • Everything back on and tested
  • Firmware and app updates that piled up while you were gone
  • New devices you brought back, set up
  • A check on what actually happened while you were away

Renting it out

Short-term rental technology has to work for guests who've never seen it before and can't call you at midnight. That means simple, reliable and self-explanatory — and codes that expire on their own.

Per-booking lock codes, a separate guest network and a noise sensorTwo weeks of a rental calendar with three stays. Each stay has its own lock code. The first two stays are over and their codes have expired automatically at check-out. The third stay is in progress and its code is active. Below, the house network is split so guest Wi-Fi is walled off from the owner's devices, and a noise level meter inside the house has gone over its limit and sent a noise alert, with no indoor camera involved.A code for every stayStay 1expired at check-outStay 2expired at check-outStay 3activeGuest Wi-Fi, walled offGuestsYoursNoise, no cameraslimitNoise alert sent
  1. Each booking gets its own lock code, and it switches on at check-in.
  2. It expires on its own at check-out, so no code outlives a stay.
  3. Guest Wi-Fi runs on its own network, apart from anything of yours.
  4. A noise sensor flags a loud night without putting a camera inside.
Nobody meeting guests with a key late at night, and no code that works after the guest has gone.
  • Smart locks with codes that rotate per booking
  • Guest Wi-Fi separate from anything of yours
  • Simple, printed instructions guests can actually follow
  • Noise monitoring that protects the house without cameras indoors
  • Smart thermostats with guest limits so the AC survives July
  • Streaming set up for guests without exposing your accounts

Just moved in

One visit that gets a new house working. Internet, Wi-Fi through the whole place, TVs mounted, printers found, cameras up. It's the single most useful day of tech work you can buy, and it beats discovering the dead zone three weeks later.

Setting up a newly bought house in one visitA floorplan with a living room, kitchen, office and bedroom. The internet line comes in from the street to a router in the living room. Every room has been checked for Wi-Fi and carries a green tick, and a TV is mounted in the living room. Below, three devices the previous owner left behind — the front door lock, the entry camera and the thermostat — have each been switched from the previous owner to you.LivingKitchenOfficeBedroomFront door lockPrevious ownerYouEntry cameraPrevious ownerYouThermostatPrevious ownerYou
  1. Internet transferred or newly installed, first.
  2. Wi-Fi checked room by room, not just next to the router.
  3. TVs mounted and streaming.
  4. The lock, cameras and thermostat moved to your accounts, and the old owner's removed.
One visit, and the new house works before you've unpacked the kitchen.
  • Internet service transferred or newly installed
  • Whole-home Wi-Fi set up and verified room by room
  • TVs mounted and streaming working
  • Existing cameras, locks and thermostats transferred to you
  • Old owner's accounts removed from devices that stayed

Questions

About snowbird & rentals

Can you check on the house while we're gone?

We set the house up so you can check on it yourself from anywhere, which is what most people actually want. If something needs hands on it, we're local and you can call us.

What's the most important thing for an empty Tucson house?

Temperature and water. A failed AC in a closed-up house in July does real damage, and a slow leak that runs for four months is worse. Sensors for both are inexpensive and they're the first thing we set up.

We rent on Airbnb. Can guests get in without us?

Yes — that's what smart locks are for. Each booking gets its own code that starts and expires on its own, so nobody's meeting guests with a key at 11pm and no code outlives the stay.

Where we do this most

VailGreen ValleySaddleBrooke

While we're there

Wi-Fi & networking

from $179

Ethernet wiring

quoted per project

Security cameras

from $175 per camera

Need snowbird & rentals sorted?

Tell us what's going on and we'll give you a straight answer on what it takes and what it costs.

Get a free quote (520) 891-9682
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