Temperature Sensors Do Not Report to Alarm.com

Hi DIYers! Today, we want to discuss an unusual quirk we found with Alarm.com. It turns out that the Alarm.com platform cannot receive alerts from temperature sensors. This is important for any Alarm.com user who wants to receive remote alerts for unusually high or low temperatures.

When you use sensors with a security system, the expectation is that you will be able to receive alerts from an interactive service platform whenever the device is activated. But with Alarm.com, the platform cannot receive incoming signals from a system regarding faulted Temperature Zones. This means that you cannot use Alarm.com to receive text and/or email alerts regarding an activated temperature sensor.

We discovered this issue due to a customer using a DSC PG9905 Temperature Sensor with a Qolsys IQ Panel 2 Plus System. We quickly discovered that the issue also applied to any temperature used with an Alarm.com Security System. This is important to note, as we know that many users out there will want to know about any unusual temperatures in their homes and businesses. Many people rely on using these sensors with their security systems so that they know if their HVAC systems break before serious and expensive damage occurs.

Fortunately, there is still another way you can receive alerts from Alarm.com regarding an unusually high or low temperature. If you pair a Z-Wave thermostat with your system, then you can set up notifications to be sent out whenever the detected temperature goes outside of a set threshold. A good Z-Wave thermostat to use for this application is an Alarm.com ADC-T3000 Thermostat. This thermostat also supports the ADC-S2000 Temperature Sensor, which will allow you to monitor the temperature in a second area of the building as well.

Another option is to use the Total Connect 2.0 platform with a Resideo Security System instead. Unlike Alarm.com, the Total Connect 2.0 service can be set up to send out text and/or email notifications for any sensor type, including temperature sensors. The Resideo LYNX Touch and Lyric Systems also have designed Temperature Zones that are used with Z-Wave thermostats to end high-low temperature alerts to AlarmNet360 and TC2 whenever an unusual temperature is detected. Just make sure that any Temperature Zone is noted as such on your central station document. These zones are frequently mistaken for 24-hour auxiliary medical zones.

If you have any questions about the functionality of temperature sensors, the Alarm.com and Total Connect 2.0 platforms, or any of our other products or services, please email us at support@alarmgrid.com. Remember that our support hours are from 9am to 8pm ET M-F. We also recommend checking out our monitoring page to learn more about our monitoring services. We look forward to hearing from you and providing top-quality monitoring service for your home or business.

UPDATE: This issue was later addressed in Qolsys IQ Panel 2 Plus Firmware Update 2.5.0. Please see this post for more information.