How would you solve this?

[Sheriff]

The generator idea is the Gold Standard; it actually would not take much power. I intend to check into that further.

[joegr]

Automatic backup generator big enough to run the heat?

[S-F]

Yeah. Power goes out, your valve shuts off, pipes freeze and burst, power comes back on, valve opens and the house is flooded.

Tear out the copper and replace it with PEX that doesn't burst as easily? Unless you can drain the plumbing or fill it with antifreeze you're still going to be hosed.

[Sheriff]

Thank you all. I don't turn off water for convenience; I have intermittent visitors. Gas logs have an electric gas solenoid; I can overcome it if I'm there, but not anxious to fiddle with it remotely. Good thought on draining, but no to well. I do have a sink in the basement that I could open.

[langenet]

I would add to get a couple of those power operated valves. If you have a sump pit or something that would be perfect - you can put one of these valves at the lowest point in your plumbing and one on your pressure tank so you can drain these in the event of a power failure. A UPS to give it some time to act on this would work... I'm assuming of course you're on a well..

[mrhappy]

You might not need anything this complex, if you want the water to shut off if the power turns off then why not just have a solenoid valve, with a wall wart plugged in and a relay that is wired to keep the valve open when the power is on. You lose the power then it closes the valve. You could put a timer into this if you wanted, I would have a manual valve in series with anything electronic though in case you need to open the valve without power.

[Rupp]

I have a second home in the Colorado mountains. It is nicely fitted out with all kinds of automated protection that alarms, alerts, fixes, stops, etc. Frozen pipes are always a concern, so I have lots of sensors for temp and moisture and they are all tied to a main water cut-off. HOWEVER, this weekend I learned that none of these great protections work when the power fails as it did for 24-hours on Saturday; no heat and no way to turn off the water. Thankfully, all survived, but what do I do going forward? I am considering a small UPS on the Homeseer CPU and a small UPS on the water valve and, if I lose power for more than X minutes, turn off the water. But what is the trigger for power loss? I don't have any energy monitoring, so what can I use to recognize that the power is off?

Shutting off the water will stop a huge mess but if the pipes freeze there will still be a mess. In this instance I would use the UPS warning to alert you and call a neighbor if this is possible. If you have gas logs or an alternate heat source they could turn that on to prevent a mess.

[randy]

I have a second home in the Colorado mountains. It is nicely fitted out with all kinds of automated protection that alarms, alerts, fixes, stops, etc. Frozen pipes are always a concern, so I have lots of sensors for temp and moisture and they are all tied to a main water cut-off. HOWEVER, this weekend I learned that none of these great protections work when the power fails as it did for 24-hours on Saturday; no heat and no way to turn off the water. Thankfully, all survived, but what do I do going forward? I am considering a small UPS on the Homeseer CPU and a small UPS on the water valve and, if I lose power for more than X minutes, turn off the water. But what is the trigger for power loss? I don't have any energy monitoring, so what can I use to recognize that the power is off?

You could use Blade's BLUPS to trigger events when the UPS is on battery power.

Is there any reason the water needs to be on while you are not in the house?

[Sheriff]

I have a second home in the Colorado mountains. It is nicely fitted out with all kinds of automated protection that alarms, alerts, fixes, stops, etc. Frozen pipes are always a concern, so I have lots of sensors for temp and moisture and they are all tied to a main water cut-off. HOWEVER, this weekend I learned that none of these great protections work when the power fails as it did for 24-hours on Saturday; no heat and no way to turn off the water. Thankfully, all survived, but what do I do going forward? I am considering a small UPS on the Homeseer CPU and a small UPS on the water valve and, if I lose power for more than X minutes, turn off the water. But what is the trigger for power loss? I don't have any energy monitoring, so what can I use to recognize that the power is off?