Home > Consumer Reviews > Control Products FA-D2 Deluxe Freeze Alarm

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.

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.

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!

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.