What's Included in a Cottage Monitoring Quote
What's included in a cottage monitoring quote? Five lines, each one on paper. The sensors: how many, what each one reads, and where it goes. The hardware: the install fee and who owns the sensors. The term: the monthly price, the commitment and how you leave. The response: what happens in the minutes after an alert, and who does it. Then the total for year one and year two, with HST. A quote with one price and the word "monitoring" is missing four of them.
Hold every quote for a cottage monitoring system to the five lines below, ours included.
Two quotes on the kitchen table in November
The example is made up. It's a Thursday night in November. An owner in Toronto has two quotes for a three-bedroom chalet near Craigleith in the Blue Mountains. The chalet will sit empty most weeks until the ski season.
Quote one is a single line: a monthly price, and the word "monitoring".
Quote two runs a page. It names each sensor and the room it goes in. It has an install fee and the condition that waives it. It says who calls when the freeze alert fires, and how fast. It ends with a total, tax in.
Which one is cheaper? You can't tell yet, because quote one hasn't said what it sells. Ask for the missing lines by email, then compare the two.
The sensor line: count it against your water
Start with what gets measured. Our ChaletGuard suite reads temperature and humidity, with freeze alerts. It reads air quality and VOCs. It picks up smoke and CO alarms. It tells you when the power goes out. And it has a water leak sensor at the highest-risk point.
Read that last line again. Our ChaletGuard page names one point for the leak sensor: the highest-risk one.
Is one point enough? A sensor covers the spot it sits on. Now walk your own cottage in your head: the kitchen sink, a bathroom or two, the water heater, maybe a washing machine. Each one is a place water can come from. A fair quote says which of them has a sensor and which does not.
Want a sensor at more of them? Ask for each one by name, on the quote. For the leak side, read our cottage leak protection page and ask which points it covers.
Ask the same thing about the freeze alert. Ours fires at 5°C. Where does the sensor that reads it sit? It belongs near the coldest pipe, not beside the thermostat in the living room.
The hardware line: who pays, who keeps the sensors
The install fee is $599, one time. Commit to 12 months and it's waived. The sensors are yours to keep. Those three facts belong on any quote, from anyone. The plan without a commitment is month-to-month: no contract, and you can cancel anytime. The 12-month plan with the waived $599 is a written commitment.
Two questions follow. What happens to the waived $599 if you leave in month 7? Ask us for the answer in writing, like everyone else, and get the early-exit term on the quote before you sign.
Who fits the sensors, and how long does it take? Ours is one visit, about an hour. What happens when one of them dies on its own is a separate promise. The post on cottage monitoring warranty coverage walks through that one.
The connection line: the night the power goes
Does it need Wi-Fi? A cottage with no internet needs a straight answer. Ours runs on its own cellular connection, LTE with a 3G fallback. It works anywhere with cell signal.
The signal clause is the one to test. Ask whoever quotes to confirm the signal at your lot before the install day.
Then the power. When the power fails, the furnace stops. Without heat, Georgian Bay pipes can freeze in under 6 hours. The quote should say what keeps the sensor reporting while the power is out. Ours has a 3-day battery backup.
The response line: two clocks, then a phone call
Late on a Saturday in February, the power drops at that chalet. Nobody's there. The owner is asleep in Toronto. The furnace is off. The rooms cool. The thermostat keeps falling. At 5°C the freeze alert fires.
The alert reaches the owner's phone in under 60 seconds. We call within 15 minutes. Then we call our local contractors and arrange someone to get out there.
Count the promises in those three sentences. Two of them carry a clock. The third has no time on it. A February night on the road from the city sets that clock, not us.
The question to put on the quote is about money. Who does the person at the door work for? Whose invoice is the visit on? Our plan lists emergency contractor coordination. Ask every provider, us included, to put that on the quote.
The total line: year one, year two, tax in
The first-year total is $1,307, and $708 a year from year 2. We charge 13% HST on all services. The table below does the arithmetic for both columns.
| Line | No 12-month plan | 12-month plan |
|---|---|---|
| Sensor install | $599 | $0 |
| 12 months of monitoring | $708 | $708 |
| Year one before HST | $1,307 | $708 |
| 13% HST | $169.91 | $92.04 |
| Year one with HST | $1,476.91 | $800.04 |
| Year two with HST | $800.04 | $800.04 |
The right column is $599 cheaper before tax. It's also a 12-month commitment. Ask what happens to the waived $599 if you leave early.
Running more than one property? Our volume rate starts at 10 units: a $499 install and $49 a month. Put the unit count on the quote.
One caveat on our own price. Watch, the $59 plan, is monitoring, and it lists no property visits. Visits start on Watch + Care, at $349 a month, every two weeks. A monitoring quote is not a visit quote, and it shouldn't read like one.
What a quote can't promise: your insurer's answer
Many Ontario policies on seasonal properties carry a vacancy clause. The wording varies by insurer. A quote that says a system meets your insurer's rule is answering a question that belongs to your broker.
What we hand over is the continuous temperature record and the dated photo reports. The clause is the broker's to read. Before the call with your broker, read up on cottage insurance requirements in Ontario so you know which clause to ask about. We are not insurance advisors.
Make the quote part of the agreement
Ontario's consumer protection page lists a subscription among the transactions over $50 that should come with a written contract. It says all fees and charges must be what they say they are.
Two more rules from the same page matter here. If a written estimate is included in the contract, the final price cannot be more than 10% above it unless you agree to a new price. And the business must give you written notice of any change it wants to make, including renewing or extending.
Read against a monitoring quote, that means three things. Ask for the install price inside the agreement, not only in an email. Keep the email anyway. When month 12 ends, read any notice that arrives.
The five lines, side by side
| Line | What ours says | What to ask anyone, us included |
|---|---|---|
| Sensors | Temperature, humidity, air quality, smoke and CO alarm detection, power, a water leak sensor at the highest-risk point | Which rooms get a sensor, and which water points don't |
| Hardware | $599 install, $0 with a 12-month plan, sensors yours to keep | What leaving inside 12 months costs |
| Connection | Cellular, LTE with 3G fallback, 3-day battery backup | The signal at your lot, checked before install |
| Response | Alert in under 60 seconds, our call within 15 minutes, then contractor coordination | Whose invoice the trade's visit is on |
| Total | $59 a month, plus 13% HST | Year one and year two, tax in |
Compare our plans side by side on our cottage care pricing page, and read the plan itself on the ChaletGuard page. Is the chalet up the escarpment? Our page on cottage care in the Blue Mountains covers the area. Want our five lines on paper? Call (437) 595-6275 and ask for them by email. Then hold every other quote to the same page.
Frequently asked questions
What's included in a cottage monitoring quote?
Five lines: the sensors and where each one goes, the install fee and who owns the hardware, the monthly price and the commitment, what happens after an alert and who does it, and the total for year one and year two with HST. If a line is missing, ask for it in writing before you sign.
How much does cottage monitoring cost in the first year?
The first-year total is $1,307: the $599 install plus $708 for 12 months of monitoring. On a 12-month plan the install is waived, so year one is $708. Add 13% HST to either number.
Does cottage monitoring need Wi-Fi?
Our system doesn't. ChaletGuard runs on its own cellular connection, LTE with a 3G fallback, and works anywhere with cell signal. Ask any provider to confirm the signal at your lot before the install.
Will a monitoring quote tell me if my insurer accepts the system?
A quote shouldn't. That question is your broker's. We hand over the continuous temperature record and dated photo reports, and you read the vacancy clause with your broker. We are not insurance advisors.