I can't help it, but I love being able to use my phone to see how my burn is going whether I'm out of the house or it's 3am in the morning.
Does anyone else have a webcam so they can watch their fire?
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Manitoulin Maples
Member
i'm not sure I follow you but sounds like a great idea! where is your webcam set up ... and how is it broadcasting the feed to your phone?
albertj03
Minister of Fire
I've been wanting to do this for a while but haven't researched the camera's yet. I'd need a wireless webcam since my stove is in the basement no where near my router. What camera are you using? I'd like to be able to see the stove pipe thermometer but not sure if I'll be able to see it on the camera without the lights on.
Backwoods Savage
Minister of Fire
Mainely Saws
Feeling the Heat
I like this idea . Not so much to watch the fire for enjoyment but I work out of my home & my shop is about 100 ft. from the wood stove in the house . It would be kind of neat to be able to keep an eye on the stove & know for sure when to reload or change the air control ........
bluedogz
Minister of Fire
Don't have it on the web but there is one on the same network segment as our security cams. Let's me see from the office or upstairs if the stove needs attention.
bluedogz said:
Not sure how he does it, but when I had a webcam of my driveway while in college I used a desktop running Ubuntu linux and Camorama software (both free), hooked up a freebie webcam that someone had thrown out and then had it upload the images every 60 seconds to my webserver via ftp. So mine wasn't streaming video, just photos taken every minute.
AppalachianStan
Minister of Fire
First you will need a good computer to run the web-cam. Then you will either need a wired or wireless connection to you router. If you want to watch the fire and the stove pipe thermometer you will need two web cams. then sing up for http://www.justin.tv/ you can do a live show 24/7 if you like. You can find wireless web cam on e-bay. But I would run the web-cam in to a computer then rout it to the router by wired or wireless.
AppalachianStan said:
I would actually recommend that if you are buying gear you get a webcam that doesn't need a computer. We use these at work: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16881102030
But if you don't need to pan/zoom etc on the fly, you could use something like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16881102043
There are cheaper cameras available, but they are all kinda junky and most only work well when hooked to a PC. If you want to save on electricity, pay up front for a good network camera. If you don't care, get a cheapy webcam and hook it up to a PC.
thewoodlands
Minister of Fire
Hankjones said:
We have thought about it and if I remember it would run around $200.00 (Radio Shack) for the camera plus the router. I thought Danno77 had something hooked up, I'll email him this link so he can chime in if he does.
zap
AppalachianStan
Minister of Fire
fireview2788
Minister of Fire
Manitoulin Maples said:
I should have clarified, I'm using a wireless network camera, so it doesn't need a computer to work. There are plenty of cameras out there from really cheap ones to super expensive ones. I just have a few around the property and one pointing at the fire
I think the magic sauce is: http://livecams-iphone.com/ if you have an iPhone it works really well, ... for those that are interested, there is a help page on how to set it up.
Never thought of doing a live stream of my burn cycle over the Internet, I would be all for it.... Not sure the wife would be though, it gets pretty hot and you never know who's gonna be wearing what.
Just get remote wireless cooking thermometers. Like Redi Check. One probe goes on your stove and one can go onto a single wall pipe or inserted into a double wall pipe. I used them to monitor my incoming water temp from my wood boiler and another was on my water storage tank. Had the remote receiver up in my kitchen. One unit can show both probe readings at the same time.Mainely Saws said:
Danno77
Minister of Fire
Skype with a laptop set to autoanswer is what I've used in the past. Don't have it currently setup, but have been thinking about it again...
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/68857/
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/68857/
Danno77
Minister of Fire
time for another cup of coffee. I looked at that for a good 20 seconds (that's forever in internet time) wondering what webcam you use to get such a good picture...lol
Manitoulin Maples
Member
Battenkiller said:Here is an image from the webcam I set up to watch how my fire burns:
I guess you go down to check on it when it starts glowing red.
I have a wireless IP camera that I use for watching the fire amongst other things:
Nursery camera for my daughter
Sump pump camera in the rainy periods
Temperature monitor (make sure the pipes don't freeze) in the winter when I travel
Watching the dog
etc.
It's a Foscam from this company: http://foscam.us/foscam-fi8918w-wireless-ip-camera-11.html
Connects directly to my wireless router and I usually watch it using my iPhone. It can do audio too and has IR LEDs to see in the dark. It's awesome!
Nursery camera for my daughter
Sump pump camera in the rainy periods
Temperature monitor (make sure the pipes don't freeze) in the winter when I travel
Watching the dog
etc.
It's a Foscam from this company: http://foscam.us/foscam-fi8918w-wireless-ip-camera-11.html
Connects directly to my wireless router and I usually watch it using my iPhone. It can do audio too and has IR LEDs to see in the dark. It's awesome!
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