BEST WIFI FREEZER ALARM 9 Months Later- Govee Wifi Temperature Sensor H5179 Review

Today I share my thought so far on the best Wi-Fi freezer alarm system I have found. 9 month later.
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‘Toolman Tim’
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[@carlraymond5418]

Hey ups Tim. Thank you for suggesting these devices, it gives me a greater sense of security with my freezer now.

[@TOOLMANTIMSWORKSHOP]

No problem at all we still use them and are working great

[@dreamingosailing5496]

Great review. I too tried that other solution that you showed and they were completely useless. I took your advice and am on Day 1 with the Govee. I also calibrated by 4 degrees F to stop getting the alarms for below -4F. Works like a charm. Really like the option of adding the widget on iPhone. I didn't know about that until I rewatched your review. Not all AAA batteries work well at freezer temperatures, so choose wisely.

[@snailcreekhomestead]

Freezer is always in the back of my mind. Good info.

[@TOOLMANTIMSWORKSHOP]

I’ve been glad to finally find an alarm system that just works. Gives a person a slight bit of peace of mind.

[@hardtruth2039]

I used them in my 3 deep freezers and they work great.

[@TOOLMANTIMSWORKSHOP]

Great to hear, mine are going on two years with basically zero issues as well

[@BAAMRanch]

We ordered the one I heard you talk about on the episode 324 podcast after we discovered our freezer unplugged this morning

[@TOOLMANTIMSWORKSHOP]

Yup that certainly happens hope you didn’t lose anything

[@lebeaud71]

thanks for this great informations.

[@TOOLMANTIMSWORKSHOP]

Thanks for taking the time to comment Dany

[@ryanbirge]

I recently purchased this device for the same application as you. I have it configured and I do receive one push notification to my iPhone when the alarm threshold has been crossed. This is helpful, but do you know of any ways to set multiple alarms and/or multiple notifications of the same alarm, in case the single event gets missed? I see they have email alerts as an option too, but I put my email in there and didn’t receive any alerts. Any other tips in regards to notifications? Thx again for the recommendation!

[@averageakpilot4044]

Wanted to say, I like your channel a lot. So far bought two things you've reviewed. The Firman generator and this temp alarm. Keep up the excellent work and cheers from Alaska! Unsolicited constructive criticism hidden at the bottom. Please don't take offense. Format is good, I like seeing you experiment with PIP and other things. You'll find your style, and right now it's plenty good as it is Lighting is weird sometimes. Maybe spend a little more time fiddling with the camera or a few bucks on some light diffusers, they aren't too expensive last I checked. Sound can be weird too. Be aware of your mic position and how your line is running. Sometimes you muffle your own sound when you kneel. Other than that, don't worry about the cussing, we're all adults here 🤔 But yours a straights shooters and that's what's i'ze likes abouts yous. (Letter Kenny reference) Have a good one!

[@TOOLMANTIMSWORKSHOP]

I have had more struggles with lighting since I upgraded to the box lights I had it all figured out for a few months then I broke my box light got a new one and the light trails I get is a lot worse when it’s the extreme cold. I’ll improve it for sure it’s soemthing i work on every week :). I appreciate it. Also I film exclusively on my iPhone 12 Pro Max so if you have any other suggestions for lighting I woudl love to hear. I’m always open to ways to improve

[@TOOLMANTIMSWORKSHOP]

Also no offence at all I appreciate criticism that comes from a place of willingness to help and improve and thanks for trusting my opinion enough to buy the generator. I love that Damn thing

[@averageakpilot4044]

@@TOOLMANTIMSWORKSHOP I used my phone a bit, but it was a Google Phone. Different camera. If your box lights have diffusers already then maybe you just need to turn them up some. It looked like the camera was struggling with low light on your freezer alarm video. But without knowing the type of lights I couldn't say much beyond that. One thing you could do is shoot a few ten seconds shots with different light settings then record the settings for each shooting location. Then when you move to a different shot location you'll have the settings ready!

[@TOOLMANTIMSWORKSHOP]

I actually did a bunch of that this afternoon. I fixed my box light with a broken cord so I have two, it I think the biggest issues was my overhead shop lights directly above my shooting area

[@averageakpilot4044]

@@TOOLMANTIMSWORKSHOP oh well that brings up another issue I've had... If you've replaced your overhead shop lights with LED, depending on the quality, the hz of the LED's can fight with your phones frame rate and cause flicker... I guess just make sure that you set it with all lights on and see if it flickers. If it does, maybe shed the overhead LED's and just run your box lights if you can get away with it.

[@littlethislittlethat456]

You might want to mention how to get the back off to insert the batteries. When I got mine, I was confused at how the back came off. It's not like a remote, etc. You have to pry off the back with a screwdriver and then it pops off. To get the back on, you line up the back and then press it until it clicks in all the way around. John from MI

[@TOOLMANTIMSWORKSHOP]

Thanks John I’ll do that in my next update

[@ssamaan111]

Everyone - is there an alarm out there that is wi fi enalbled and detects when your home goes below a certain temperature? For instance, with Nest you can check to see the temperature in home but I am looking for something similar that will send you an alarm when your temperature in yourhouse goes below a certain temperature. Thanks

[@boba.9169]

Unfortunately the Govee H5179 I bought and equipped with fresh charged Eneloop batteries only worked well for the first 18 hours in my garage chest freezer. Both Bluetooth and WiFi were great initially. I had to disable the notification alarm as my freezer was displaying between -4.5*F and -5.5*F and didn't want an hourly alarm sounding because the freezer was below the -4*F lower notification range of the Govee. After 18 hours I lost any hourly WiFi updates. Went into the garage and reacquired Bluetooth which gave me the missing data. Ended up pulling the unit to warm it up which did see WiFi functionality return but after returning it to the freezer it went dark yet again. Repeated this several times to no avail. So for me sadly the Govee H5179 as a freezer temperature monitor is a FAIL.

[@TOOLMANTIMSWORKSHOP]

Now that is strange I run white eneloops out of mine and got nearly a year of run time out of them. I did have to calibrate it a bit to make the notifications stop though. I had ti offset the temp by about 4 degrees

[@boba.9169]

I figure I got a "bad" one (maybe insufficiently internally insulated or perhaps some component that is just on the edge of being out of spec?) which is really disappointing. Bought direct from Govee too. Since they don't advocate it for this use, returning for an exchange, etc. is not an option. Works fine in the house, just not in the freezer.

[@Wyant_Family]

Question, what happens when you run out of power? Does it send out an alarm? Really appreciate this review! I have a family of 4 with 2 hungry boys and we use a deep freeze to hold either a 1/2 or full cow.

[@TOOLMANTIMSWORKSHOP]

The only time it sends out an alarm is when the temps get above what they should be. If the power goes out and you don’t have back up for your wifi you can only monitor via Bluetooth. Ie locally

[@charlieacevedo5206]

Does this sensor work with 5g wifi?

[@uofmer30]

just ordered the Govee temp sensor. We got a freezer a couple months ago and I've always worried if it is still cold!

[@TOOLMANTIMSWORKSHOP]

The thing works great and the battery has been better than expected

[@bobp4036]

Just threw out the contents of my garage fridge after the kids “helped” put away some groceries. Door got blocked open by stuff so it wouldn’t close. Ugh. A lot cheaper to buy one of these to keep the chances of this happening again low.

[@TOOLMANTIMSWORKSHOP]

These are great three years in an going strong sorry to hear about your freezer failure

[@anthonywebber7434]

Hi my freezer runs at - 20 to - 23 max as I understand it the Govee device monitors to - 20 C is this a problem, I assume you have the same problem. Will the device work and will the upper limit keep alarming or do you have to switch off the upper limit.

[@TOOLMANTIMSWORKSHOP]

The best workaround I have found is you can calibrate the sensor by i 3 degrees I think so I’m able to offset just enough to not get alerted all the time but mostly I just check on it manually from the app once a day and turn off notifications

[@Half-Acre-Homestead]

Tim could you or anyone else in the comments reccond an Uninterruptable Power Supply to keep modem/router powered for keeping these sensors connected during a power outage? Thanks!

[@torchcrawler768]

This is an old comment, but anything by APC has always been rock solid for me. The only decision you have to make is how long you want the wifi to be able to stay, aka how many mH the UPS has and how much $$ you want to spend

[@magicbobNJ]

Hi Tim. I googled reviews looking to purchase a wifi freezer alarm thermometer and found this video and another site that stated: "The problems with this WiFi freezer temperature alarm are the fact that it has network connection problems and has inconsistent support and alerts. It is also an unstable device". But the other review was for the Govee H5051. You've had no such problems? Have you needed support and if so, how helpful and quick were they? I can be out of the country for 2 mo at a time, so need something like this to alert me in case of the freezer malfunctioning. Tomorrow I am getting a Whirlpool 15 cu ft chest freezer that states for best efficiency use in an environment with a temperare range of 32 (=0C) to 110 F (=43C). My unheated garage lowest air temps the past few weeks have been between 32 & 33 (so just above freezing) but I do have concerns with it being on a concrete garage floor as I presume the floor will be colder than the air temp.

[@TOOLMANTIMSWORKSHOP]

So I can only share my personal situation. These three sensors are in my three freezers coming up on a year with the same eneloop rechargeable batteries they are gettting low so due to be changed. As far as Wi-Fi goes they have stayed connected almost the entire time. I believe once early on I had to reset one. Now the downside is the app, I haven’t been able to get the company to respond to emails I have sent and the lowest setting in the app isn’t quite low enough so it ends up alerting me too Much. So I have turned the app off and check the temps from the app periodically every couple of days it’s not ideal but I haven’t found anything better on the market yet. Especially the traditional freezer alarms system I used them for a year and couldn’t get a connection from basement to first floor and they chewed through batteries like crazy. Are the goveee sensors perfect no. Are the best on the market that I know of yes for now.

[@magicbobNJ]

@@TOOLMANTIMSWORKSHOP Thank you Tim for your prompt response and honesty. Is the only issue you emailed support about about changing the lowest setting in the app to meet your needs? And no replies at all after how many times emailing? What is the lowest & highest settings it will alarm at? Since I would be out of the country for 2 mo at a time, I can't have false alarms as I would consider an alarm that doesn't present a defrosting risk to be false concern. It will be in my attached garage freezer so only about 30 feet from my router on the same floor, but the signal has to pass through the garage/kitchen wall. Does it also have an audible alarm and is it loud enough to hear from 30 feet away in my home? Is the alarm speaker also in the freezer, or can you separate the device from the speaker and place the speaker in your home? I ask as my phone is not on most of the day as I work from home on my PC. Does it also have a PC app or text notifications?

[@martiwf0]

@@TOOLMANTIMSWORKSHOP Yea, it is too bad you can't turn the low limit alarm off and leave the high alarm on whatever you want to set it. Like you, I can only set the low at -4F, and the freezer is much less. I bought 2 of these after watching your review. Everything you say has been spot-on; even you say some iPhone users have trouble getting the blue tooth to pair. I finally had to use my wife's Galaxy to set it up. My iPhone now sees everything through the app, but I cannot control anything. No matter, though. If I need to change anything, I can always use the Galaxy. I wrote a product review on Amazon about my problem.

[@braidsrfun2593]

What exactly are Eneloop batteries & why did you choose to use these in this product?

[@TOOLMANTIMSWORKSHOP]

They are made by Panasonic available on Amazon they are expensive but they are the best and longest lasting rechargeables out there.

[@joevez77]

How long is battery life. Do you get a notification of low battery? Thanks for the vid. Need one to monitor freezer that has breast milk.

[@TOOLMANTIMSWORKSHOP]

When you log into the app it will show you the battery level of each device. I used the white eneloop rechargable aa batteries and got nearly a year out of them in each of my three sensors

[@lacer2007]

It now says it only monitors down to -4f, is this an update on the product or is this what yours was advertised as? Also the reviews are saying that it sends an alarm if it drops below the -4f, do you have this problem?

[@TOOLMANTIMSWORKSHOP]

Yes, I’ve done other videos on this in the past. If you dig around in the settings, you can find something that says calibration or offset, and I was able to adjust it by three or 4° and that was just enough to keep the temperatures down below, where it would alarm. I have tried on multiple occasions to get a hold of the Govee company with no luck. I would love to have them make that change in the software.

[@magicbobNJ]

Hi Tim. So the the lowest setting is -20C, what is the highest settings it will alarm at? It will be in my attached garage freezer so only about 30 feet from my router on the same floor, but the signal has to pass through the garage/kitchen wall. As my phone is not on most of the day as I work from home on my PC, does it also have a Windows PC app or text notifications?

[@oberweiss7190]

lowest temp is -4 F and your freezer is at 0 usually… It’s stretching it.

[@magicbobNJ]

@@oberweiss7190 Hi Ober. No one answer what is the highest temp it can alarm at? If I'm away for 1-2 months, I'd want to know when it goes over a certain temp which means it is not working properly. For example, over 20 F. Did you need to contact tech support and received no help, as Tim said?

[@oberweiss7190]

@@magicbobNJ I have mine on the way. Decided to buy 2 of them and try them out. I will report back after I understand them with some hands on.

[@magicbobNJ]

@@oberweiss7190 Hi Ober. Did you receive yours and can you reply to my questions now?

[@oberweiss7190]

@@magicbobNJ Hi sorry I forgot to come back here. It can monitor from -4 degrees F (-20 degrees C) to 140 degrees F (60 degrees C). I believe in this range it is reliable and it will send you alerts depending of the range you want to monitor. The calibration range has limitations and they should have an update allowing for calibration more than 5 deg up or down. I have no regrets in buying these to monitor my freezers. I’m sure they would do fine to monitor in other applications. I did not contact tech support and I did not find them to require rocket science to use and understand.

[@mentalarson]

Tim, 2 years in...do you still love them? Any better value available?

[@TOOLMANTIMSWORKSHOP]

So they’re all still working I still enjoy them but I treat them more as a monitor as opposed to an alarm system is times gone on. Unfortunately, the app doesn’t allow me to adjust the temperature cold enough so that it doesn’t alert all the time so I just log in periodically to check on the freezers. I am looking to upgrade this year as it’s definitely been over two years since I’ve started with them, they’ve been good to me, and I would still recommend them until I find something better

[@aperson1181]

Would you recommend a wired unit..need for my needs?

[@TOOLMANTIMSWORKSHOP]

I love the battery unit usually only change the batteries once a year

[@jl-hv6ge]

Hey Tim! Nice video, any updates on the govee now? I am thinking of ordering one for our freezer also. Would be awesome to hear back from you!

[@TOOLMANTIMSWORKSHOP]

Things are all still working good. The only issue is the fact that the temp sensors won’t go quite low enough to not occasionally go off but they are perfect for monitoring especially when away from home. I’ve contacted the company about adjusting their settings twice but no response

[@jl-hv6ge]

@@TOOLMANTIMSWORKSHOP thank you for replying. We just bought an upright freezer from Costco which some people say works great in a 100 plus degree garage others say it doesn’t say garage ready on it so they wouldn’t trust it. It’s a manual defrost so I don’t have to worry about that part and my garage door is insulated so it doesn’t get quite as hot as it does outside. Also I live in the south so it may be bright and sunny one day and snowing the next. Pretty much want the sensor for peace of mind on the hot days.

[@jl-hv6ge]

@@TOOLMANTIMSWORKSHOP I know you said you have reached to the company to see if they could lower the set points. I’m wondering if they couldn’t at least make the option to only receive high temp alerts instead of high and low. Just got my sensor in today and adjusting my freezer temp some. Currently-6

[@TOOLMANTIMSWORKSHOP]

Yeah, that would be a even simpler fix that. I never thought of good idea, but I’ve tried twice now talk to people at the company and they never got back to me so I don’t know.

[@Half-Acre-Homestead]

If there is a power outage or internet outage and therefore these devices lose wifi connection will the app notify you they've lost connection?

[@IssacGerges]

This is my question too! Any chance you know, or could test it @Toolman Tim's Workshop

[@TOOLMANTIMSWORKSHOP]

I will do a test and do a follow up video down the road

[@tracykoval1525]

Can this be used in a fridge instead of freezer?

[@TOOLMANTIMSWORKSHOP]

Absolutely

[@magicbobNJ]

Hi Tim. In the event you don't get notifications for replies to a reply, I am pasting my reply from a few days back: Thank you Tim for your prompt response and honesty. Is the only issue you emailed support about about changing the lowest setting in the app to meet your needs? And no replies at all after how many times emailing? What is the lowest & highest settings it will alarm at? Since I would be out of the country for 2 mo at a time, I can't have false alarms as I would consider an alarm that doesn't present a defrosting risk to be false concern. It will be in my attached garage freezer so only about 30 feet from my router on the same floor, but the signal has to pass through the garage/kitchen wall. Does it also have an audible alarm and is it loud enough to hear from 30 feet away in my home? Is the alarm speaker also in the freezer, or can you separate the device from the speaker and place the speaker in your home? I ask as my phone is not on most of the day as I work from home on my PC. Does it also have a PC app or text notifications?

[@TOOLMANTIMSWORKSHOP]

No alarm it’s just though your phone but ima sure you coudl set some sort of audible alert. Also yes the only issue I emailed them was the temps. I’m an 99% it bottoms out at -20°. Also I don’t think signal will be an issue mine recieve really good.

[@oberweiss7190]

no offense bud but that is an indoor sensor with a low operating temp of -4 deg F. It may work for you but I am not sure it’s that accurate since freezer isn’t likely at 0. Definitely pushing its abilities.

[@TOOLMANTIMSWORKSHOP]

No worries I’m over a year with three of them now and they have worked well enough for my uses. Better than the ones that can rarely get a signal that’s for sure

[@oberweiss7190]

@@TOOLMANTIMSWORKSHOP I don’t doubt it. I actually went ahead and ordered a couple. There are some alternatives all with sketchy reviews and higher price tags and I’m not trying to monitor the national meat reserves. If they served you well I hope I can do the same. Thanks for the video!

[@TOOLMANTIMSWORKSHOP]

@@oberweiss7190 anytime if you think of it come back in awhile and share your thoughts good or bad

[@isinc2003]

You talk too much and don't show a physical how to gude thing just yap yap yap! also make a video showing how to set the alarm if the temperature goes out of parameters!