CarePenguin Support
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CarePenguin's Server Status
Think there may be a problem with the data on your CarePenguin app? Check our server’s status page by clicking the link below and sign up for updates if our system ever goes down.
Installation Guide
You’ve purchased a CarePenguin In-Home Activity Sensor and received your package in the mail. Now what? Our installation guide walks you through the account creation process, connecting the sensor to the home’s WiFi, attaching it to the hot water pipe, setting up lack of activity alerts, and inviting family members or other caregivers to your account.
Compatibility with Different Water Heaters
CarePenguin is not compatible with water heaters that have recirculation pumps or tankless / on-demand water heaters with a recirculation pump activated. For more details check out the resources below.
Setting Up Alerts for Lack of Activity
Activity Zones are groups of time you set on the CarePenguin app when you expect your loved one to be active such as waking up in the morning, lunch time, and dinner time. CarePenguin then watches for activity during these configured timezones, and if there is no activity, it alerts you.
You can snooze and pause activity alerts if you know your elderly loved one is okay. Read more about Activity Notifications and alerting by clicking on the link below.
FAQs
– Access to your loved one’s water heater
– Your loved one must have WiFi at their house
– A smart phone to download our app from the app store or Google Play Stoe, and install the sensor. CarePenguin is now available on both iOS and Android!
– Someone to do the simple installation via a smart phone on site. See more on having another family member or helper do the installation.
Senior citizens use hot water more than you think! We’ve tested our sensors in senior citizens’ houses and found that the average senior citizen uses water about six to ten times a day, making it an excellent proxy for human behavior. CarePenguin can sense anything from rinsing a dish, brushing teeth, washing hands, doing dishes, doing laundry, taking a shower, etc. This is because hot water and cold water are usually mixed at the faucet. It’s rare that people just use cold water. When a faucet is turned on, some warm/hot water is moving through and even the smallest amount causes CarePenguin to detect an event of water use. Contact us if you have any questions!
The CarePenguin sensor simply takes the temperature of the hot water pipe output on a water heater. Whenever someone uses water in the house, the temperature of that pipe spikes up, indicating that someone in the house is up and active. The CarePenguin app displays this data, showing your loved one’s activity throughout the day. You can check anytime to see the last time your loved one was active and receive alerts if we detect a lack of activity, encouraging you to check in and make sure everything is okay.
Absolutely! CarePenguin is simple to install. All you need to do is zip-tie our sensor to the hot water pipe output on a water heater, plug it into a nearby outlet, set up your account on our app, and connect it to WiFi using our step-by-step instructions. If you can set up a Nest product or Amazon Alexa, you can set up CarePenguin.
Contact Tech Support
Have a specific question or just need help? Send us an email and we'll get back to you ASAP.
help@carepenguin.com
Or feel free to live chat us by clicking the chat bubble in the bottom right hand corner.
