If you’re renovating to improve the thermal performance of your home, reduced heating or cooling load, knowing the effects of the changes you make can be very helpful.
For example – you install a thermal curtain in a single room, being able to observer the before/after effect of the curtain can help you decide to continue with curtain installation in other rooms or whether a different approach is required.
Manual data collection
- Digital Thermometers
- Can record max/min values and ideally with a second external sensor connected to a wire. These are readily available from Dicksmith, Jaycar etc for $20-40.
- Can record max/min values and ideally with a second external sensor connected to a wire. These are readily available from Dicksmith, Jaycar etc for $20-40.
- Hand held infrared temperature sensors
- Available from eBay, Jaycar and others, search for non-contact temperature gun / thermometer
- Thermal Imaging
- Allow for real time analysis of the areas of heat loss/gain in your home.
- Professional and consumer versions now available.
- Consultants can engaged to use their equipment and provide a report on your home, e.g Airleak.com.au
Automated data collection
- Thermocron iButtons or OneWire devices allow for temperature data to be accurately recorded over defined periods of time (eg hourly sampling over a 1 month period). Sensors are very small and relatively inexpensive, multiple sensors can be provisioned to track temperatures in different rooms, internal, external etc.
- Buy online from Thermodata (Australia), Embedded Data Systems (US)
- SensorTagAn inexpensive wireless bluetooth low energy sensor from Texas Instruments that connects to your smart phone.
- Includes sensors for temperature (ambient and infrared), humidity, pressure, accelerometer, gyroscope and magnetometer.
- Dataworks App by Instrument Works
- iPhone app that connects to and logs data from SensorTag and other third party sensors.
- Thermodo
- A temperature sensor for your iPhone that connects via the headphone jack.
- Wireless Sensor TagsBattery powered tags that last for 1 year, remotely sensing temperature, humidity and motion.
- Includes web and smartphone interfaces.
