Monitoring Indoor temp/humidity - multiple locations

Looking for some suggestions - I’d like to monitor indoor temp/humidity in a few locations in my house, as well as in a workshop about 50 feet from the house. I have network (both wired and wireless) and power available in all locations where I’d like to monitor. I can even provide PoE connections if needed.

So, looking for recommendations on sensors that I could then feed into WD. I’ve had varying degrees of success with the typical 4xx mhz type products from Oregon Scientific. So, not opposed to that type of product but I’ve had problems with dropouts, having to resync/reboot, etc.

I’m looking at monitoring about 4-5 spots/locations. If I can use something which utilizes a network connection (Wifi/Wired/PoE) that would be excellent…
I’ve been doing some searching/research on the web, but was curious what others are doing or can recommend.

Thank you!

despite some searching around, i haven’t found much that isn’t at a considerable price point and would be better suited for monitoring server rooms and other critical environments - which isn’t quite what i need here.

can something like this possibly work with WD?
https://www.ambientweather.com/amws3000x5.html

it’s RF based - which i was trying to avoid, but anything i can find that might work without RF wants a cloud connection. i do not need or want to connect to the cloud - mainly because at some point those devices seem to become orphans or pricing changes to access the data, etc. it just opens up risks i’d rather avoid.

I see that comes with software
so that means there must be a usb connection to the console or similar
if that software can create a text file that WD can be set to read in…

i’ve been doing some more research on this off and on as time/work allows.

i was wondering - could i somehow use some 1-wire devices for this type of monitoring?

the location i want to monitor most is located on my property about 50 feet from the house (which is where my WD PC lives). both buildings have network (wifi, ethernet, even PoE), and power.

could i use a 1-wire temp/humidity sensor connected to a master which is tied into my network - would WD then be able to see it? in doing some searching on the forum i’ve found references to this kind of capability, but hadn’t yet found anything which directly states this would work (granted, i haven’t made it all the way through some of my search results).

If you noticed the luftdaten thread that uses sds011 wifi modules and T/H sensors are easy to connect with those (and they’re both cheap) but it would probably need arduino scripts which is beyond my ability (I’m using script supplied by the project.)
Alan

Whoops I put the wrong bit of kit - the wifi board is this :-
nodemcuv3esp8266ch340
Alan

thank you! i’ll take a look at that thread!

wow, quite a bit to learn - i did not realize all the options for various kit based sensors - arduino, 1-wire, etc. there’s a lot out there.

since this will be my first foray into a homebuilt or custom sensor, i picked up a kit based on the esp8266.
so, i’m probably going to ask some silly questions!

the first thing i’m trying to understand is how do i get the data from the sensor (arduino based esp8266 in this case) to WD.
the PC running WD is not in the same building as where the sensor will be - but I have network (wifi, etc) in both places - both buildings are on my property and about 50 feet from each other.

can i feed the data to a device (PC, or otherwise) where the sensor is and have that talk to WD - or, will WD be able to talk directly to the sensor since they are both network accessible?

thank you.

Hi
You could use the Luftdaten arduino software with the esp8266 and Brian has very kindly adapted WD to read the temp and humidity data via the ip address of the esp8266. (The Luftdaten software is really designed to monitor air quality but it has tick boxes to say which sensors are in use so you could ignore the AQ sensor). For the T/H sensor I would recommend the BME280 which, so far, has been more reliable than the DHT22 which Luftdaten put on their shopping list. On my (rather basic) website you can see the sensor T/H as BME280. www.greatbosullow.net I’m not sure how you could get multiple sensors showing.

Alan

hi alan - thank you for replying. i’ve been following the other thread talking about luftdaten. i’m reading up on that setup now.

i’d wonder if WD can see multiple bme280’s at some point…

nice website!

Hi
I think multiple sensors might be possible if Brian could arrange for the IP address to cycle round in the Purple Air set up. My sensor is on 192.168.0.161 so if the address could range from there to (say) 192.168.0.165 at some suitable interval it could show different readings. The only drawback is setting fixed IP’s in the 8266’s. The luftdaten software does not do that (well I have not found a way) but I have seen arduino scripts that can do that. I don’t know if running a different script would mess up the installed firmware. I only run the sensors at 5 minute intervals as it prolongs the life of the air quality sensor but the T/H sensor would not have that limitation. Your router might also be able to allocate fixed IP’s. I have another sensor running on 192.168.0.162 (not connected to WD - only to its own display - an LCD1602) and my router is inclined to swap the IP’s over if both sensors restart together. (The router has a set DCHP range of only 2 addresses- everything else on the network has fixed ip’s). LCD1602 displays might be another option for monitoring but would need wired connections.
Alan

yeah, i have plenty of control network wise - i can run reserved DHCP or static, whatever works. i’m pretty competent on the network side of things so i think i can probably get that part going!

i was just trying to visualize in my head how the sensors would talk to WD. if it’ll work over network then that’s awesome.

i had been looking at a purpleair sensor in the near future too.

with the 8266 based sensors all i need is temperature and humidity. polling interval would be fine at 5 minutes, 1 minute would be total overkill - if i could run 1 minute great - if not, no worries. i’d have 3 locations or so i’d like to monitor.

Before going any further I think it is a good idea to check with Brian if it would be feasible to switch (cycle) through 3 addresses in the purple air set up and create 3 separate log files. I guess it would mean a lot of work for him if it is possible at all. Then there is the problem of how to display the results - it might be possible to show a different sensor each time the main screen refreshes but again I suspect a lot of work to do that.

Purple air ? The SDS011 is a lot cheaper alternative but not terribly accurate but OK for a general indication of air quality.
Alan

i know the purple air is pricier than the alternatives, but, this is a hobby and i like to play.

good point though on other options and what it would take to make things work with WD. it’s something fun to play with while i wait for the snow to melt here! i’ll certainly ping Brian to see what’s involved in making multiples work if/when i get to that point…