After years, I think I finally have the most accurate and smart home humidity control

[nolegsfngrpickn]

I've been messing with different hygrometers and devices for years now. Three of the main issues I had were not being able to tie in humidity systems to my smart home (Google Homes), not being able to closely control the guitar area to the exact % (since the built in hygrometers in humidifiers are mostly crap), and not being able to monitor everything remotely anywhere I go.

Enter www.wirelesstag.net. These things are unbelievably tiny and extremely accurate. I calibrated every one in a Boveda test kit and modified the offset easily within the settings.

I have 2 of these Pro ALS sensors, one in my bedroom that hangs hidden on the backside of my lamp, and one inside my AcousticRemedy wall case:



I have an always powered External Powered Sensor in my living room right by the wall where my other guitars hang:



I have a Reed-Kumo sensor on my front door. This serves as both a humidity sensor for that area of the house, and also as a door sensor that I can use to signal entry/exit to my apartment and automate lights, etc.



Finally, I have a Water Moisture Sensor. I placed this with velcro and zip ties on the inside of my whole home humidifier. You calibrate this sensor at the level of empty, and then at the level of full. At that point, the sensor tracks water level. Instead of having to constantly check on the remaining water in my humidifier, this automates things and tells me when I need to refill.



I chose an External Powered Sensor for my living room, because I always want the humidity to be precisely monitored in that area and I want the humidity level logged in the shortest interval (30 seconds). The batteries last for months to years on the battery powered ones, but obviously the more frequent you have them poll, the faster the battery will drain. On all my battery powered ones I have the interval set to 5 minutes, which I feel is a good tradeoff between battery life and logging.

What I love about these things is their Google Home integration. I can simply ask "Living Room humidity," or "Guitar Case humidity," and I'll get a response from my Google Home. I have a routine for "What's the humidity?" that will tell me the outside humidity, and then tell me in sequence the readings of all my sensors.

The best part of this is tying in the External Power Sensor to IFTTT. I have my humidifier plugged into a TP-Link Smart Outlet. Within the sensor settings, I have "Too Dry" set to 49%, and "Too Wet" set to 49.3%, with a Threshold Window" of 0.2%.

So, when the sensor records a living room percentage of 48.8%, it turns on the humidifier, and then when it reads a percentage of 49.5%, it turns it off, keeping the humidity at exactly 49%.

Here is a picture of the interface:



And here is a picture of the External Power Sensor's graph over the course of the week since I received it (I was using a battery powered one before). The humidity in my place has been within +/-0.5%.



I really cannot speak more highly about these sensors.

[Dbone]

Thanks for taking the time to post that up...

Equally happy with Sensorpush myself....not exactly the same as what you presented here, but gets it done

[nolegsfngrpickn]

Originally Posted by Dbone

Thanks for taking the time to post that up...

Equally happy with Sensorpush myself....not exactly the same as what you presented here, but gets it done

I considered those, but these have way more functionality, are cheaper, and have "smart" integration.

Glad you're happy with those though!

How do you use yours?

[charles Tauber]

Thanks for posting that.

If you haven't seen it, I recommend watching the old movie "Demon Seed". It might make you think twice about the Internet of Things and omni-present listening devices.

[nolegsfngrpickn]

Originally Posted by charles Tauber

Thanks for posting that.

If you haven't seen it, I recommend watching the old movie "Demon Seed". It might make you think twice about the Internet of Things and omni-present listening devices.

I appreciate your thoughts, but I can guarantee you are handing over unbelievable amounts of information about yourself on a daily basis, simply for being on the internet and subscribed to any of the services you use on a daily basis.

Unless you use a flip phone, Tor browser, VPN, highly encrypted email software, don't shop on Amazon, never typed a search into Google, having a few Google Homes isn't going to change anything.

Let's not get this thread off topic, but I get enjoyment and benefit from automating my life in nerdy ways. I'd consider reading about how Google Homes and Echos actually work, at a hardware/software level. They don't listen 24/7. Being conspiratorial and catastrophizing IoT devices isn't necessary, and the next logical step isn't implanting little beacons into people necks or a computer taking over a home and threatening to impregnate a woman like "Demon Seed" or other far out movies portray.

[charles Tauber]

Fair enough.

[guitar george]

Originally Posted by nolegsfngrpickn

Within the sensor settings, I have "Too Dry" set to 49%, and "Too Wet" set to 49.3%, with a Threshold Window" of 0.2%.

So, when the sensor records a living room percentage of 48.8%, it turns on the humidifier, and then when it reads a percentage of 49.5%, it turns it off, keeping the humidity at exactly 49%.

Sounds like you have humidity totally under control. How much does a system like that cost?

With the sensor settings and threshold window readings being only 0.7% apart wouldn't the humidifier be going on and off all the time?

[nolegsfngrpickn]

Originally Posted by guitar george

Sounds like you have humidity totally under control. How much does a system like that cost?

With the sensor settings and threshold window readings being only 0.7% apart wouldn't the humidifier be going on and off all the time?

My total is a little more because I have 4 sensors, but to get started the Tag Manager is $29 and the basic humidity control battery sensors are $29 as well. Way cheaper than any other connected system available.

I was playing with thresholds, and no, it doesn't go on/off any more than what the humidifier did before when I was using the built-in hygrometer, except it's way more precise now. You can obviously set it to whatever you prefer, the settings are just about endless.

[Dbone]

Originally Posted by nolegsfngrpickn

I considered those, but these have way more functionality, are cheaper, and have "smart" integration.

Glad you're happy with those though!

How do you use yours?

I got 20% off, but yeah they do look slightly more expensive. Having said this, it is a very polished product with great software, and the support from the company is top notch.

I’ve got one sensor in my guitar room and 2 in my case at all times (One in sound hole, one at headstock). I have the gateway piece that then allows me to check what’s happening from anywhere in the world at any time, see what’s going on, get alerts if things go outside my configured range, etc...Right now it is only supporting Android/iOS, but they are apparently doing beta right now for a standard web interface...

Tremendous...love the interface and the ability to view the data...very clean...really helps you understand your environment...

It meets all my needs and expectations. I’ve only had it for a few months...As long as it proves reliable I don’t see myself leaving their ecosystem...I like it that much...

[nolegsfngrpickn]

Originally Posted by Dbone

I got 20% off, but yeah they do look slightly more expensive. Having said this, it is a very polished product with great software, and the support from the company is top notch.

I’ve got one sensor in my guitar room and 2 in my case at all times (One in sound hole, one at headstock). I have the gateway piece that then allows me to check what’s happening from anywhere in the world at any time, see what’s going on, get alerts if things go outside my configured range, etc...Right now it is only supporting Android/iOS, but they are apparently doing beta right now for a standard web interface...

Tremendous...love the interface and the ability to view the data...very clean...really helps you understand your environment...

It meets all my needs and expectations. I’ve only had it for a few months...As long as it proves reliable I don’t see myself leaving their ecosystem...I like it that much...

Nice. You can do everything you can do plus more with Wireless Tags. Sensor Push basically charges 100% more for everything.

Web and Android interface with mine as well, can check everything anywhere, alerts, etc.

Do your sensors also have ambient light and motion with them?

[MHC]

OK. Very cool humidity sensor and monitoring system, But what is the system that actually humidifies the home, or the room, or area? How does THAT work?

[vindibona1]

Originally Posted by nolegsfngrpickn

I've been messing with different hygrometers and devices for years now. Three of the main issues I had were not being able to tie in humidity systems to my smart home (Google Homes), not being able to closely control the guitar area to the exact % (since the built in hygrometers in humidifiers are mostly crap), and not being able to monitor everything remotely anywhere I go.

Enter www.wirelesstag.net. These things are unbelievably tiny and extremely accurate. I calibrated every one in a Boveda test kit and modified the offset easily within the settings.

I have 2 of these Pro ALS sensors, one in my bedroom that hangs hidden on the backside of my lamp, and one inside my AcousticRemedy wall case:



I have an always powered External Powered Sensor in my living room right by the wall where my other guitars hang:



I have a Reed-Kumo sensor on my front door. This serves as both a humidity sensor for that area of the house, and also as a door sensor that I can use to signal entry/exit to my apartment and automate lights, etc.



Finally, I have a Water Moisture Sensor. I placed this with velcro and zip ties on the inside of my whole home humidifier. You calibrate this sensor at the level of empty, and then at the level of full. At that point, the sensor tracks water level. Instead of having to constantly check on the remaining water in my humidifier, this automates things and tells me when I need to refill.



I chose an External Powered Sensor for my living room, because I always want the humidity to be precisely monitored in that area and I want the humidity level logged in the shortest interval (30 seconds). The batteries last for months to years on the battery powered ones, but obviously the more frequent you have them poll, the faster the battery will drain. On all my battery powered ones I have the interval set to 5 minutes, which I feel is a good tradeoff between battery life and logging.

What I love about these things is their Google Home integration. I can simply ask "Living Room humidity," or "Guitar Case humidity," and I'll get a response from my Google Home. I have a routine for "What's the humidity?" that will tell me the outside humidity, and then tell me in sequence the readings of all my sensors.

The best part of this is tying in the External Power Sensor to IFTTT. I have my humidifier plugged into a TP-Link Smart Outlet. Within the sensor settings, I have "Too Dry" set to 49%, and "Too Wet" set to 49.3%, with a Threshold Window" of 0.2%.

So, when the sensor records a living room percentage of 48.8%, it turns on the humidifier, and then when it reads a percentage of 49.5%, it turns it off, keeping the humidity at exactly 49%.

Here is a picture of the interface:



And here is a picture of the External Power Sensor's graph over the course of the week since I received it (I was using a battery powered one before). The humidity in my place has been within +/-0.5%.



I really cannot speak more highly about these sensors.

Do you have those tied into any whole-house humidification systems? Monitoring the humidity isn't the issue. It's keeping the humidity up in the winter. I'm contemplating installing a steam system to my furnace.

I love smart technology and have incorporated a lot of it into our home already. I guess our Nest can measure humidity as well, currently showing 51% down the hallway while my guitar room is hovering at 42%. Alexa says the outside humidity is currently 57%.

[nolegsfngrpickn]

Originally Posted by MHC

OK. Very cool humidity sensor and monitoring system, But what is the system that actually humidifies the home, or the room, or area? How does THAT work?

Originally Posted by vindibona1

Do you have those tied into any whole-house humidification systems? Monitoring the humidity isn't the issue. It's keeping the humidity up in the winter. I'm contemplating installing a steam system to my furnace.

I love smart technology and have incorporated a lot of it into our home already. I guess our Nest can measure humidity as well, currently showing 51% down the hallway while my guitar room is hovering at 42%. Alexa says the outside humidity is currently 57%.

In the first post I said I have the moisture level sensor in my whole home humidifier. I have a fairly small apartment, so that's what humidifies. The external power sensor is monitoring the humidity, and using the threshold it turns the humidifier on and off.

In my AcousticRemedy wall case in my bedroom, that is humidified/dehumidified by Boveda packs. The sensor is in that to make sure they're good and to let me know when it's time to switch them out for new ones.

[Dbone]

Originally Posted by nolegsfngrpickn

In the first post I said I have the moisture level sensor in my whole home humidifier. I have a fairly small apartment, so that's what humidifies. The external power sensor is monitoring the humidity, and using the threshold it turns the humidifier on and off.

In my AcousticRemedy wall case in my bedroom, that is humidified/dehumidified by Boveda packs. The sensor is in that to make sure they're good and to let me know when it's time to switch them out for new ones.

Boveda packs in my case as well. I have a large evaporative humidifier that does the whole basement (i.e.: where my guitar practice room is) and then a really neat ultra quiet Proscenic room humidifier in my actual guitar room. The great thing about the Proscenic is that it has built-in scheduled humidification (very rare feature). Another rare feature it has is a CMOS that ensures it will not lose all of its settings in the event of a power outage.

In Canada I can’t expect to achieve an ideal 50% RHL everywhere in the house all the time. The larger evaporative unit will run at whatever reasonable setting I can achieve relative to outside temp as a good baseline humidity for the entire basement. The guitar stays safely in the case at all times at the Boveda 49% humidity pack level. When the guitar is out of the case there will be ideal conditions in my practice room as well because I have the Prosenic room humidifier scheduled to ensure that this is the case during my typical practice windows. When the guitar is packed away safely in the case with the boveda packs, and I’m outside my typical practice windows, the Proscenic will not be humidifiying. The larger evaporative unit makes sure the entire basement, including my guitar room, has at least a reasonable baseline humidity during those periods, not always over humidifying relative to the outdoor temperature, etc...Having this more global basement baseline makes sure the boveda packs in my case, and the Proscenic room humidifier in my practice room, don’t need to work too hard to maintain their targets.

This is my strategy. All while being monitored by the Sensorpush setup...

On top of all this I have a centralized humidifier unit on the furnace that theoretically dynamically adjusts humidification for the entire house relative to the outside temperature. It generally does a really good job but it’s not perfect. My above described basement setup at least “guarantees” my guitar world is okay all the time.

Can’t be too careful up here in Canada. What I really should do is get a carbon fibre guitar and forget all this nonsense but I can’t do . Love me a good wooden guitar

Cheers

[Dbone]

Originally Posted by nolegsfngrpickn

Nice. You can do everything you can do plus more with Wireless Tags. Sensor Push basically charges 100% more for everything.

Web and Android interface with mine as well, can check everything anywhere, alerts, etc.

Do your sensors also have ambient light and motion with them?

I don’t believe they do. There is no doubt that your product is more jam packed with features. For what I set out to achieve, however, I‘m quite happy. I just hope for you and I that our respective choices prove to be reliable. Without that being the case the products are useless. In my case I don’t know yet. Haven’t had it long enough to say...I have a good feeling with this product though...It speaks quality build all around...