Wireless thermometer with data logging

Lots of options out there to choose from. Are you asking for feedback from those of us with actual experience? I always wanted something like this, problem was the cost. Also, many of the setups were for large scale commercial greenhouses and they incorporated all of these redundant safety features to remotely alert owners of potential problems regarding co2, temp/humidity levels (they would send SMS alerts as well as email, and had their own backup power supply). So it was far more than I ever needed.

There are cheaper options now.
(I can't post links on this forum, search for dataq)

You might also find something better suited for you by searching for "home weather stations". Netamo makes one that uploads data to iOS or Android devices

 

Alternatively, if you have a bit of spare cash (or are looking for something to suggest as a suitable prezzy) I can recommend the Netatmo system - I have one base station with two extra modules, to monitor the outside temperature + the temps in both greenhouses & it automagically updates to the Interwebs via my wireless network every 5 mins.

They have a rather nice web / mobile interface that you can then monitor & setup alerts should temperature / humidity / CO2 get out of wack at any location, which was hugely useful when the heater packed up in the greenhouse in the winter one night - I would have lost everything if it hadn't alerted me.


--
You do need power for the main module (in Greenhouse1 here) but the other two are battery powered & seem to use one set of (decent) batteries a year.

The web software allows you to look back on the data & see the trends for all three monitors (temp, humidity, CO2) - The temp is as accurate as anything else Ive used outside (so I assume its +- 2'c) Humidity & CO2 seem to return reasonable readings but I have no way to check them really.


--
(another screeny showing comparison of all three stations temperature for yesterday - note you can highlight data points to see the lows / highs etc). Apparently you can pull the data back from the cloud if you want to load it into a spreadsheet or something - Ive never tried but I should set something up to back it up "just in case".

All in all quite impressed - Negatives ? Expensive (although does appear on the Amazon deal of the day from time to time), setup software is a bit annoying as you need a PC or MAC to do the initial setup & the software is a bit poor + the documentation is a bit minimal. Actually they went down the "Just put a URL in the box & assume people will work out what to do" road, which is just annoying IMHO. Oh - and its cloud based, so theres no guarantee they will be around tomorrow & you may end up with an expensive tube that goes red / green when you touch the top.

 

As I want to record temps at my plot, I'm looking at USB temperature datalogger, with its own integral thermometer, batteries & recording software and can be placed in a discreet location, set to record temps between every second to every hour (up to 1 year's hourly recoding!), then downloaded to PC/laptop to produce temp graphs.

Just need to convince Mrs Scrungee that it's an essential birthday present for me (my next cunning plan will be to get the light level monitoring version for Xmas).

 

On the subject of remote monitoring (I tried to tack this on the end of my last post but the forum turned to treacle) I sort of worked out during our last power cut that, if you have elec in your greenhouse, an old cordless base station + 2nd handset could be used with one in greenhouse and other indoors as in event of power loss the other would be constantly bleeping alerts, as I found out when AI had to sort it out to stop our bedroom phone let us get back to sleep.

Also, when I laid the underground cable for my shed/greenhouse electrics (in the good old days when non-idiots were allowed to do it themselves)) the armoured cable had an extra wire, which I think could be a 2nd live/neutral and connected to a neutral/live from another (indoors) circuit and connected to a socket outlet with one of those power failure alarm plugs stuck in it, but I'm getting a bit rusty with my electrics these days and this might now be illegal.

P.S. I've now ordered that datalogger as it seemed to be the only way I was going to Get a birthday present I wanted.

 

Started indoors, walked to the greenhouse and placed on staging, then put in a heated propagator, and finally brought back indoors to download data.

After tonight I'll know what happens to temperatures in a polytunnel overnight, then I can check stuff like inside coldframes, under fleece, in cloches, in shallow buried bags either under bare open ground or buried under Mypex/polythene for comparison, etc.