SNMP Temperature Monitoring
Filed under: Data Center, SensorProbes, airflow monitoring, environmental monitoring, temperature monitoring
Whenever we buy anything for the company, I always ask if it can be connected to the network and monitored with SNMP. For example, when a new HVAC system was installed in our building, I asked if it was going to be SNMP manageable. The contractor looked at me like I was speaking Greek. Out of curiosity, I decided to search on the idea and found this company called Chipkin that makes an SNMP gateway, as does the s4group.
Why do I care about SNMP?
I care about SNMP because I want to manage everything from a central location. We use MyView in Scrutinizer. From a central location, we can monitor the network, the call center and, if we wanted to, the coffee pot.
BTW: Fugoo is considering a marketing plan for their network connected coffee maker, however, it lacks support for SNMP and the Hyper Text Coffee Pot Control Protocol.
Temperature and humidity monitoring for agribusiness
Filed under: environmental monitoring, humidity monitoring, temperature monitoring
When you hear words like farm, agriculture, and greenhouse; you are much more likely to visualize pastoral scenes of rolling hills and grazing livestock than images of computers and network cables. In fact, we often think of farms and greenhouses as the antithesis of the high-tech environment. In reality, the modern commercial farm utilizes many different technologies to assist in farm management. One of the ways that technology and networking can make a farmer’s life much easier is in environmental monitoring. Read more
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Top 3 advantages of web-based temperature monitoring systems
Filed under: environmental monitoring, humidity monitoring, temperature monitoring
It regularly occurs to me that web-based environmental monitoring systems, whether they be for the home, office, data center, storage closet, you name it, can oftentimes be overkill. Some people just need a thermometer. Others just need a barometer. Sometimes, simple problems call for simple solutions.
However, a web-based system that can monitor for changes in temperature, humidity, airflow, as well as the presence of water, smoke and motion, can be extremely valuable. To demonstrate just how valuable, I thought I would put together a list of the top three reason why a web-based system is more convenient and cost effect for many home and business applications.
Are you optimizing your environmental monitoring system?
Filed under: Intelligent Sensors, environmental monitoring
Here on the Ravica Blog, we talk a lot about temperature and humidity monitoring in data centers, but did you know 
that you can use the same Sensor Probes to create a centralized monitoring system that can provide information on almost any environmental condition? The following is a run-down of some of the other Ravica intelligent sensors that are available. All the sensors are plug & play, SNMP-enabled and easily integrated into the environmental monitoring system of your dreams. Read more
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Environmental Monitoring During the Winter Months
Filed under: General, environmental monitoring, water leak monitoring
Today, we had our first major snow storm of the season. I’m a transplant to the northeast and winter in
Maine is still a jarring experience for me. My hometown of Vancouver, WA basically shuts down at the first sight of snow and doesn’t reopen until all the white stuff has melted away, which in a normal year is sometime before 4 pm on the same day. Around here, you just prepare, plow through and get on with business.
Winter requires some special preparation for the inside of your facility as well. With snow and ice comes the threat of water pipes bursting and power outages. Make sure that your facility is protected by having a back-up generator in place. You should also be sure that the main water pipes and any pipes that are running along uninsulated walls have been winterized. Read more
~JessicaFollow Me on Twitter
Best Practices in Humidity Monitoring
With everyone worried about smoke monitoring or temperature monitoring, I thought it high time we post something on humidity monitoring. Today I am excited, as we had an interesting call on humidity sensors for long term apple storage. And I thought cigar humidor humidity was our strangest sale.
Come to find out, apple storage is best done in cold, humid environments. This “Best storage conditions for apples” blog seem pretty informative as well.
Controlling the temperature and humidity in your wine cellar
Filed under: Intelligent Sensors, SensorProbes, environmental monitoring, humidity monitoring, temperature monitoring
Recently, I was watching a home show on television that was all 
about building a wine cellar in your basement. I don’t collect wine myself, but the space was beautiful and I couldn’t help but feel a little vicarious joy as I watched the home owners hold the first tasting party in their private cellar.
If you are a wine aficionado or if you make your living in the wine industry, you know that temperature and humidity control is crucial to storing and aging wines. The optimal temperature for storing wines is a constant 50° – 55°. If it is too cold, the wine won’t mature and will taste flat and lifeless; too warm and the wine will cook and end up tasting off. Read more
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Avoiding water damage during floods
Filed under: environmental monitoring, water leak monitoring
This past weekend, the remnants of tropical storm Ida showed up in Southern Maine as a rain-soaked nor’easter. Fortunately, for us, we didn’t see the wide spread flooding and coastal erosion that other areas experienced further south on the New Jersey and Delaware coasts. 
Seeing all the news footage of flooded streets made me think about how important it is to be prepared for water infiltration due to flooding. According to the Red Cross, floods are among the most frequent and costly natural disasters, causing more than 90% of the damage related to natural disasters. On average, floods cause more than $4 billion in damages worldwide, per year. Proper preparation is equally important for businesses and homeowners.
Complete Environment Monitoring
Filed under: Intelligent Sensors, SensorProbes, airflow monitoring, environmental monitoring, motion detector, water leak monitoring
A soup to nuts environmental monitoring solution includes more than just temperature readings, humidity monitoring and smoke detection. If electronic equipment is in the area, it is often a good idea to monitor for other environmental conditions:
- Monitoring for water leaks
- Voltage monitoring for electrical brownouts or complete electrical loss
- Motion detection and automated photo delivery
- Airflow monitoring
Monitoring Temperature in Healthcare Environments
Filed under: Intelligent Sensors, SensorProbes, environmental monitoring, temperature monitoring
Recently, I had the opportunity to visit a family member in the hospital who had just delivered twin girls. The babies came several weeks ahead of schedule, and although they were both healthy, we were told that they were going to need to be in the NICU for several weeks.
After spending hours visiting the hospital, surrounded on all sides by the constant noise of beeping monitors, I really began to appreciate the precision under which the modern hospital is run. It is a finely tuned machine and temperature monitoring is an extremely important part of the operation of that machine. In fact, one of the main reasons that the twins needed to stay in the hospital was that they hadn’t developed the ability to self-regulate their own body temperature. They needed to be in the temperature-controlled environment of the incubator. The entire room in which they were staying also needed to be kept at a precise temperature for the times when they were outside the incubator, bonding with their mother.