remote monitoring

We use a La Crosse Technology system to remotely monitor the temperature and humidity in a small glasshouse on a school campus about 20 miles from our farm. The nature of the space is that it heats up very quickly in just a few minutes when the sun comes out. 

Generally, we see sunny or cloudy days. There doesn't seem to be an in-between. If sun is in the forecast, I plan to either be doing work in the glasshouse that day or to make a trip to open the exterior door so that the seedlings will not overheat. The space has its own heater and a couple of exhaust fans, but it needs some additional monitoring to maintain the temps we're looking for between 60 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit.

The La Crosse system requires a local internet router connection within 200ft of the remote sensor. The school's technology person helps me connect to the network (plug into the correct ethernet port for a "guest" device). A small, portable device in the greenhouse reads the temperature and humidity every 10 minutes or so and reports to an app on my phone. As long as the internet connection is working and the batteries in the remote sensor are charged, I can keep tabs on the greenhouse from afar. If I wanted, I could also purchase a soil temp sensor that can be easily plugged into the system. That is why the probe setting reads "N/C" below. 

Here is the view I see on my phone. I can elect to view a history of data as a line chart or table, too. Multiple alerts can be set.

This is a bit of a "dry" post. No pretty flower photos or seed germination news. But, without this device I would not be able to make use of that growing space at all. The remote sensor system sends me a text warning if the temperatures drop below or rise above my "safe zone." When that happens, I can either make my way to the school to throw the door open (or closed) or call a friend on campus for help. It is probably the most important tool that we own right now. Link above for more information/to purchase. And it is pretty inexpensive. Please let me know if you have any questions. Please share comments if you have other methods of managing these challenges, too. 

Best,