Author Topic: Relatively cheap additional temperature sensors (Read 6937 times)

TD22057 · « **on:** March 01, 2015, 06:07:41 PM »

I was originally going to set up a 1 wire temperature monitoring system in my house w/ a Raspberry Pi and my unused phone wire runs. Then I got an Acurite 5 in 1 station and bridge and followed nincehelser's instructions to read the bridge data with the Pi. When I realized how easy that was, I decided to buy extra sensors from Acurite and use those instead of screwing around w/ the 1-wire system which can be touchy with long cable runs (which I have). In my searching, I found these display+temp sensors from Walmart for $9.95 a piece and free shipping at $50. The bridge reads them just fine and it works out to be a decent amount cheaper than buying them from Acurite because of the shipping cost (and I have a bunch of free displays).

http://www.walmart.com/ip/AcuRite-Digital-Indoor-Outdoor-Thermometer/39174495

nincehelser · « **Reply #1 on:** March 01, 2015, 08:17:58 PM »

That's an excellent price!

I've been thinking of buying more of the tower sensors to experiment with. I almost bought one of these a few weeks ago, but the price then was nearly double!

TD22057 · « **Reply #2 on:** March 01, 2015, 09:07:21 PM »

Grab them now while you can. The extra displays are actually useful. The A/B/C switch is independent of sensor type so even though my 5 in 1 is A, I can have a temp sensor on A as well. I put one of the extra sensors outside and put the extra displays around the house so I can see the external temp from most of the rooms I spend time in.

Thanks for your raspberry pi write up. Knowing that I could easily get all of the raw data is the only reason I bought the Acurite system - they should give you a commission on the sale.

tandy1000 · « **Reply #3 on:** March 01, 2015, 09:13:57 PM »

Thanks for posting that! I knew my 8 tower sensors needed some company, think I'll have to get a few more.

Bushman · « **Reply #4 on:** March 01, 2015, 09:52:49 PM »

I wish! Not available in Canada.

But you can actually get the Neatmo wx stuff at Wallyworld. Go figure.

vreihen · « **Reply #5 on:** March 02, 2015, 05:14:30 AM »

Quote from: Bushman on March 01, 2015, 09:52:49 PM

But you can actually get the Neatmo wx stuff at Wallyworld. Go figure.

That probably explains why their stations are littering our local WU data recently. Seriously, 5 out of 20 stations are Netatmo units that don't report wind.....

Inverno · « **Reply #6 on:** March 11, 2015, 07:30:12 PM »

I got one of these today, it has humidity on it too but stays at 16% all the time. Wonder if it's disabled?

nincehelser · « **Reply #7 on:** March 11, 2015, 07:43:02 PM »

Quote from: Inverno on March 11, 2015, 07:30:12 PM

I got one of these today, it has humidity on it too but stays at 16% all the time. Wonder if it's disabled?

I just got one a couple days ago and noticed the humidity was also 16%. That seemed awfully dry to me.

The display doesn't display humidity (nor was it advertised on the packaging), so I guess that either they disabled it or just got a good deal on defective stock.

It seems odd they would purposely create yet another version of the tower, though.

I'll open one up and see if there's anything to see.

Inverno · « **Reply #8 on:** March 11, 2015, 07:49:40 PM »

I was hoping maybe they used the temperature and humidity sensor but skimped on the display making it cheaper. Oh well wasnt expecting it anyways. Hope the temperature isn't off!

CW2274 · « **Reply #9 on:** March 11, 2015, 07:53:51 PM »

Quote from: Inverno on March 11, 2015, 07:30:12 PM

I got one of these today, it has humidity on it too but stays at 16% all the time. Wonder if it's disabled?

OK, I'll say it first, you generally get what you paid for.

Inverno · « **Reply #10 on:** March 11, 2015, 07:58:09 PM »

Heck of a deal for $9.95!

CW2274 · « **Reply #11 on:** March 11, 2015, 08:02:37 PM »

Quote from: Inverno on March 11, 2015, 07:58:09 PM

Heck of a deal for $9.95!

Absolutely, if you want $9.95 worth of accuracy and reliability.

Inverno · « **Reply #12 on:** March 11, 2015, 08:26:13 PM »

I'm not sure if your point. A replacement sensor on the Acurite website is $9.99. Not really breaking the bank either, just don't want to pay shipping.

nincehelser · « **Reply #13 on:** March 11, 2015, 08:39:12 PM »

Clearly he doesn't know the equipment.

CW2274 · « **Reply #14 on:** March 11, 2015, 08:42:13 PM »

Quote from: nincehelser on March 11, 2015, 08:39:12 PM

Clearly he doesn't know the equipment.

Who's "he"?

tandy1000 · « **Reply #15 on:** March 11, 2015, 08:43:53 PM »

Rats, it's 16% humidity for me too.

And it does look like it's a different model 00592TX vs 00592TXR. I'm going to open mine now as well, but at this point I'm wondering if there's a tiny bit of firmware in there where its soft-disabled. (the firmware would also give them the unique addressing)

tandy1000 · « **Reply #16 on:** March 11, 2015, 09:01:02 PM »

Yep, quite a bit different. (16% on the left)

nincehelser · « **Reply #17 on:** March 11, 2015, 09:06:15 PM »

Here's a photo of the inside. There's a space for an RH sensor on the left, but it isn't there.

This is a different board layout than my original tower. This one has a date almost two years older than my original.

Here's my original for comparison:

TD22057 · « **Reply #18 on:** March 11, 2015, 09:45:04 PM »

Quote from: CW2274 on March 11, 2015, 07:53:51 PM

Quote from: Inverno on March 11, 2015, 07:30:12 PM
I got one of these today, it has humidity on it too but stays at 16% all the time. Wonder if it's disabled?
OK, I'll say it first, you generally get what you paid for.

Yes - I got what I paid for - a temperature sensor. Not sure why you think they're any worse than any other temperature sensor you can get for these types of system. Anyway, I just set my bridge decoder to ignore the humidity reading for the temperature only ID's.

nincehelser · « **Reply #19 on:** March 11, 2015, 10:11:07 PM »

I bought mine in the store and the packaging is pretty clear. RH would have been a nice bonus, but I'm happy!

CW2274 · « **Reply #20 on:** March 11, 2015, 11:03:13 PM »

Quote from: TD22057 on March 11, 2015, 09:45:04 PM

Quote from: CW2274 on March 11, 2015, 07:53:51 PM
Quote from: Inverno on March 11, 2015, 07:30:12 PM
I got one of these today, it has humidity on it too but stays at 16% all the time. Wonder if it's disabled?
OK, I'll say it first, you generally get what you paid for.

Yes - I got what I paid for - a temperature sensor. Not sure why you think they're any worse than any other temperature sensor you can get for these types of system. Anyway, I just set my bridge decoder to ignore the humidity reading for the temperature only ID's.

OK.

Inverno · « **Reply #21 on:** March 12, 2015, 06:26:45 AM »

My old sensors must be the ones with reduced range. This one is in a similar location to one of the old ones and it has 3 bars. I'd like to be able to use the old ones somehow, just need to have a clear LOS most likely.

Inverno · « **Reply #22 on:** March 14, 2015, 11:13:35 AM »

Overcast, rainy day. The 5 in 1 and the "cheap" tower sensor are within 0.4 degrees of one another. I'll take it!

nincehelser · « **Reply #23 on:** March 14, 2015, 11:27:54 PM »

Someday it would be interesting if someone would post a picture of what the insides of one of the "reduced range" towers looks like.

I'm curious how and why they're different.

Inverno · « **Reply #24 on:** March 15, 2015, 07:16:12 AM »

I'll see what I can do today and try to post one. Rather than short range, it's almost all or nothing range.

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Author Topic: Relatively cheap additional temperature sensors (Read 6937 times)