HOBO Temperature Logger Kit – U10

Reviewed by Mike Hubbartt

Several years ago we were concerned with escalating home heating and cooling bills, I bought a standalone remote temperature monitor to monitor the temperature differences between upstairs and downstairs in our home. When I recently came across the HOBO Temp Logger, I wanted to use it to get accurate temperature records for different areas of our home, including our newly finished basement.

I installed the HOBOware Lite software on my G5 1.8 GHz iMac, then connected the temperature sensor to the USB cable I’d attached to our iMac. Temperature sampling intervals can be set from once a second to every 12 hours, and this logger can track internal battery life as well as temperature. I used the HOBOware Lite software to set up the sensor to monitor the temperature and internal battery every hour, pressed the button on the sensor, then carried the sensor to the basement bedroom window.

After 1 week I retrieved the sensor from the basement and viewed the log graphic (see Figure 1 –Week One Log) using the HOBOware Lite software. The initial temperature upstairs was 80° F, and the basement temperature was much cooler (around 60° F) the entire time the logger operated. Not surprising, as we turned down the airflow to that area to save on heating expenses since we’re not spending much time in basement. I then exported the log information to a CSV file and imported it into Excel, getting numeric information (vs. a graph). The temperature by the basement window was between 58.131° (1:33AM) and 60.172° (7:33AM) – more accurate than I need for my purposes.

Figure 1 – Week One Log

I reset the logger and returned it to the basement, although this time I wanted to monitor the temperature in different areas of the basement. For the next four days I moved the sensor to the bedroom dresser, the bathroom, the kitchen and the home theater area. On the fifth day I put the sensor out in the garage, which is insulated but not heated. The black line on the log graphic (see Figure 2 – Week Two Log) shows the temperatures.

Figure 2 – Week Two Log

The temperatures (in black – blue indicates battery levels) for different areas of the basement are consistent, but they do plunge when I moved the sensor to the garage. The outside air temperature was -1° to -5° F the night and morning I tested the sensor and yet our unheated garage never dipped below 36° F. That pleased me since we had considered heating the garage, but we really don’t need to spend the money to protect our cars if the garage stays in the mid-30s when the outside air is -5° F.

Conclusion: I like this product, although I’d prefer a wireless solution. It was easy to setup and use, but you need to take the sensor to the Mac to get the data. The HOBO is reasonably priced and useful for home or business owners that want to know how well their heating and air conditioning systems really work. Businesses that need to track temperature data will appreciate the ability to export data for import into Excel.

Recommendation: Useful, inexpensive and a good buy.