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Remote Humidor Monitoring

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I really want to do the Raspberry PI humidity monitor deal but it's a little more technical than I want to get. Plus unless I can connect to Xfinity wifi hotspot at my office I couldn't monitor my coolidor there anyway. I'm trying to rig up an eco smart plug to the hotspot next door and connect a fan to it on a timer so it'll circulate the air in the coolidor for a couple minutes every hour or so. Projects projects.


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I'm not familiar with that stuff but it looks like it is a DIY project. It looks customizable if you know how to build it. Where SensorPush is ready to go for $50 per monitor. You don't need WiFi, even if you have multiple sensors, unless you want to monitor from more than a couple of hundred feet away. It uses a different Bluetooth technology, similar to iBeacon, than standard Bluetooth commonly used for audio/video connectivity.
 
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Yeah your setup is nice. But I've got my coolidor at the office 10 minutes away and that wifi bridge add on is steep for sensor push. Still haven't found a great write up on the homemade route though.


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Ok, I'm fortunate that I can work from my home office 90% of the time. Maybe you'll find someone who can help. I have done research on Bluetooth and WiFi for in home medical monitoring.
 
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This week I decided to check out if there was a difference in my humidor’s RH between measuring on the underside of the top lid and measurements at the bottom. I was curious and have heard several theories so I thought I would check it out.

I have a 150 stick humi from Waxing Moon. It’s not packed tight so I still use the ventilated trays on the top. The humi holds humidity very well.

I calibrated a digital hydrometer and attached to the inside lid and I had my SensorPush in the top tray right under the digital one and let it rest 2 days. Then measured the RH and the two were within .2% RH, close enough. I didn’t add any hydration at this point.

I then added distilled water to my 65% 2-way beads. I have beads in a tray unit that is suspended on the inside lid and I have a bead tube I use on the bottom. I hydrated both sets of beads. Then I placed my SensorPush in the bottom.

So hydration and hydrometer inside the upper lid plus hydration and hydrometer in the bottom. Then 2, side-by-side vented upper trays and the bottom storage. I have about 60 or so sticks distributed upper and lower so air can circulate. I closed the lid and monitored the SensorPush device and waited a couple days. The SensorPush registered 65.7% RH changing + and - about .3% RH through the 2 days.

Today I went to grab a couple of sticks to have them handy to smoke. The digital hygrometer on the lid measured 74% RH and the SensorPush was measuring 65.6% at the time. That’s a difference of just over 8% RH between the top and bottom using 2-way 65% beads.

My conclusion is the hydration beads on top are shot and not functioning. They are taking in hydration but just letting it evaporate until dry. The beads are no longer functioning as 2-way hydration regulation.

Any thoughts?
 
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I am intrigued by this. I like the idea of having the monitor on my phone, since my cigar storage is not easily accessible.
 
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I’ve had a Sensor Push for about four months now. Not a technical person and to be honest, I still struggle with the whole humidity and temperature thing and understanding the deep mechanics. I was able to calibrate the sensor easily. It’s well spent money to keep tabs on the life of your cigars. I still buy more than I can smoke, so being able to monitor to ensure I’m not allowing an environment for beetles to manifest, or for them to dry out, is a plus for me.
 
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Boveda has an 'Early Adopter' discount from their ad on FB for their new remote monitoring. I ordered one.
I watched the video about this and read all the details about the device and setup on their website and it's not really remote monitoring. It only communicates to your phone/boveda app through Bluetooth so you can only monitor it remotely within a close proximity to the device. One of the tags says something like "monitor from a different country" but there's no mention of wifi connectivity at all which would be essential to enabling this in any way.
 

PetersCreek

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I watched the video about this and read all the details about the device and setup on their website and it's not really remote monitoring. It only communicates to your phone/boveda app through Bluetooth so you can only monitor it remotely within a close proximity to the device. One of the tags says something like "monitor from a different country" but there's no mention of wifi connectivity at all which would be essential to enabling this in any way.
The sensor is labeled, "Powered by: blustream" so I went to their website. For remote monitoring, you need a second Internet-connected smart device (with app installed) to act as a "bridge."
 
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The sensor is labeled, "Powered by: blustream" so I went to their website. For remote monitoring, you need a second Internet-connected smart device (with app installed) to act as a "bridge."
Wow, good find. Boveda is just selling their product with Boveda branding. I looked for the info just on the Boveda site.

Sounds like a hassle, it goes without saying that even if you have a spare tablet or smartphone laying around doing nothing, and probably many or most people do, you are going to have to leave it near the humi on and connected to power to monitor remotely. I presume they left wifi off the sensor because demands for wifi are much higher than Bluetooth and the battery will last longer on the sensor but I think it would have been better to then market some kind of base station with wifi so you can get an all-in-one remote monitoring solution out of the box.
 
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I'm sure it does a fine job. Ii's the same price, $49, as SensoePush for the Bluetooth monitoring sensor. If all your remote SensorPush sensors are in your home you monitor all of them on one smartphone. If you want to monitor from any location, SensorPuch has the WiFi Gateway for $99. With the WiFi gateway you can monitor all the sensors without limit to your location. You just need Wifi and a SensorPush gateway at each remote site you monitor.
 
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The sensor is labeled, "Powered by: blustream" so I went to their website. For remote monitoring, you need a second Internet-connected smart device (with app installed) to act as a "bridge."
Wow, good find. Boveda is just selling their product with Boveda branding. I looked for the info just on the Boveda site.

Sounds like a hassle, it goes without saying that even if you have a spare tablet or smartphone laying around doing nothing, and probably many or most people do, you are going to have to leave it near the humi on and connected to power to monitor remotely. I presume they left wifi off the sensor because demands for wifi are much higher than Bluetooth and the battery will last longer on the sensor but I think it would have been better to then market some kind of base station with wifi so you can get an all-in-one remote monitoring solution out of the box.
I'm sure it does a fine job. Ii's the same price, $49, as SensoePush for the Bluetooth monitoring sensor. If all your remote SensorPush sensors are in your home you monitor all of them on one smartphone. If you want to monitor from any location, SensorPuch has the WiFi Gateway for $99. With the WiFi gateway you can monitor all the sensors without limit to your location. You just need Wifi and a SensorPush gateway at each remote site you monitor.
Y'all had me worried, so I read and re-read. I have a spare iPad, so I can use that for a "bridge". Shouldn't be an issue at all. Remote observation is my goal.
 
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I’m using the wireless sensor tag pro to monitor temp, humidity and motion in my wineadoor. I’ve got a tag in each drawer so I’ve got an idea of what’s going on at different points in my wineadoor. It’s definitely for the more technically inclined, but I’ve had fun with it.

http://wirelesstag.net/


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I am using Eve weather kit, that is Apple HomeKit compatible. I can just ask Siri "whats the humidity in the humidor". I am sure there is more of those compatible products.
 

Jfire

BoM 9/9' 9/11' 8/12'
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One of my desktops read 58% the other day and I added water. True story. Stop worrying gents. None of this is necessary.


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If you’re really worried stuff if full.
 
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