Any wifi thermometer recommendations out there?

JohnNY · March 24

Hello all,

I've got a client who decided to rent her giant home while she lives abroad. The new tenant complains about the heat incessantly. My client insists the heat has always worked fine and is asking me to provide remote readable (wifi) temperature sensors (thermometers) to place around the house so that we (lucky me) can see what's happening in there. The sensors do NOT have to have a display. A remote-read app or something would be fine.
Anyone? Anyone?

Many thanks,

John Cataneo

GGross · March 24

There are a few folks here that got into monitoring their own systems and maybe they have a better solution. but I did find these things on amazon and they are pretty cheap, battery powered and claim to not need a hub, though they will likely steal your data for google and the battery needs to be replaced about 3 times a year. would be neat to build something out of generic sensors but I don't have the knowledge of how to integrate that with wifi .

https://www.amazon.com/Temperature-Hygrometer-Thermometer-Precision-Compatible/dp/B0CSJQXPFL/ref%3Dsr_1_18?adgrpid=194862865188&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.-8cBR9s--Bu1jGflZwHuONZEYIScutvNiGIRzL646Z_SA6Zel_UyMW0LGiJoiqwkO1nJ3Rec5Oh_z89s7B7VZmCwxhKG5WX7culyBlN12ROpNgxye_nJMiW8bxGZANn_6lI-puOwhRcRVk97u9qvKp98Kks2Hr3dlrRqPER_Ut3wDCQvZFNAkbh54A6i0at2dChsMxdEXjgv7chrigowUeHU-eIucdKTrRhruha069WGWLO1CpQU8nXM-MEVQjmCLx7PckyDbKrPvO70W68phzTTH2ewRv6M6RkVHx9QAsE.gVXzSsSdtd_3NKs31WnYkogKsQhSSZrBmdDyhAUyZc4&dib_tag=se&hvadid=792678838786&hvdev=c&hvexpln=0&hvlocphy=9017647&hvnetw=g&hvocijid=12416766524874032860--&hvqmt=b&hvrand=12416766524874032860&hvtargid=kwd-5732156490&hydadcr=9009_13912852_2312757&keywords=wifi+thermometer&mcid=d10cfd05ec77366bb2ced64f24ee4c27&qid=1774370790&sr=8-18

EricPeterson · March 24

Govee works for me. You can add more sensors but you do need a hub for remote monitoring. I balanced my radiators with these:

https://us.govee.com/products/goveelife-smart-thermo-hygrometer-2s-lite

—Eric

SlamDunk · March 24

Don't shoot the messenger but the latest Nest thermostat can be coupled with several remote thermometers that look like small river pebbles. The stat can control to one, none or to the average. The stat can be controlled remotely and locked out locally. All sensors display temps on app. Why settle for just reading temps when you can also control the heat source too.

JohnNY · March 25

@SlamDunk That sounds good. No messenger shooting necessary. As long as the resident can maintain control this should work. There are about a dozen zones in the house, so I'll figure out how to sell this. Thank you very much.

JC

ChrisJ · March 25

The Honeywell Prestige also can use remote wireless sensors and it can either average from all of them, or be controlled by one. It also can connect to the internet if you buy the internet gateway.

You're probably looking at $400 these days all said and done for a single unit, but since the stat is only 2 wires and the bulk of the relays etc all go by the equipment, there's no need to run new wires or use transformers etc.

JohnNY · March 25

To be clear, I'm not looking for any functionality at all aside from monitoring to confirm room temperatures when the client calls with a complaint.

SlamDunk · March 25

then govee is the way to go if there is wifi

bjohnhy · March 27

Govee is nice. Depending on the model of Govee sensor, it may need the separate hub for wifi access (remote) as opposed to local(Bluetooth). All Govee sensors that I've seen provide historical data that can be graphed highlighting the high and low temp of the time frame you choose to review.

SteamingatMohawk · March 27

If you look at my comments in other postings, for my single pipe steam system with front and rear mains I mention that I have a Honeywell wireless thermostat with the Equipment Interface Module coupled with the Red Link gateway to a router I have in the basement. Originally, I piggybacked off of a tenant's router, but splurged and got my own internet setup.

Thermostat has no wires, so it can be located anywhere any time without running wiring. With the gateway, I have internet connection and can monitor the thermostat, including changing the temperature, on my phone. I do not do setbacks.

I also have Govee thermometer/hygrometer sensors in each apartment and in the basement to primarily monitor temperatures. The hub is plugged in to an outlet in the basement.

The thermostat and sensors are battery operated. Govee recently upgraded their sensors to use a larger battery that lasts longer.

I don't have the model numbers at my home, so if you want them, I will have to get back to you or you can message me separately.

One of the things I really like is being able to be in the basement and not have to go to from the basement , out the back, in the front and up the stairs to get to the thermostat to change settings…just use my phone. That was a royal pain years ago when I struggled with balancing the system, which is why I spent the $$.

SteamingatMohawk · March 27

The house is about 100 years old and was converted from a two family to 4 units before I bought it in 1989. I just noticed you mention 12 zones. This house has one zone in the coldest room in the house.

The thermometers are totally independent of the thermostat.

ratio · March 28

Back to the original question, I'm playing around with some LoRaWAN temp sensors to monitor remotely. They claim several km transmission distance in an urban area, the one I've got (Dragino LHT65) says 10 years on its battery.

It's a pretty big roll out on the back end (from the radio receiver to usable data), so it's probably not the right thing for onsie twosies, but if this is something you do often, or would like to, so far it seems like it's the answer. There are also commercial ventures that handle the back end (The Thing Network, etc.) that would seem to give you good coverage in areas they are present. It's also fairly simple to integrate into a home automation system, which dispite it's consumer-sounding name is positioned between a full-on BAS and a smart thermostat app.

IIRC @Sailah has some experience with LoRaWAN sensors.

Any wifi thermometer recommendations out there?

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