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ONSET ANNOUNCES WHITE PAPER ON EVALUATING AND DEPLOYING CONDUCTIVITY DATA LOGGERS

Onset — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 15:23:31 -0400

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ONSET ANNOUNCES WHITE PAPER ON EVALUATING AND DEPLOYING CONDUCTIVITY DATA LOGGERS

BOURNE, MA, August 27, 2010 - The importance of good water quality cannot be overstated. It is essential not only for the health of the general population, but also for the network of ecosystems that it supports. Surface and groundwater contamination is of great concern for biologists, environmental scientists, researchers, and water quality managers who assess the effects of natural and manmade pollutants on water supplies.

Conductivity data loggers are ideal for measuring and monitoring the impact of pollutants, such as road salt, agricultural and highway runoff, chemical spill, and salt water intrusion on water supplies and aquatic ecosystems.

A new white paper from Onset (http://www.onsetcomp.com), entitled Choosing a Conductivity Logger – 5 Things You Should Know, provides tips and advice on how to evaluate conductivity data loggers for freshwater monitoring applications, and highlights five key considerations one should make when evaluating and deploying these instruments.

A free copy of the white paper can be downloaded at http://www.onsetcomp.com/conductivitywp.

ROBOTIC STORAGE FACILITY PROTECTS EXOTIC COLLECTIBLES WITH WIRELESS ENVIRONMENTAL SENSORS

Onset — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 11:34:13 -0400

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ROBOTIC STORAGE FACILITY PROTECTS EXOTIC COLLECTIBLES WITH WIRELESS ENVIRONMENTAL SENSORS

BOURNE, MA, August 3, 2010 - When your primary worker is a 70-ton robot, you try your best to stay out of its way. Such is the case at RoboVault, an ultra-modern, high-tech storage facility in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, which uses the largest and tallest robotic crane in the United States to move exotic vehicles and other precious items that it houses for clients worldwide. Items are stored a minimum of 30 feet above sea level in an area of the warehouse where there is no human access – there are no staircases or elevators to the storage floors.

Since the facility also stores rare paintings, historic documents, vintage wine, antiques, forensic evidence, sports memorabilia and other climate-sensitive items, RoboVault carefully monitors the humidity and temperature within its hurricane-proof walls. But each time a human enters the vault to check environmental readings, the automated robot must halt its work to ensure safety.

To put an end to this disruptive practice, RoboVault recently installed wireless environmental sensors from Massachusetts-based Onset Computer Corp. to measure the climate at the self-storage facility. With the new sensors – Onset's HOBO® ZW Series – RoboVault employees can now see in real time any changes that occur in temperature or humidity, without having to enter the vault, because the remote network of data nodes sends the climate information wirelessly to an office computer.

"We need to maintain climatic conditions that are conducive for the longevity of items that are rare and valuable," said Marvin Chaney, RoboVault's president and chief operating officer. "So we have to ensure on a daily basis that there are no issues with our climate control systems. Transmitting the data to our office is so much more convenient than sending a person down to check temperature and humidity manually every day."

In addition to monitoring temperature and relative humidity, the wireless data logger devices can accommodate sensors that measure air conditioning voltage, amperage, kilowatts, kilowatt hours, gauge pressure, and more. One network can support up to 100 data nodes, creating a self-healing system that can monitor many different points. Thus, the data nodes are ideal for storage facilities, museums and office buildings.

RoboVault placed its data nodes throughout the 155,000 square foot storage facility to monitor the environment in special modules for wine, vehicles, and other items as well as safe deposit boxes. The data system allows RoboVault to make sure the building maintains a museum quality climate of 72 degrees Fahrenheit with humidity around 50 percent. In its wine storage units, the temperature is 55 degrees with humidity levels of between 68 and 70 percent.

The wireless data nodes work together in a wireless network to send logged data automatically to a remote computer at regular intervals. This provides greater convenience than conventional, standalone data loggers, which must be retrieved so the collected environmental data can be manually offloaded onto a computer.

The data nodes come with advanced software for managing the sensor network, called HOBOnode™ Manager. The software allows RoboVault to view the data and plot it to analyze trends in interior climate change.

As an extra level of assurance, RoboVault has configured the data nodes with alarm settings that will notify employees via email or text messaging if temperature or humidity levels fluctuate beyond levels the company prescribes.

"The wireless data nodes are new but functioning nicely so far in our warehouse. It has been interesting to see the fluctuations from daytime to nighttime – just a couple of degrees. I set the parameters to alarm when a change of one degree happened and was alerted. It has given us another level of comfort that in the event of significant atmospheric change in the warehouse, we will be alerted immediately," said Matt Pici, RoboVault's director of business development.

For security and convenience, the facility keeps human entry to a minimum. The robotic crane and rail system delivers possessions out of the facility. Clients activate the process by first entering a personal PIN into a kiosk built into the advanced security system, which uses biometrics, motion sensors, photoelectric beams, door contacts, networked closed circuit televisions and card access.

The facility was built to protect its contents not only from wily thieves, but also Category 5 hurricanes with 200 mph winds. "When there is a hurricane in Florida, this is the safest place for us and our families to be. We do not vacate, but stay here and ensure the security of the stored items," Chaney said.

Chaney conceived RoboVault after two decades in the storage business and study of robotic parking in Europe. The Onset® data nodes are his latest high tech addition to make the facility a one-of-a-kind structure that engenders worry-free storage of valuable possessions.

Robotic Storage Facility Protects Exotic Collectibles With HOBO Data Nodes

Onset — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 09:21:55 -0400

RoboVault recently installed wireless environmental sensors from Massachusetts-based Onset Computer Corp. to measure the climate at the self-storage facility. With the new sensors – Onset's HOBO® ZW Series – RoboVault employees can now see in real time any changes that occur in temperature or humidity, without having to enter the vault, because the remote network of data nodes sends the climate information wirelessly to an office computer.

Assessing Wind Power Potential in Northwestern Pennsylvania

Onset — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 15:21:37 -0400

Acutec Precision Machining, Inc. in Saegertown, PA uses a large amount of electricity in its machining operations, and anticipates increased expenditures for electricity use with upcoming deregulation of electrical power generation. With its operation sited atop a windy ridge, the firm is interested in determining if there is sufficient wind to power a commercial wind turbine that could satisfy the firm's annual electrical needs. According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory wind resource map for Pennsylvania, annual average wind speeds in Saegertown at the location of Acutec are approximately 4.0-5.5m/s (8.9-12.3mph) at a height of 80m (262ft) above ground level. These wind speeds are within the range generally considered to be sufficient for wind turbine placement, but the data were modeled and were not obtained by direct measurement. Because of the large capital investment required for wind turbines, it is critical to measure wind speeds directly at a proposed location. Thus, the purpose of this study is to measure actual wind speed and direction at the location of Acutec Precision Machining, Inc.

ONSET ANNOUNCES ENERGY MONITORING RESOURCES CD

Onset — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 15:23:04 -0400

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ONSET ANNOUNCES ENERGY MONITORING RESOURCES CD

BOURNE, MA, July 22, 2010 - Onset (http://www.onsetcomp.com), the world's leading supplier of data loggers, today announced the availability of an informative resources CD offering hands-on tips on applying data loggers in building performance monitoring applications. The CD includes white papers, webinars and podcast interviews discussing how portable data loggers can streamline energy efficiency projects to yield optimum building energy performance.

Assessing “Building EQ”

Onset — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 08:34:30 -0400

Ruairi Barnwell of Chicago-based Building Momentum Group discusses how his company uses data loggers for holistic building assessment. Barnwell also describes the Building Energy Quotient pilot program launched by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). He was among 17 engineers nationwide selected to participate in the pilot program. Barnwell assessed Building EQ in the state-owned John W. McCormack Building in Boston.

Florida researcher uses data loggers to predict sea turtle hatchling gender

Onset — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 08:19:01 -0400

Over the last decade, Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (RBNERR) and the Conservancy of Southwest Florida collaborated to deploy temperature data loggers in loggerhead nests to monitor incubation temperatures on Keewaydin Island, Collier County, Florida.

ONSET ANNOUNCES EXPANDED MEASUREMENT OPTIONS FOR HOBO® DATA LOGGERS

Onset — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 14:42:20 -0400

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ONSET ANNOUNCES EXPANDED MEASUREMENT OPTIONS FOR HOBO® DATA LOGGERS

BOURNE, MA, June 22, 2010 - Onset (http://www.onsetcomp.com), the world’s leading supplier of data loggers, today announced that it has broadened its offerings for energy and environmental monitoring by expanding the range of measurement options for its line of HOBO U12 data loggers. Specifically, multi-channel versions of HOBO U12 data loggers can now measure and record kilowatts, air velocity, gauge pressure, differential pressure, DC current and other energy and environmental parameters.

The expanded measurements are possible through the introduction of a new, compact power adapter. The adapter enables energy and building management professionals to conveniently power external sensors that require 12 volt A/C excitation power. This augments the company’s existing line of measurement options, which includes air temperature, relative humidity, light intensity, AC current, and AC voltage. The adapter can also power any user-supplied external sensor that requires up to 400 mA at 12 VDC.

HOBO U12 data loggers are small, durable devices designed for high-accuracy indoor environmental and energy monitoring. They can record data unattended for days, weeks, or months at a time storing up to 43,000 measurements. Using a USB connection, HOBO U12 data loggers offer convenient, high-speed data offload directly to a computer or to a HOBO U-Shuttle data transport device.

For plotting and analyzing data gathered by the HOBO U12 data loggers, Onset offers HOBOware® software, an intuitive graphing and analysis software package for Windows and Macintosh. HOBOware provides a user-friendly interface for graphing, analyzing, and printing data files as well as exporting data to Microsoft Excel and other spreadsheet programs. To learn more about the new sensor power adapter and HOBO U12 data loggers, including technical specifications and pricing details, please visit http://www.onsetcomp.com.

ONSET ANNOUNCES ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING PRODUCT CATALOG

Onset — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 14:01:34 -0400

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ONSET ANNOUNCES ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING PRODUCT CATALOG

BOURNE, MA, June 9, 2010 - Onset (http://www.onsetcomp.com), the world’s leading supplier of data loggers, today announced the availability of the company’s new Energy and Environmental Monitoring Product Catalog.

The 75-page catalog provides product descriptions, technical specifications, and pricing for the company’s full line of HOBO® data logging solutions used in energy management, field research, and water resources management. This includes stand-alone data loggers, web-based data logging systems, and wireless sensor networks.

The catalog is available for download at http://www.onsetcomp.com/catalog.

Green Roof Performance to be Tracked with Weather Stations

Onset — Wed, 19 May 2010 10:22:12 -0400

Allegheny County officials are facing an expensive wastewater system upgrade, and they hope reducing storm water will help reduce the severity of Combined Sewage Overflows (CSOs). A few months ago, they settled on a green roof solution; a plan to cover one half of the building’s roof with boxes of plants settled in a growing medium. The area is as wide as a basketball court and twice as long.

GREEN ROOF PERFORMANCE TO BE TRACKED WITH WEATHER STATIONS

Onset — Tue, 18 May 2010 14:41:49 -0400

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ONSET WEATHER STATIONS TO VERIFY REDUCED STORMWATER RUNOFF FROM STIMULUS-FUNDED GREEN ROOF

BOURNE, MA, May 21, 2010 - The managers of an 87-year-old government building in Pittsburgh have a challenge: reduce the amount of rainwater that runs off the roof.

Allegheny County officials are facing an expensive wastewater system upgrade, and they hope reducing stormwater will help reduce the severity of Combined Sewage Overflows (CSOs). A few months ago, they settled on a green roof solution; a plan to cover one half of the building’s roof with boxes of plants settled in a growing medium. The area is as wide as a basketball court and twice as long.

In April, 2010, they began to build the green roof, and chose to equip the new roof with web-based weather stations from Massachusetts-based Onset to monitor its performance.

Monitoring the green roof’s success in reducing runoff is critical to the project, according to Darla Cravotta, the special projects coordinator with Allegheny County.

“We can’t talk about the benefits of a green roof without monitoring it,” said Cravotta. “But when we have data, we can encourage other people to build green roofs,” she said.

Allegheny County has a team of four companies working on the project, which is being funded through the Department of Energy’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The project team includes Cuddy Roofing, Eisler Landscapes, IVC Architects, and Civil & Environmental Consultants, Inc. (CEC). The first three companies are working on designing and building the green roof, while it will be up to Pittsburgh-based CEC to monitor a multitude of data points over the next six years.

John Buck of CEC will use the eight Onset HOBO® U3O weather stations with approximately 90 sensors to track soil temperature, soil moisture, runoff duration, wind speed, wind direction, air temperature, relative humidity and solar radiation.

It’s not the first time Buck has used Onset devices in a project. In a 2005 job, for example, he used Onset data loggers to track data for an alternative soil cap study at a solid waste disposal site. “We had a pretty hot setup for the time,” Buck said. “We created a 900 MHz network that relayed data and emailed me three times a day.” But that system had weaknesses that the U30 devices have overcome, he said. “When you consider the dependence of that system on the computer at the site, and the power outages, Windows® updates, and the fact that the computer hated zero degree weather,” he said, “you’ve got a lot of variables. The HOBO U30 cut out the intermediate computer and 900 MHz radios and simplified the system.”

Originally, Buck wanted to use Wi-Fi communications for all eight weather stations. “But it turns out that Wi-Fi did not transmit through the roof,” he said.

Instead, he put two Ethernet-enabled U30s inside the government building and placed an access point on the roof so that the other six Wi-Fi devices up there could communicate. Buck is using Onset’s HOBOlink® web server as a data repository and a way to monitor the system remotely, sensor-by-sensor.

The stations will also be used to detect humidity spikes in several roof areas. The county administrators acknowledged that the 1923 building already had a history of roof leaks, a problem that could be made worse by putting structures up there. “There are people who are understandably nervous about more roof leaks,” Buck said.

If pre-set humidity limits are reached – which could suggest a possible roof leak – the station will automatically send Buck a text message alert. “We’ll get a message before the water starts dripping,” he said. “That wasn’t a primary objective of the project, but it is a benefit.”

ONSET ANNOUNCES WIRELESS SENSORS FOR ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING

Onset — Wed, 05 May 2010 12:30:16 -0400

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ONSET ANNOUNCES WIRELESS SENSORS FOR ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING

BOURNE, MA, May 5, 2010 — Onset (http://www.onsetcomp.com), the world’s leading supplier of data loggers, today announced the HOBO® ZW Series, a family of wireless data nodes for centralized monitoring of energy use and environmental conditions in buildings.

HOBO ZW Series data nodes reduce the cost and complexity of data collection by measuring, recording and transmitting real-time energy use and environmental data – from dozens of points – to a central PC. Different from traditional data loggers, HOBO data nodes work together in a self-healing wireless network to transmit logged data to a PC at regular intervals. This eliminates the need of having to spend time retrieving collected data from individual data loggers deployed throughout a facility.

The wireless nodes can measure temperature, relatively humidity, kilowatt hours, CO2, AC voltage, amps, gauge pressure, and a variety of other parameters.

“With HOBO data nodes, we’ve combined the industry-proven reliability of HOBO data loggers with wireless MESH sensor technology to make energy and environmental data collection fast, simple, and economical,” said Frank Deshaies, product marketing manager for Onset. “Whether you are a facility manager looking at indoor air quality, a building energy manager tracking energy use, or a warehouse manager keeping an eye on temperature and humidity levels, HOBO data nodes takes portable data logging to a new level of flexibility and convenience.”

Easy to install in any facility, HOBO data nodes harness the power of self-healing MESH networking technology. This ensures that data is automatically routed back to a PC without manual intervention, while making it fast and easy to set up a sensor network.

Accompanying HOBOware® Pro 3.0 software lets you quickly and easily configure data node networks, view real-time energy and environmental data, and set alarms for any sensors on the network. Alarm notifications can be sent via text messaging to your cell phone, and/or email to your PC. The software also provides a Network Map feature that provides an at-a-glance view of your network, and allows exporting of data to Microsoft Excel and other spreadsheet programs with a single click.

HOBO ZW Series data nodes are available immediately from Onset. Visit http://www.onsetcomp.com/indoor-wireless-hobo-data-nodes for pricing details and technical specifications.

DATA LOGGERS TO ASSESS AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM EFFICIENCY GAINS IN CALIFORNIA HOMES

Onset — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 08:37:35 -0400

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DATA LOGGERS TO ASSESS AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM EFFICIENCY GAINS IN CALIFORNIA HOMES

BOURNE, MA, April 29, 2010 — Onset (http://www.onsetcomp.com), the world’s leading supplier of data loggers, today announced that its HOBO® U-Series temperature and motor on/off data loggers have been selected for an air conditioning system monitoring pilot program in San Joaquin Valley, California.

The nine-week study, funded by the California Energy Commission, will look at energy savings realized through the use of an Enhanced Fan Delay – a retrofit device HVAC contractors can apply to residential air conditioners to improve cooling performance in hot-dry climates.

“After a system’s compressor shuts down in hot-dry environments such as the Western U.S., water that has condensed on the evaporator coil can be re-evaporated into the conditioned space to boost the sensible efficiency of the unit,” said Adrian Hairrell, an engineer with Proctor Engineering Group (PEG), the San Rafael, CA-based engineering consulting firm developing the devices.

“The purpose of this study is to compare the energy use of a standard system to that of the same system with the Enhanced Fan Delay control added. Our goal for the project is to realize at least 7% energy use savings in each California climate zone we monitor.”

The monitoring period for each participating home will run for approximately nine weeks beginning in May 2010. All participating homes are located within the San Joaquin Valley region, where blazing summertime temperatures –

reaching 115° F – lead to heavy air conditioning use among residents.

The Onset data loggers, which are compact, battery-powered devices, will be installed on the air conditioning units to measure supply and return air temperatures, fan and compressor runtime patterns, and compressor amperage. The recorded data will be offloaded onto a PC using accompanying HOBOware® graphing and analysis software, and then exported into a spreadsheet program for detailed analysis.

“In the past, we’ve used data logging devices that could take up to eight hours to install at each site, which can be very imposing on the homeowner,” said Hairrell. “One of the benefits of the Onset loggers is that they can be installed very quickly – minutes vs. hours – so the homeowner doesn’t have to spend a lot of time waiting around.”

The results of the study are expected to be published in a report in early 2011.

Data loggers shed light on mysterious bat disease

Onset — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 16:09:03 -0400

Wildlife researchers are alarmed at a serious threat facing bat populations in the northeastern United States. It’s estimated that one million bats have died in hibernation and researchers are scrambling to understand why. The unexplained illness is known as “white-nose syndrome” (WNS) because many affected bats develop halos of white fungus on their faces.

Carl Bakker is a researcher studying this mysterious, fast-spreading disease affecting bats in the Northeast. Below he discusses an early warning system he developed to determine how far west the syndrome will migrate.

Bottle maker uses data loggers for low-cost air waste detection

Onset — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 09:48:45 -0400