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  • 1.  Humidity Reader

    Posted 06-08-2023 03:04 PM
    We want to start taking humidity readings in our historic house museum. Does anyone have a view on better options? In this day and age, is it possible to get something that tracks humidity levels into an app or website, or do they still all require active monitoring?

    Thanks so much,
    Rowena

    --
    Rowena Houghton Dasch, PhD
    Executive Director, Neill-Cochran House Museum
    2310 San Gabriel Street
    Austin, Texas 78705
    (512) 478-2335
    AAM Annual Meeting & MuseumExpo, Baltimore, May 16-19, 2024, click to learn more


  • 2.  RE: Humidity Reader

    Posted 06-08-2023 04:04 PM

    These are the units we use. 

    https://www.eclimatenotebook.com/pem2_nl.php

    Eclimatenotebook remove preview
    Technical support for the Preservation Environment Monitor (PEM2®). This compact, highly accurate data logger is the easiest-to-use device of its kind on the market. The outstanding feature of the PEM2 is its method of data retrieval: USB flash drive (commonly called a thumb drive or USB key) inserted directly into the logger.
    View this on Eclimatenotebook >



    ------------------------------
    DIANE GUTENKAUF
    Senior Assistant Director, Operations & Strategy

    University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
    College of Fine and Applied Arts
    Krannert Art Museum
    500 East Peabody Drive | M/C 592
    Champaign, IL 61820
    217-333-3437 | dianeg3@illinois.edu
    kam.illinois.edu

    Under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act any written communication to or from university employees regarding university business is a public record and may be subject to public disclosure.
    ------------------------------

    AAM Annual Meeting & MuseumExpo, Baltimore, May 16-19, 2024, click to learn more


  • 3.  RE: Humidity Reader

    Posted 06-09-2023 09:27 AM

    Hi Rowena,

    We use HOBO data loggers from ONSET (part number: MX1101). The devices can be paired with the HOBOconnect app; as long as you are within range of the Bluetooth (~100 feet) you can read the data from your phone without physically connecting to the logger. I would also recommend purchasing the MX Gateway, which publishes real-time data from your loggers to a website that can be checked from anywhere. This device also allows you to create alarms for your RH and Temp levels that can alert your staff via text message or email.  



    ------------------------------
    Rebekah Furey
    Collections Manager
    Conner Prairie Museum
    Fishers IN
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    AAM Annual Meeting & MuseumExpo, Baltimore, May 16-19, 2024, click to learn more


  • 4.  RE: Humidity Reader

    Posted 06-09-2023 11:17 AM
    We use Conserv which is wireless, uploads to the cloud, and you can set alerts if the readings go outside a range you want it to stay in.

    Conserv.io

    -Melanie Deer

    Sent from my T-Mobile 5G Device
    Get Outlook for Android



    AAM Annual Meeting & MuseumExpo, Baltimore, May 16-19, 2024, click to learn more


  • 5.  RE: Humidity Reader

    Posted 06-09-2023 10:18 AM

    Greetings Rowena - At the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, NM we FORMERLY used PEM2 loggers and the eClimate Notebook, cloud-based trend graphing and preservation data interpretation for almost 20 years. The units have a real-time LCD readout of temperature and relative humidity and require hand-held downloads using a USB stick and then computer-based uploads to the software. For archiving and non-application analysis, we also kept the data as CSV in microsoft excel. We kept up the calibration and battery replacement schedule, which was minimal and reliable, but the units were sometimes finicky, requiring only certain USB sticks to download the data and rejecting others, while also sometimes refusing to download data altogether. They share the same common resistance sensors as Hobo Units.

    We are now a year into replacing all of our PEM2 units at our two historic homes, 10 exhibition galleries and four collection storage areas and library / archives with Conserv data collection units and cloud based software - https://conserv.io/ . The units report in real time to a very UX friendly cloud-based software using LoRaWAN (a long-range radio rework technology), not Bluetooth or WiFi. The user interface is far more intuitive than EClimate Notebook in my opinion and, I think more importantly, Conserv has built an amazing community of users who actively interact and discuss issues related to climate, integrated pest management, light exposure and a growing number of physical preservation parameters. We are increasingly happy with this option. The data is open and non-proprietary, so you are not locking your data up in a code-vault that only Conserv can help you open up. It's CSV data, you can archive it and chart it in Excel anytime you want. Have a look.



    ------------------------------
    Dale Kronkright
    Head of Conservation
    Georgia O'Keeffe Museum
    Santa Fe NM
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    AAM Annual Meeting & MuseumExpo, Baltimore, May 16-19, 2024, click to learn more