Quick update, we received a small batch of beta units (finally). I’m going to install one this weekend and give it a whirl and report back!
Some disappointing news, we will have to scrap the temperature portion for now as they just couldn’t get a reliable way for the algorithm to work properly. We’re keeping the sensor in there in hopes we can create some sort of, “build your own algorithm” type parameter, but for now to keep the project moving, we’ll just move forward with the humidity portion. However, I want to temper expectations here in that the humidity sensor relies on relative heat as well, so we’re not going to be getting exact RH% values. We’re thinking something like low, medium, high detection for now.
Expanding more on the reason why the temperature feature is not going to be promised. They did a ton of testing on various loads and found that the best they could do was to get within a 3-4 degree Celcius (up to 9 degree F) range and to me, that did not seem acceptable as most people (at least speaking from my own experience) monitor within 2-3 degrees Fahrenheit in their houses. If there was a possible 9 degree differential between floors, I would start to wonder what happened to the AC or heater!
What we are thinking about doing is building some sort of algorithm where you can input the type of device you have with as much data as you can (total watts, amps, hp, load type, etc) and it would build an algorithm based on your specific device. Then you can measure that against another sensor or thermostat to see how accurate the algorithm is.
But for the everyday person who is expecting it to work out of the box without fiddling with it, I don’t feel comfortable marketing that feature officially.