HOBO Data Loggers: Monitoring Conditions for Hardwood Flooring Installations

Problem

Expensive hardwood floors come with a warranty, and without solid evidence that indoor environmental conditions are properly maintained during and after installation, a flooring company could find itself on the hook for damage caused by something over which it has no control. With this in mind, the owner of an award-winning wood floor installation company in Baltimore, MD reached out to Onset for an easy-to-deploy HOBO monitoring solution that gives him the data he needs to not only ensure a quality installation, but also to protect his company from being held responsible for damage caused by poor facility management.

Solution

To replace the flooring company's current method of checking one-time high/low temperature and humidity readings with small devices purchased from The Home Depot, Onset recommended the affordable, Bluetooth-enabled HOBO MX1101 Temperature/Relative Humidity data logger with LCD display or the rugged HOBO MX2301A Temperature/Relative Humidity data logger. With just a smartphone, tablet, or Windows computer running the free HOBOconnect app, when within 100 feet of these loggers the user can wirelessly download highly accurate temperature and humidity data, view graphs for easy trend analysis, and seamlessly share data files via text or email.

The flooring company selected the HOBO MX2301A logger, built with an IP67 rated housing to withstand harsh environments. Unlike The Home Depot solution, the HOBO solution provides continuous readings over time. And because there's no need to physically retrieve the unit to download data, the loggers can be deployed in harder-to-reach locations (even under floorboards) where they're less apt to go missing.

Results

Once the contract has been signed and the jobsite surveyed, the flooring company immediately deploys at least one HOBO MX2301A data logger at the site, informs the general contractor of the deployment, and begins logging temperature and relative humidity measurements every 15 minutes. The historical record of the indoor environmental conditions is the critical evidence the flooring company needs if the quality of its work is ever called into question.

For example, the company was able to produce a HOBO data graph that showed spikes of 98% humidity every weekend during the summer in a recreation center where the gym floor became entirely buckled. It turns out that the spikes in humidity were due to the facility shutting off the air-conditioning on the weekends. But without the data to prove it, the company would have had to spend time and money to replace the floor.

Now, the company is looking into further increasing its cost-savings by reducing the need for multiple site visits with the addition of the MX Gateway, a small device that automatically transmits data from MX Series data loggers right to the cloud. And, for larger-scale projects, the owner is also excited about the possibility of using Onset's award-winning HOBOnet system, a cost-effective, powerful network of wireless sensors that sends indoor environmental data straight to the cloud via a HOBO RX monitoring station.

Products Used