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Show HN: Low cost CO₂ monitoring (your office) with Prometheus and Go

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Re: Show HN: Low cost CO₂ monitoring (your office) with Prometheus and Go

#21

Post by Animats »

dualogy wrote: post #20
Animats wrote: post #16

This is another way to do IoT wrong - collecting data but just displaying it. The idea is to use CO₂ levels to control your HVAC system. The HVAC system should be able to draw fresh air from outside or recirculate air from inside, depending on CO₂ level. This is a standard option on modern HVAC systems, and there are standard sensors for it. Better systems sense temperature, CO₂, CO, humidity, and smoke. This is a hu…

> Surprisingly, this technology is a tough sell. Well, in the Office for regulating CO2-vs-O2 it's competing with the timeless, very-low-maintenance and low-cost combo of keeping-plants-and-occasionally-opening-a-window.

If the windows and the HVAC aren't talking, you end up trying to heat or air condition the outside world. This is both futile and expensive.

Also, it takes about eight trees to absorb the CO2 emitted by one human. The contribution of houseplants is tiny. Especially since they usually don't get full sunlight.

Re: Show HN: Low cost CO₂ monitoring (your office) with Prometheus and Go

#22

Post by pcr0 »

rubicon33 wrote: post #14
pcr0 wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Elevated CO2 levels have a noticeable impact on human cognitive ability. Indoor environments obviously have higher CO2 levels vs outdoor, but certain offices may have worse than typical indoor levels due to poor ventilation. https://thinkprogress.org/exclusive-elevated-co2-levels-dire...

Interesting, I had no idea. Do you think it's worth getting a CO2 monitor for a home office? I don't usually have the windows open since it's cold out. Is one person enough to elevate a small 10x10 office to cognitive impairing levels?

I doubt you'll need one. It's typically a concern when sqft/person is Just try to open the window at least once a day.

Re: Show HN: Low cost CO₂ monitoring (your office) with Prometheus and Go

#23

Post by seanp2k2 »

tga wrote: post #18
seanp2k2 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Came here to say something similar. I expected an actual circuit build (of which there are many), but this is just plugging in a USB data logging CO2 monitor (which is $116 on Amazon right now, but apparently the normal price is ~$70 USD) and using it with Prometheus. I've done something similar wrapping https://github.com/merbanan/rtl_433 to pick up temp / humidity monitoring data from sensors around my home, then s…

What kind of 433MHz temperature+humidity sensors are you using? What kind of battery life do you get from them in the freezer?

They’re all Acurite sensors with lithium batteries (Energizer ultimate lithium, available at Target on sale sometimes and other places). The one in the freezer is a “00592TXR” and lasts ~9 months in there IIRC (lithium cells do much better with cold temps than alkaline). I also have a few model 06044 which are small temp + humidity sensors with a display. These also have good battery life. Lastly, Acurite makes a smart hub to log to their cloud, model 09150M. I haven’t set it up yet, but it basically does the same stuff: https://www.myacurite.com/#/login

Here’s the kind of stuff it can do: https://www.acurite.com/access-my-acurite-remote-monitoring....

I’ve also had an Acurite display with some segments of digits that looked funky depnending on viewing angle. It was usable but kind of bugged me. I contacted them and they RMAd it quickly and easily for me (they just sent a new unit). For this reason, their easy availability on Amazon, the reliability and battery life I’ve had with half a dozen of their sensors deployed in and outdoors, I’ll keep buying them when I need this type of thing in the future. They don’t ever lock up or need fiddling with, so they’re kind of boring in that they just keep working until the batteries go flat. The widespread open source support is also certainly nice :)

Re: Show HN: Low cost CO₂ monitoring (your office) with Prometheus and Go

#24

Post by sannee »

zokier wrote: post #3

> we were now able to optimize HVAC settings in our office (Well, we mainly complained to our facility management). Time to go shop some plants?

A random google link says that you would need hundreds of plants per person to get sufficient oxygen production [1].

And during night, the plants would just produce CO2, which would presumably get accumulated, making the whole situation worse.

[1] - https://io9.gizmodo.com/5955071/how-many-plants-would-you-ne...

Re: Show HN: Low cost CO₂ monitoring (your office) with Prometheus and Go

#25

Post by tga »

seanp2k2 wrote: post #23
tga wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What kind of 433MHz temperature+humidity sensors are you using? What kind of battery life do you get from them in the freezer?

They’re all Acurite sensors with lithium batteries (Energizer ultimate lithium, available at Target on sale sometimes and other places). The one in the freezer is a “00592TXR” and lasts ~9 months in there IIRC (lithium cells do much better with cold temps than alkaline). I also have a few model 06044 which are small temp + humidity sensors with a display. These also have good battery life. Lastly, Acurite makes a sma…

Thanks, that's encouraging! I was worried they might not last that long, especially at low temperatures.

I am using a Sonoff RF Bridge[0] to talk to 433MHz sensors. It is also supported by Tasmota[1].

[0] https://www.itead.cc/sonoff-rf-bridge-433.html [1] https://github.com/arendst/Sonoff-Tasmota/wiki/Sonoff-RF-Bri...

Re: Show HN: Low cost CO₂ monitoring (your office) with Prometheus and Go

#26

Post by zupa-hu »

rubicon33 wrote: post #14
pcr0 wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Elevated CO2 levels have a noticeable impact on human cognitive ability. Indoor environments obviously have higher CO2 levels vs outdoor, but certain offices may have worse than typical indoor levels due to poor ventilation. https://thinkprogress.org/exclusive-elevated-co2-levels-dire...

Interesting, I had no idea. Do you think it's worth getting a CO2 monitor for a home office? I don't usually have the windows open since it's cold out. Is one person enough to elevate a small 10x10 office to cognitive impairing levels?

I disagree. It _may_ be totally worth it depending on the place. (Eg. what heating system you use, how many electronic devices there are, how big the room is.) I'd say do a little test: open the windows; if (it feels refreshing) { get one }.

Disclosure: I'm not an expert, simply got interested in this lately as I strongly feel its impact on my productivity.

Re: Show HN: Low cost CO₂ monitoring (your office) with Prometheus and Go

#27

Post by legulere »

enra wrote: post #5

I was looking in to a indoor quality monitor, and seems like for $80, you could just buy this which connects to homekit https://www.amazon.com/Elgato-Eve-Room-technology-Bluetooth/...

Which does not monitor CO₂ content. VOC mostly is an issue with new furniture and can lead to Sick Building Syndrom. CO₂ is an independent issue you will always have with people in the room that breath.

Re: Show HN: Low cost CO₂ monitoring (your office) with Prometheus and Go

#28

Post by Gys »

seanp2k2 wrote: post #23
tga wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What kind of 433MHz temperature+humidity sensors are you using? What kind of battery life do you get from them in the freezer?

They’re all Acurite sensors with lithium batteries (Energizer ultimate lithium, available at Target on sale sometimes and other places). The one in the freezer is a “00592TXR” and lasts ~9 months in there IIRC (lithium cells do much better with cold temps than alkaline). I also have a few model 06044 which are small temp + humidity sensors with a display. These also have good battery life. Lastly, Acurite makes a sma…

AcuRite Access looked very interesting, until I found that it needs a phyical cable to the router. I am trying to move away from cables, as does most of the world. A bit disappointing for a 'New !' product.

Re: Show HN: Low cost CO₂ monitoring (your office) with Prometheus and Go

#29

Post by ThePadawan »

sannee wrote: post #24
zokier wrote: post #3

> we were now able to optimize HVAC settings in our office (Well, we mainly complained to our facility management). Time to go shop some plants?

A random google link says that you would need hundreds of plants per person to get sufficient oxygen production [1]. And during night, the plants would just produce CO2, which would presumably get accumulated, making the whole situation worse. [1] - https://io9.gizmodo.com/5955071/how-many-plants-would-you-ne...

Another random google link says it could be as little as four shoulder-height areca palms: http://www.secrets-of-longevity-in-humans.com/oxygen-produci...

Re: Show HN: Low cost CO₂ monitoring (your office) with Prometheus and Go

#30

Post by user5994461 »

Animats wrote: post #21
dualogy wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Surprisingly, this technology is a tough sell. Well, in the Office for regulating CO2-vs-O2 it's competing with the timeless, very-low-maintenance and low-cost combo of keeping-plants-and-occasionally-opening-a-window.

If the windows and the HVAC aren't talking, you end up trying to heat or air condition the outside world. This is both futile and expensive. Also, it takes about eight trees to absorb the CO2 emitted by one human. The contribution of houseplants is tiny. Especially since they usually don't get full sunlight.

>>> If the windows and the HVAC aren't talking, you end up trying to heat or air condition the outside world. This is both futile and expensive.

That's an argument to be made to the hotel or office owner. The user has no control on the HVAC and is forced to open the window or turn on electric heaters to cancel it.

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