I’ll be doing some work on my heating system soon, and while it’s off-line I’d like to be able to add some temperature sensors. I’d like to know the temperature of things like the incoming cold water, outgoing hot water and the water inside the boiler. (I’ve got an oil-fired boiler with direct domestic hot water.)
Sure, I can wrap a Dallas probe on the outside of the pipes, or lay one on top of the boiler. But that gives me a somewhat delayed and inaccurate reading. The ideal would be something I could insert into the water to give me an instant value.
I know these things exist for industrial settings, but maybe they’re not practical for home monitoring. On the other hand, maybe some clever HA user has already found something that will work. I figured I’d ask.
I’ve used a Fibaro z-Wave Smart Implant connected to a DS18B20 temperature sensor to monitor my hot water tank’s temperature. There was enough room in the drywell of the aquastat to slide the sensor in alongside the tank’s existing sensor. I’ve also read of people connecting DS18B20’s to Arduinos and D1 mini’s.
Sorry to intrude, but I am looking to do something similar on a hot water tank used for my solar hot water system. It has the collector panels on the roof and a tank on the ground, with an electric booster.
What I would like to be able to do is check whether there is enough hot water for us night time shower people and to check occasionally to make sure the water is getting hot enough to kill bacteria.
The best way would be to get a plumber to attach a t-junction to say the pressure relief valve outlet and install the valve back on one leg and a 75mm thermowell on the leg going straight into the tank - and then inserting a DS18B20 or thermistor attached to an ESP32 board into that thermowell .
Being a cheapskate - I was looking at other options and my hot water tank has a small plastic pipe coming from near the top of the tank (on the opposite side to all the plumbing connections). It looks like a drain for condensation or water seepage from the electrical connections box on top of the tank. I slid a thermistor up the pipe and it is giving readings I would expect from a heated tank. It could be the answer.
There’s nothing in the manuals about this pipe - any experience or knowledge about this?