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I bought one of these with the spear tip (https://www.amazon.com/Apera-Instruments-AI3713-Sampling-Measurement/dp/B07MWHT1GZ?ref_=ast_sto_dp&th=1&psc=1) and really like it, I got it on Amazon Black Friday sale and paid $210 so less but still quite a lot.
Before that I went through a few of those $15 pocket meters and I didn't really like them... I would check out litmus strips if I had to go back.
Having a thermometer is handy, but the best way to know for sure is with a temperature datalogger. I have one of these off amazon, but I'm waiting for the price to come back closer to what I paid to order another.
This will let you keep tabs on the temps even when you can't check.
If you're in the ideal incubation range (mid-70s to 80ish F), and it's stable, then yeah, it's a good spot. Much warmer, and you risk contam growing faster than the mycelium.
If it's high-60s-to-mid-70s F, then it's more ideal as a fruiting chamber, but will still work.
And if you follow the guide, you should have good success no matter what variety of cube you grow.
I use this to monitor my temperatures, (the price got jacked up, I paid about $20 for it, maybe wait for prime day or after), but there are models that track RH as well.
I have used several models of CO2 monitors and found most to be unreliable. This is theonly one I use now. It seems to be very accurate. It also reads very fast and can sit in the Martha.
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https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FYWU2IS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I went through a couple of co2 meters until I found this one. Some of them don't work very well but this one is great. A little on the expensive side. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FYWU2IS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I got tired of "arguing" with my mentor at the local OWS spot and got this https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075X1MPRW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Company makes temp probes for the regulated food industry. P.S. works very well. I have probe attached to my safety buoy. 1 minute sampling rate.
If you're unsure of what the temp is you can either get a cheap pack of thermometers off amazon, or if you want to be able to see what temp it was, for example, while you were asleep, then you want a temperature datalogger like this.
But yeah, those jars are toast, I'm sorry to say.
I bought this a few years ago. It's a little clunky to use, and there's no remote sensor, so maybe check around for newer or cheaper stuff, but it works fine.
The basic structure would be
- Estimate heat transfer coefficient of box (this is probably hard, depending on geometry and material)
- Assume inside of box is uniform temperature at 0C (because ice melting point, and we'll assume heat transfer within the box is fast compared to through the box). This will also assume that ice shape is irrelevant. It might as well be a pile of cubes.
- Assume outside of box is outdoor temperature
- Heat transferred = transfer coefficient * temperature difference * time
- Divide heat transferred by the specific heat of fusion of ice, and you have a required mass.
That said, I don't actually recommend doing it that way. I recommend just doing the experiment. I recommend the Elitech temperature data logger -- it's cheap and pretty simple. You connect it to a computer, set the data acquisition rate (e.g. 1 minute), and then when you're ready to deploy it, you hit the start button, toss it in the box. Come back later, retrieve it, plug it back into the computer, and you have a nice graph of temperature as a function of time. It can do insanely long acquisition sequences (three weeks a 1-minute resolution).
You can extrapolate to some extent from temperature -- if ice is 32F, and you get 6 hours at 62F, you should get around 3 hours at 92F. Or 6 hours if you double the ice loadout.
Oh, and you can use the temperature module to confirm that your outer edges are actually as cool as they should be. You want to avoid the case where it's cold enough by the ice block, but a few layers of food away it's actually 45 degrees.
Don't worry, I'll be documenting everything going forward much better. Regardless of whether this attempt succeeds or fails, I'm going to be trying again. Given the level of climate control I have in the APO I'm fascinated by the idea of speedrunning a sourdough starter. I'm looking at buying one of these bad boys https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MWHT1GZ/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_B87WCVFH819X58J187AY so I can monitor the impact of pH throughout the process. I'm all in
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073PQJBMQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apan_glt_i_PSNB43FTPXF3WEE6HN6D?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1 used some similar to this to do some HVAC logging once. Worked for the purpose, but doesn't natively alert. Should be possible to write something simple to watch the log file and send an email or the like though.
Yea, there are home commercial products that give you a warning light as well, I own this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FYWU2IS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1
I think home automation enthusiasts could rig up something to do this (like at r/homeassist), but the autoclosing part of the fan could be tough
I lost a canister in the house once. I bought this:
Hydrofarm APCEM2 Autopilot Desktop CO2 Monitor & Data Logger, Data, White/Blue https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FYWU2IS/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_VJX1R59NVHYYY99WS8S5?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
It is a 85 dollar co2 detector. Mine runs off an usb battery pack and I move it around my kegerator and I peak at the reading as I pass by. It is great peace of mind.
The least expensive PAR meter is what I got. Here is the Amazon link for the Hydrofarm PAR Meter. It gives accurate readings, but it has a design flaw where some wires become lose too easily. If you read the reviews on Amazon, you can see my review where I show pictures of how to use hot glue to fix the design flaw. I have never had problems since adding the hot glue.
Back when I got that PAR meter, it was only $150. The price has increased since then, but it is still hundreds of dollars cheaper than the other brands. I am sure the other brands do not have the design flaw, but again, a little hot glue fixes it.
Avoid lux and lumens meters. They measure other wavelengths of light that are not photosynthetic. You should only buy a true PAR meter.
Once you have some fruits, you're gonna want to clone a favorite.
Mini-mason jars and agar blend, or pre-made, sterile plates (I order mine from a guy on etsy, Tip of the Cap Mushrooms, very good quality plates).
I find a temperature datalogger to be very hand when starting out, so that you can monitor the temps of a space when you're asleep or at work or out or whatever. I use one of these, I had been waiting for the price to drop back down to $20 to order more, but I'm finding that the one I have enough, the colonization space I use is stable enough. I might get one with a humidity probe and use that for monitoring fruiting...
Is it really that cold where you live right now?
I highly recommend a temperature datalogger. This bad boy has been more than worth the investment, and I'm considering getting more.
Why not a USB temperature sensor that you connect to your server ? A quick amazon search gives this example https://www.amazon.com/Computer-thermometer-Software-Logging-Temperature/dp/B073PQJBMQ/ref=sr_1_8?dchild=1&keywords=temperature+sensor+usb&qid=1612968175&sr=8-8 which has a soft to email temperature alert. 32$
You might even find some that could be accessed by a custom script triggered by a managed task ?
I had this kind of problem once. It really freaked me out losing 20lbs of co2 in my house. Never again.
I bought this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FYWU2IS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_8sk7FbHD8SMFH?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1 I keep it around my kegerator and when i am doing new connections I put it inside the kegerator. It can last a full week or more on a USB battery pack I have for my phone. If it goes over 2000 I know I have a problem to diagnose. I wish the alarm was configurable, but so far it has caught a problem or two before it became a real problem.
Something to consider at least.
To the OP, if you think the defrost is not working, you could tape the probe from an inexpensive logging thermocouple to the large refrigerant line where it comes into the inside FCU. If there is no defrost, the temp will cycle between ambient and quite hot. If the defrost runs, the line should get quite cold every so often.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01H3669T4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabt1_YP7WFb6VA4ZGY
I highly recommend picking up a co2 monitor at the least. That way you have some idea where you're starting and if you're hitting your target ppm level. This is one of the cheaper ones I've seen https://www.amazon.com/Hydrofarm-Autopilot-Desktop-Monitor-Logger/dp/B01FYWU2IS
Levels over 4000ppm are considered unhealthy for humans. If you were to hit even higher levels you would start feeling tired, and could suffocate and die. I just picked up a trolmaster hydro-x with the trolmaster co2 sensor. It's very expensive though compared to that hydrofarm monitor I linked. The trolmaster can control not only co2, but almost every environmental device in your grow room, and it can all be done remotely with an app. I previously bought an $18 co2 monitor off of ebay and I can't even get it to work, so stay clear of those cheaper ones.
I hang one of these temperature data loggers from my pack. I won't use it forever, just until I am pretty confident that I have my sleep system dialed. Pop it into your USB port in your computer when you get home and you can see exactly how cold it got and for how long. Then adjust your system. Thats my thinking anyway.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MQSCZF2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_Co7oFbZPBAAYJ
Nope, buy a PAR meter (@$125) off Amazon like i did.. worth it for the piece of mind of atleast having a decent idea
I bought/have this one : works just fine and i know what my PAR is (or atleast roughly!, better then not knowing)
Hydrofarm LGBQM Quantum PAR Meter Micromol Sensor https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0055F59LA/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_jamXCbBA7ENVC
If you want a par meter to test your light with, and you should, there's a decent value one that's been tested against far more expensive models from Hydrofarm. Hydrofarm LGBQM Quantum PAR Meter Micromol Sensor https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0055F59LA/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apap_c4vmCIOiRcROb
Last week I found an older post of yours that got me thinking about temperature data loggers. Of course I wanted to see how cheap of devices there are out there. I found this which is kind of cool since there is a display, it's a recorder but no Bluetooth. Elitech RC-5 USB Temperature Data logger Recorder 32000 Points High Accuracy https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MQSCZF2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_Jri.BbZGVRK0S.
I like that watch that was posted in this thread, I wonder if there is an affordable watch that has temperature and compass features and also records data over time?
This is what I use:
https://www.amazon.com/Elitech-RC-5-Temperature-Recorder-Accuracy/dp/B00MQSCZF2
Weighs 1 ounce with the battery and allows you to set the intervals it records the date/time/temp at.
I would think that anything non manual is going to be expensive unless you build it yourself. You'd need multiple temperature probes, some sort of communication between the readings and a datalogger. Using a computer would simplify things, but you'd be doing at least some low level programming, and measuring multiple points without having wires running all over your house means communication, which means power sources and other complications.
If you're not against crunching a little data yourself, just compiling some spreadsheets together, then I'd grab some simple temperature data loggers. Here's a temp only for super cheap:
And here's temp an humidity. Not terribly expensive, but adds up a bit for four. Still, I doubt you'll get much cheaper (providing you can get them in EU for similar price):
hmm this seems like an OK low tech solution, thank you!!
I just wanted to rig my house, wasn't looking for like a hobbyist build-your-solution-from-assembly-language-and-pins solution.
A temperature and humidity logger. I'm going to put it in my garage to see if my papers stored in there will get moldy. I can also put it inside my computer case to see how hot it gets throughout the summer days.
I'd love a water timer that works with rain barrels though. That was the whole point of a rain barrel, to use water, and water my garden automatically but most don't work with rain barrels. At least I haven't found one on Amazon yet that works with a rain barrel, which has very little pressure.