Where to put the monitor#
If you move a thermal monitor or other measuring device around your building, it’s easy to lose track of which readings are for which location. You can use this template to help you remember.
Ideally, you will monitor each of your big spaces, representative smaller spaces, and anywhere else that you think might be different or have a problem. Even better is a week or two in each season since that helps identify problems with solar gain or poor heating control. The less you use the building, the more data you need. You want to monitor for at least two weeks in cold weather - more if you don’t use the building all the time - and most groups find the information so useful they decide to keep using the monitor for spot checks and to think about what happens in other seasons. Monitoring your smart meters are an easier way to look for really big problems emerging, but they won’t tell you where the waste is.
When you decide where to put the thermal monitor or data logger, ideally it should be:
somewhere representative of what people will feel
not in a corner or anywhere else with poor airflow
not in direct sun, close to something that is hot, or right next to a person
not very close to something that is cold (like an uninsulated external stone wall or window)
not in a bad draught
not where it will be hit by footballs or thrown around by children
In the centre of spaces works well. Here are some tricks:
use string to hang it from a pillar
secure it to a crossbeam above the room
tape or tie it under a piano, table, or altar
place it in a pulpit
In many spaces, you have to compromise on the location. That’s OK! Temperature and RH never tell the full story about thermal comfort in a space. You’ll still get to understand whether the heating is on at the right times and have an idea about warmer and colder that you can tally against your own experience of the building.
Blutak and adhesives
Blutak can mark many surfaces and tape can leave permanent marks on stonework. It’s not a good look.
Tip
It can be hard to remember where you put the sensor unit - one easy way is to take a picture on your phone that shows the surrounding context. Then if you forget, you’ll know exactly where to look.