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  3. Low Power Temperature Sensor

Low Power Temperature Sensor

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  • D Offline
    D Offline
    diggs
    wrote on last edited by
    #1

    Hi all,

    Just wondering what is the best option for a low power temperature sensor. I had read a few things where the DS18B20 was not the most power efficient way of doing things (could be wrong). Would be measuring around the 4 deg mark.

    As it will be purely battery powered project, looking for the best low power option with reasonable accuracy/stability

    Any info or just point me in the right direction

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    • scalzS Offline
      scalzS Offline
      scalz
      Hardware Contributor
      wrote on last edited by
      #2

      it depends on your application target. but si7021 is very low power sensors. and you can find breakout on aliexpress (maybe these are clone). a little more expensive than ds18b20...

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      • E Offline
        E Offline
        etrombly
        wrote on last edited by
        #3

        You could try this https://www.adafruit.com/products/1782 pretty accurate and a lot lower power. Also look into other options to cut power, like removing any LEDs and sleeping between measurements.

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        • F Offline
          F Offline
          fleinze
          wrote on last edited by
          #4

          The problem with the DS18B20 is that it is rated for a minimum voltage of 3.0V. It works below that, but the error might be bigger.
          There is a good article about that here:
          http://openenergymonitor.org/emon/node/2331
          On the other hand my sensor with a DS18B20 works for 4 months now with a coin-cell battery.
          The good thing of the DS18B20 is that it is widely available and really cheap.
          The Sensbender micro has a temperature/humidity chip (Si7021) that is rated 1.9 to 3.6 V.
          This chip is also available as a breakout board on ebay. I did not try it yet but I think this would be the best solution for battery powered temperature-sensors.

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          • E Offline
            E Offline
            ericvdb
            wrote on last edited by ericvdb
            #5

            My 2xAA Nimh or 1 x 18650 Li-Ion battery sensors use a DC-DC boost converter to crank up the voltage to 5V, then with a LDO MCP1702 i step down to 3.3V to power the arduino pro mini, the nRF24L01+ and the DS18B20. First test results show me that over 2 weeks my battery voltage went down with 4%, that should give me theoretically +/- 8 months without charging the batteries.

            http://www.aliexpress.com/item/8pcs-Very-small-DC-DC-0-9-5V-to-DC-5V-Step-UP-Boost-Voltage-Converter/32268508188.html
            http://www.aliexpress.com/item/MCP1702-3302E-TO-IC-REG-LDO-3-3V-25A-TO-92-3-MCP1702-3302E-1702-MCP1702/32225711061.html

            AWIA 1 Reply Last reply
            0
            • E ericvdb

              My 2xAA Nimh or 1 x 18650 Li-Ion battery sensors use a DC-DC boost converter to crank up the voltage to 5V, then with a LDO MCP1702 i step down to 3.3V to power the arduino pro mini, the nRF24L01+ and the DS18B20. First test results show me that over 2 weeks my battery voltage went down with 4%, that should give me theoretically +/- 8 months without charging the batteries.

              http://www.aliexpress.com/item/8pcs-Very-small-DC-DC-0-9-5V-to-DC-5V-Step-UP-Boost-Voltage-Converter/32268508188.html
              http://www.aliexpress.com/item/MCP1702-3302E-TO-IC-REG-LDO-3-3V-25A-TO-92-3-MCP1702-3302E-1702-MCP1702/32225711061.html

              AWIA Offline
              AWIA Offline
              AWI
              Hero Member
              wrote on last edited by
              #6

              @ericvdb another theory:
              4% in 2 weeks => 20% in 6 weeks = battery empty
              upload-7d4c6a2a-e02f-44c0-a756-0bf884e63b91

              not to mention the self discharge of NimH cells:
              upload-475bb1c6-5d66-4054-b160-1ff9a688bf90

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              • m26872M Offline
                m26872M Offline
                m26872
                Hardware Contributor
                wrote on last edited by
                #7

                If you're on a small budget there's always the good old fashion thermistor or even cheaper is to use the internal sensor. At least the later requires calibration, on the other hand most people doesn't check their precalibrated DS18B20s or Si7021 which in surprisingly many cases have accuracy out of spec. I've also learned from my experiments that the internal sensor seems to be much better than expected. But, even if it seems useful for lowpower (minimal self heating) applications, I don't know if it's reliable over time.

                D tbowmoT 2 Replies Last reply
                0
                • m26872M m26872

                  If you're on a small budget there's always the good old fashion thermistor or even cheaper is to use the internal sensor. At least the later requires calibration, on the other hand most people doesn't check their precalibrated DS18B20s or Si7021 which in surprisingly many cases have accuracy out of spec. I've also learned from my experiments that the internal sensor seems to be much better than expected. But, even if it seems useful for lowpower (minimal self heating) applications, I don't know if it's reliable over time.

                  D Offline
                  D Offline
                  diggs
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #8

                  @m26872 . Yes, I have a couple of K Type thermocouples on the way to do a bit of testing with as well as I will have a requirement for some reasonably extreme temps in some applications, -196 to +150

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                  • m26872M m26872

                    If you're on a small budget there's always the good old fashion thermistor or even cheaper is to use the internal sensor. At least the later requires calibration, on the other hand most people doesn't check their precalibrated DS18B20s or Si7021 which in surprisingly many cases have accuracy out of spec. I've also learned from my experiments that the internal sensor seems to be much better than expected. But, even if it seems useful for lowpower (minimal self heating) applications, I don't know if it's reliable over time.

                    tbowmoT Offline
                    tbowmoT Offline
                    tbowmo
                    Admin
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #9

                    @m26872

                    Have you seen that the ds1820 / si7021 is out of spec from the factory? (temperature wise).

                    Humidity on the Si7021 can be affected by a lot of factors, such as high humidity for a prolonged period.. But temperature should be within the specification.

                    Could also be fake devices..

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                    • m26872M Offline
                      m26872M Offline
                      m26872
                      Hardware Contributor
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #10

                      To clearify; NO I have not seen si7072 out of spec. (I only own 2.) But when I compare a lot of DS18B20s with each other I've found some diverge >1.5C in very harmonic conditions. I don't want to publish my setup or results until I've got I class A Pt100 as reference, but research (google) told me others have seen the same. Probably with fake or clone ones.

                      SparkmanS 1 Reply Last reply
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                      • D Offline
                        D Offline
                        diggs
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #11

                        l was just wondering if anyone had a sketch for connecting a K type thermocouple to the mysensors network or could point me in the right direction?

                        I received a coupe today and want get them hooked up

                        http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/400798924042?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

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                        • m26872M m26872

                          To clearify; NO I have not seen si7072 out of spec. (I only own 2.) But when I compare a lot of DS18B20s with each other I've found some diverge >1.5C in very harmonic conditions. I don't want to publish my setup or results until I've got I class A Pt100 as reference, but research (google) told me others have seen the same. Probably with fake or clone ones.

                          SparkmanS Offline
                          SparkmanS Offline
                          Sparkman
                          Hero Member
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #12

                          @m26872 I've seen the same with real ones. Two sitting right next to each other and their temperature readings are off by over 1°C.

                          Cheers
                          Al

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                          • A Offline
                            A Offline
                            ahhk
                            Hardware Contributor
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #13

                            also check HTU21D....

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                            • R Offline
                              R Offline
                              riataman
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #14

                              Check the bmp180. Its a presure sensor, but it includes a fairly accurate temperature sensor and is rated down to 1.8v.

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