Published 2024-06-25

Since 2016, energy engineer Billy Axelsson has been using data loggers from the Celsicom measurement system to remotely monitor various indoor climates in Kil municipality’s buildings. The loggers enable more efficient work and reduce energy consumption and the risk of costly breakdowns.

Billy Axelsson works at the property unit with responsibility for energy and ventilation. It is a small job considering that the municipality operates on about 60,000 square meters in about 50 buildings. These buildings house commercial kitchens, schools, nurseries, leisure facilities, care homes – and a range of other businesses.

An important part of the real estate unit’s work consists of remote monitoring of various climate parameters in different environments, in order to analyze important measurements on a daily basis and schedule measures or, if necessary, respond immediately. Measured variables such as temperature and humidity are monitored with data loggers from the first generation of the Celsicom measurement system (the loggers are connected to base stations) and data loggers from the second generation of the same system (these loggers have their own connection via the Narrow Band Internet of Things on their own frequency in the mobile phone network). In total, there are 107 measurement sites in 27 buildings.

Celsicom – an important backup
The fact that Celsicom was chosen eight years ago was mostly a coincidence.

– We have some comprehensive systems for monitoring and controlling heating and ventilation in our buildings. But I felt the need to have some kind of backup to be able to have continuous control and get alerts. “At one point I bought a thermal imaging camera from Nordtec and was a bit curious about what other fun things you had,” says Billy.

That’s when he discovered and chose to test Celsicom. Since day one, the remote monitoring system has greatly facilitated the work of the real estate unit. Above all, the ease of getting started and using the Celsicom logs is appreciated. The automatic limit alerts via SMS or email are also praised. And the fact that the purchase of each logger – including the subscription cost for storage and analysis in the Celsiview cloud service – is a modest investment.

Automatically alerts in good time
The real estate unit has found a variety of applications for the Celsicom loggers. Here are some examples of what they are used for.

– If a chiller breaks down or starts leaking refrigerant, the chiller can continue to run while the temperature starts to rise. This can quickly be seen from diagrams in Celsiview.

– Another great advantage is the possibility of receiving an alarm if, for example, a large meat fridge breaks down. Then you have to act quickly to avoid having to throw away goods worth SEK 100,000 the next day.

Celsicom loggers are also used in schools to ensure a good indoor climate in classrooms, to monitor temperature and humidity in music rooms and to prevent damage to stringed instruments. The remote monitoring also covers four pellet plants. There, Celsicom loggers simply alert you if pellet levels are approaching a critical level and it’s time to refill.

Preventing an expensive mishap
– I have also made a little invention of my own with one of the latest Celsicom loggers that has moisture ratio sensors (Celsicom MM611B). I’ve connected it to a screw in a wooden plank lying on the floor of a basement where we have very little supervision. And last winter there was a water leak from the heating system! I was alerted within an hour that the moisture content was too high in the wooden plank and was able to go there to quickly fix the flood and leak. It could have been really expensive if I hadn’t had that monitoring,” says Billy.

Celsicom also eliminates time spent traveling around checking conditions in different properties.

– Instead, I always have updated readings via the Celsiview cloud service on the home page of my computer. I can quickly see if something seems strange and can easily see how things are developing, and then decide whether I or someone else needs to go to the scene.

Good information and data
Celsiview is also a good tool for sharing information and providing input for various improvements. For example, staff in commercial kitchens can log in and have a ‘watch’ function to check temperatures in cold rooms and freezers in real time for their own control.

One of the property unit’s major challenges in the future is to make operations more efficient by, for example, reducing electricity and district heating. It’s about reducing energy use as much as possible without sacrificing a comfortable indoor climate. In this respect too, deployed Celsicom loggers are valuable tools.

– It is very easy to quickly see on your mobile phone, tablet or computer where the temperature is a bit too high and can be turned down to reduce heating costs. “In an electrically heated school that is in storage, I have Celsicom connected to the heating system to be able to keep the temperature as low as possible without it freezing in the winter,” says Billy Axelsson and notes:

– We save a lot of money by having sensors monitoring the radiator groups.

Published 2022-12-11

We often talk about moisture content, but where is it? Here we explain what moisture content is and suggest ways to measure it before and during construction. Our solutions enable fast and reliable measurement of moisture content both on-site and remotely.

The moisture ratio is the ratio of the weight of water in a moist piece of wood to the weight of the same piece of wood when it is completely dry. Since in practice we can hardly weigh different pieces of wood in this way in a house construction, we instead measure the electrical resistance between two pins pressed or driven into the wood (indirect measurement).

The moisture content of wooden joists and panels changes much more slowly than the humidity of the air, although it eventually tends to equalize and become the same as the ambient air. This slow process has the advantage that a moisture ratio measurement gives a much better picture of the wood moisture in different phases of the house construction, compared to just measuring the air humidity.

Checking the moisture content of wood in building construction.

When the timber is delivered to the construction site, the moisture content can be checked with a Bollmann moisture content meter equipped with an impact hammer. With this instrument it is possible to set both the wood type and the wood temperature in order to obtain reliable measurements. It is, of course, an advantage if the timber delivered has not been exposed to a humid environment for a long period of time, but instead is at a moderate level. Too low a level – i.e. if the wood is too dry – can cause the wood strips to settle and become warped. In spruce or pine, on the other hand, levels above 17% can lead to mold infestation and above 24% can even cause rot.

If the humidity has been high during the initial stages of construction, the moisture content of the wood will increase as it strives to reach the same level as the air. So when it is time to close and weatherproof the house structure, it may be a good idea to check the surface moisture content (a few centimeters into the joists). This gives an indication of whether it is safe to “close in” the wooden structure or whether dehumidification (natural or with a construction fan or dehumidifier) is needed. For such checks, a testo 606-1 is ideal. It is an accurate moisture ratio meter with characteristic curves for e.g.. beech, spruce, larch, oak, pine and maple. It is also small enough to fit in your pocket.

Do you need to remotely monitor the dehumidification of wooden structures?

Wouldn’t it be handy to keep track of the dehumidification situation in your building remotely? Especially if you have several construction sites running at the same time. With a Celsicom remote monitoring system equipped with one or more wireless moisture sensors, you can read the moisture content of wooden structures wherever you are. All you have to do is bring your mobile phone or tablet with you. Simply log in to the Celsiview cloud service and view the metrics, in tables, bars or graphs. So you don’t even have to visit construction sites to find out when it’s time for the next phase of the construction project, without the risk of building moisture into the structure and risking major problems in the long run.

Reliable documentation of measurement data

Since the system automatically collects all measurement data in a centralized location with time stamps, locations and measurement values, you can easily create reports to support surveys and inspections.

Alerts via email and SMS (depending on the cloud service)

The system can also alert you if the measured values exceed or fall below limit values that you specify (can also be used as a notification when, for example, a dehumidification is completed). You can get immediate indications on your phone that something is not right, perhaps with the addition of wireless sensors that measure humidity, as it reacts much faster than the moisture content of the building material. Should there be a leakage of rain or ground water, you can fix the problem before the moisture content of the wooden structure is affected.

Learn more about Celsicom Easy Connect

More instruments and solutions

There are of course other measuring instruments and solutions than those suggested above. Ask your question in our questionnaire or call us on 031-704 10 70 and we will help you with advice and answer questions.