My house is partially heated by circulating water in the floors, and this hot water is generated by a heat pump. This pump, the hot water tank and the rest of the distribution system is meant to require minimal attention. But when I found myself looking for a target for my
Twine, I found that monitoring the heat pump allowed me to maximize my use of its sensors.
Embedded in the Twine there are sensors for temperature, vibration and the device's own orientation. To this I added a moisture sensor, so that I can monitor:
- the temperature of the water pump
- the vibration of the water pump
- any water released to control the pressure in the system
Before activating the Twine I had to rely on observing the heat pump to get its status. As I frequently have business in the basement this was no big problem, but I had to be at home. With the addition of the Twine I can now get the status over the Internet, whether I was elsewhere in the house or somewhere with Internet access.
Access to the Twine goes via the services of
Supermechanical, so I depend on they staying in business for the setup to work.
By the way, the use of solutions like Twine is included in the concept of
Welfare technology, applied to finding ways to reduce the burden of the elderly boom that is expected in the future.
