Tag: ac

WWMWD?

Welp.  I guess this is a good time to dust off this little gem from the book, “The Martian.”

Not give up, that’s what he’d do

I’ve been trying to get consistent readings inside the house for a little over a week now.  The infrared thermometer was helpful, but was too manual and to variable in readings despite trying to control by checking at wider intervals and taking measurements in very specific sections of the floor, wall, and ceiling.  The XAIO board and thermistors were a great first step, but required too many wires and it was also having trouble broadcasting data. 1 The Wemos D1 Mini, while an underpowered board, took a lot of fiddling to get running and a fair bit of soldering, but has worked very well.

Until external factors cropped up.

Yesterday, at the absolute peak of outside heat, our AC unit stopped working.  I’m pretty sure the sound of it turning off yesterday was the last time it was working.  The temperature inside reached about 86 degrees upstairs based on the home thermostat and stayed at that level until about midnight when we started up the whole house fan.2

If I were comparing a given day’s temperature to a different day’s temperature, all the readings would be basically useless.  However, I’m actually more interested in figuring out if a single sunscreen can soften or blunt the increases in internal house temperatures.  The data from yesterday is going to be useless for looking at absolute changes in temperature, but it certainly shows what would happen if we don’t have a working AC unit on a very hot day.3

Yeah, having the AC go out is a hassle – but on the bright side, at least it happened during a time when I was running some science experiments.

But, with about a week left to go, I’m less certain I’m going to be able to present the findings and associated original project I was planning on.

Summer Science - Testing Effects of Window Coverings on Interior Temperatures
  1. Testing the Effect of Interior and Exterior Window Coverings on Interior Temperatures
  2. Testing Interior Temperatures – preliminary results
  3. Readings so far… 07/11/2026
  4. Now with remote sensors
  5. Repeatedly Redundant (Sensing Sensors)
  6. WHY IS EVERYTHING BROKEN?!
  7. Musings on measurements and a wacky cat
  8. WWMWD?
  9. Back on track
  1. Though, now that I think about it, this might have been improved if I attached the antenna to it? [↩]
  2. 86 degrees inside sounds comparable to Italian AC [↩]
  3. Though, it shouldn’t take a rocket scientist to realize it’ll get warmer here without AC. [↩]
Test