This blog is about the sensors from the Finnish company RUUVi. We came in contact with these sensors by Mark from Bluepowershop.com where we purchased our Victron equipment and MG Energy systems batteries.
When you have an Overland vehicle (or a yacht for that matter) with lots of appliances and technology it is nice to have the management information on hand. We have a permanent Wifi connection in our Mountain Yacht, so this opens the possibility of distant readout of our systems and even controlling or adjusting them.
We have an all Victron installation and the Victron Cerbo that gives us loads of information on everything power related. We also have Kabola central heating with a Wifi thermostat, so managing the inside temperature from anywhere in the world. Both the electrical and heating will be covered in future blogs.
What we did not have is the information on the temperature in the different compartments of our Mountain Yacht. As we will be travelling in severe winter (freezing) conditions this information can be of great help managing our heating.
And this is where RUUVi comes in play. They produce several types of sensors that can measure: Temperature, Humidity, Air Pressure and Motion. All wireless and most features combined in one sensor.
There are sensors for inside use (RuuviTag) and also for external use: the heavy duty RuuviTag Pro.
We ordered four RUUViTags, one standard and three Pro sensors. After reception we decided where to place them:
- Our Waeco freezer as you want to know what the temperature in your freezer is for preserving food.
- The Living Room as our dog Scotty stays there while we are off-piste skiing. When necessary we can adjust the temperature.
- Outside as it is nice to know what the temperature is so you know what to wear that day.
- Near our Scotty DC-DC charger in the garage where all the Victron appliances and Kabola heater are situated.
Installing the RUUViTags is really easy and there is a very good App from RUUVi where you can name the several sensors that you have in use.
The sensors have a Bluetooth connection to the app on your phone, so you have to be in reach to see the several readouts.
In case of our living room you can see that the temperature is 21,49 degrees celsius and that the humidity is 45,03%. In a healthy environment the humidity should be between 40 – 60% so that is nice to know either.
Another great feature of the RUUViTag sensors: they can be incorporated in the Victron Cerbo so you have the readouts on your Cerbo screen or via the VRM portal App on your phone. This way you can track the information wherever you are.
We have been using the RUUViTag sensors for three months now and they never missed a beat. There are much more applications for the sensors, even in ordinary households, but we think that they really ‘shine’ in Overlanding vehicles, Yachts and Second homes, so you can remotely monitor what is going on and act on it when necessary.