Hygrometer Recommendations

[sigesti]

I have a 10 gallon terrarium that I've setup that previously only had a plastic sheath over the top to maintain humidity (with a few cuts in it for air ventilation).

I've since moved to an aquarium cover with a fluorescent light inside it. However, wanting a better idea of the temperature and humidity inside, I wondered if you all had recommendations for good, generally inexpensive hygrometers to monitor the humidity.

Thanks much!

[Aidan]

Take a look at eBay. There are usually substantial numbers of inexpensive digital thermometer/hygrometer combinations available.

[Michael Catalani]

I just bought two digital temp/humidity sensors from Lowes for $12 each. Depending on your needs, they may be adequate. They have both an outdoor and indoor temperature and a humidity sensor. The temp and humidity appear fairly accurate, although it shows "HI" anytime the humidity is over 90%. They also can store max and min values for both temperature readings and the humidity readings, which is nice, especially for $12.

[kby]

I've personally not had a lot of luck with digital ones in the highland terrarium I use, but it does have an ultrasonic nebulizer (that runs for about an hour at various times in the day, then overnight when the refrigeration is on). Usually the sensors stop reading, or one "remote station" which is supposed to be OK with mist (just not full rain) stops transmitting. In the latter case I am tried to seal some of the other components on the board with silicone circuit sealer, but appear to have overdone it so have to get a new sensor and try again. Both failures were less than a month in.

In probably more "normal" non-condensing settings, or ones at least more variable, they probably work better.-kby

[sigesti]

I think I might be running into the same issue. I grabbed a cheap non-digital hygrometer from a pet store, and it kept registering me at 80% humidity, which seemed a bit high.

The digital one I bought at Lowe's initially was reading around the 30/40 range, but now has just stuck at 30 and doesn't move no matter what conditions it's in.

[wadave]

It might pay to invest in a good quality one if for no other reason than you can trust what it is telling you.

I bought one from my local hydroponics store, it was a little more expensive than I had hoped but it gives me a whole range of readings:

Temp, with a high and low memory, time and date, humidity with high and low memory, it also shows the phase of the moon if you can believe that and a weather forcast like an olde style barometer for sunny, cloudy or rain. However it's stuck on "rain" because of the high humidity in the tank.

I didn't buy it for these extras it's just what they had available.

Dave.

[kby]

wadave said:

It might pay to invest in a good quality one if for no other reason than you can trust what it is telling you.

I bought one from my local hydroponics store, it was a little more expensive than I had hoped but it gives me a whole range of readings:

Temp, with a high and low memory, time and date, humidity with high and low memory, it also shows the phase of the moon if you can believe that and a weather forcast like an olde style barometer for sunny, cloudy or rain. However it's stuck on "rain" because of the high humidity in the tank.

I didn't buy it for these extras it's just what they had available.

Dave.

One of the ones I mentioned earlier had all of that, but it didn't keep the sensor from getting waterlogged. I bought a new sensor (fortunately available) and put the silicone junk in select places on the rear of the circuit board and it seems to be holding better (although it's always about 90+% in the tank).

[sarracenialover]

i got those reasonable priced exo terra hygrometer and thermometer for my terrarium

[Aidan]

I will be going for something like this next time, so that only the sensor sits in the tank and the electronics stay nice and dry:

cgi.ebay.co.uk/Digital-Thermo-Hygrometer-Hydroponics-Humidity_W0QQitemZ370003479949QQihZ024QQcategoryZ46292QQcmdZViewItem

[wadave]

Mine also has a sensor that can be placed inside the tank while the electronics sit outside.

I simply placed the whole thing inside the tank about 18 months ago and there has been no ill effects from humidity.

Dave.

[sarracenialover]

I use an exoterra brand digital hygrometer and thermometer for my terrarium. It works well with highest/lowest readings memory. Now I can see how extreme the tank can become. Although the meters work well they can be on the expensive side.