This came as a surprise to me. My kitchen extract fan and my bathroom extractor fan have been interfering with my outdoor temperature sensor!
I’m using an Ecowitt Temperature sensor (https://amzn.to/4i2dNCf) mounted on an enclosure (https://amzn.to/4fH2yxy). I don’t have the waterproof version of the sensor, which is also available.
I was running an experiment on my boiler flow temperature over the past few days. This meant I was keeping a close eye on the outdoor temperature.
Whilst sitting in the kitchen, I was surprised to see that the outdoor temperature had jumped almost one degree in the space of a few minutes.
I scratched my head for a little bit and then it dawned on me. Was the kitchen hob extractor fan causing it?
Later that even, I gave the kids a shower and this corresponded with the second jump in temperature, which perhaps was a mix of the extractor fan and warm drainpipe?
Location
The sensor itself is in a weather sensor enclosure and was fixed the wall of the neighbour’s extension in the alley down the size of the house. This is the north side of the house and seemed like the best location.
Two meters down from it and on the opposite wall, is the outlet for our extractor fan. It’s down at ground level, so I’m guessing that the very warm, steamy air being pulled out just drifted up got pushed left and right. That air would be very warm, so even though it would have dissipated a lot, there was enough heat to impact my sensor!
Moving it
I moved it down into the garden, but quickly realised the second problem – being in sunlight!
I expected the weather screen to insulate the sensor from this, but that was naive. Being in direct sunlight would be warming the ground, the fence it was attached to etc. which would impact the air temp around the sensor. So whilst the sunlight might not have impacted the sensor directly, being bathed it in certainly did!
I moved it again and now it’s in the shade and away from all heat sources, so hopefully nothing will impact the readings again!
If you’re thinking of putting up a temperature sensor, hopefully you can avoid these mistakes!
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