Equipment Used

We are using hobo dataloggers that gather information at set intervals of time. Grey hobos take temperature and relative humidity readings. Yellow hobos have thermistors, which can be inserted into things such as ventilation ducts. These only take temperature readings. Yellow hobos with a gray ping-pong ball attached to the thermistor takes ambient temperature readings.

To test uniform conditions:

We placed hobos around the library and a few in the computer room. The hobos that were placed in the library and computer room were gray hobos testing for both temperature and humidity on 8-minute increments. These are placed under desks and in bookshelves at seated level.


Two hobos were placed on the windowsills on the interior windows between the library and the hallway.


Two yellow hobos with gray ping-pong balls were placed at either end of the room in normal sunlight conditions to measure the ambient temperature of the space.

To compare the effects the computer lab had on the library:

Three hobos were placed underneath computer desks in the computer room to acquire readings throughout the room.

To locate sources of heat gain:

Hobos were placed at the doors both from the hallway to the library and from the library to the computer lab. These will allow us to check the amount of temperature difference that may be coming through the doors affecting the total room thermal comfort.


Two hobos were also placed on the glue-laminated beams below the skylight. These readings and the readings from the windowsill placed hobos will give us a sense of the thermal stratification in the space.

To test and see if the mechanical system is on a schedule:

Three yellow hobos with thermistors were inserted directly into the ventilation ducts. They will test the temperature only of the air being delivered through the ducts which will show us when the HVAC system is running.

To compare with outdoor temperatures:

One gray hobo was placed outside, out of the sunlight, to obtain an outdoor temperature as a reference.