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What is a Humidity Transmitter?

Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon

A humidity transmitter is a device designed to measure the humidity in a given environment and transmit the data to another location. Many come in the form of bundled devices offering measurements of temperature, as well as humidity. The device may transmit data to a nearby base station, allowing people to monitor humidity without having to enter the environment where the humidity transmitter is located, and data can also be sent out across longer distances over the Internet or using radio transmitters. These devices have a wide range of applications and are readily available from scientific supply companies.

One use for a humidity transmitter is in settings where people want to be able to track humidity without disturbing the environment. Incubators used for eggs and young animals in need of a carefully controlled environment, for example, can transmit information about temperature and humidity so people do not need to open the incubator to take readings. This allows people to keep an eye on conditions inside without exposing the contents of the incubator to a gust of cold or dry air.

Man with a drill
Man with a drill

Humidity transmitters are also useful for things like measuring humidity in hard-to-reach or hostile environments. People in extremely cold or hot places may put devices outside to track environmental conditions without having to go outside and a humidity transmitter can also be positioned in a place like outside on a tall building, where taking humidity measurements manually would not be feasible. Likewise, these devices are planted outside aircraft to monitor conditions outside.

Weather services use humidity transmitters to collect humidity data from across a wide area without having to send personnel out to manually take readings. Electronic submission of data occurs automatically and modeling programs may instantly incorporate the data to provide real time feedback on what is happening outside. Sudden rises or drops in humidity, as well as other measures like temperature, can trigger an alarm, alerting people to rapidly changing conditions so they can evaluate the situation more closely and determine if there is a risk of dangerous weather.

A humidity transmitter may be capable of remote calibration, allowing people to test the device and confirm it is working over a distant connection. In addition, the device can be programmed and reset to meet changing needs, such as transmitting data more or less frequently. Usually, the more features a remote sensing device of this nature has, the more expensive it tends to be, as these features add to the cost of production, as well as maintenance.

Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon

Ever since she began contributing to the site several years ago, Mary has embraced the exciting challenge of being a WiseGEEK researcher and writer. Mary has a liberal arts degree from Goddard College and spends her free time reading, cooking, and exploring the great outdoors.

Learn more...
Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon

Ever since she began contributing to the site several years ago, Mary has embraced the exciting challenge of being a WiseGEEK researcher and writer. Mary has a liberal arts degree from Goddard College and spends her free time reading, cooking, and exploring the great outdoors.

Learn more...

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