Do Temperature Monitors Work In Power Outages?

Putting a temperature logger or monitoring system in your cold storage can make a huge difference in your business’s efficiency. They’re the most reliable way of protecting your stock. You’ll have a hard time finding another way to track and record temperatures with the same accuracy and ease of use.

However, temperature loggers rely on the internet to transmit the information they record. Of course, your modem, which connects you to the internet, also relies on electricity to connect you. So, what happens without electricity? Naturally, your network is down. What does that mean for your temperature monitors?

Will they still work during a power outage?

Storing vs. Transmitting Data

Temperature loggers are one of those devices that don’t store very much information. They generally transmit information through your network, where the data end up stored in a cloud system. Devices that store data have a certain amount of internal memory (think about the internal storage on your smartphone).

Don’t panic, though. Temperature loggers can do both, to a certain extent. While it’s better to have data streaming to your cloud storage, that isn’t always possible.

In the case of a power outage, these temperature loggers do have internal storage (and a backup power source) to rely on. Your modem might not have power, but your temperature logger simply switches to the backup (battery) power source. This allows the temperature monitor to continue taking readings, and ensure temperatures don’t get too high.

When you regain power, and your connection is available again, the logger goes back to work as usual. However, instead of just resuming taking readings, it also uploads the readings taken during the power outage. You’ll know if the temperatures went outside of the acceptable range.

Will You Know About a Power Outage?

If your power is only out for a few hours, it’s likely your stock is still safe and usable. However, most fridges and freezers can only maintain their temperature for around four hours without power. And that’s assuming they haven’t been opened during the power outage.

If the power goes out overnight, you could be facing a real problem. No matter how much data they collect, a temperature logger won’t save your products. The good news is, you can still take action and preserve valuable stock.

While your temperature logger can’t connect to the cloud, the system as a whole can still help you out. That might sound confusing, but it’s actually quite simple. The cloud database is designed to receive regular readings from your temperature logger every few minutes. If it doesn’t receive these readings, it signals an issue.

After missing readings from the temperature logger, the database knows there’s a problem. That’s when it sends the alert, so you also know there’s a problem. You can choose to receive these alerts through your smartphone app, email, SMS, or send the alerts to contacts you designate. And that’s it! You can solve the problem of cold storage and power outages with a simple alert and temperature logging system.