The world is getting warmer. All ten of the warmest years globally on record have come in the last decade – with 2023 being the hottest by far in over 170 years. So how can consumers keep their homes comfortable and livable without increasing energy consumption that will do more damage to our climate? The answer could lie in smart consumer appliances based on accurate temperature and humidity measurements.

Controlling our energy usage is vital for slowing climate change. At the same time, as the world sees warmer average temperatures and more extreme weather events, people naturally want to keep conditions in their homes and offices as comfortable as possible.

Responsive smart consumer appliances

This seems like a paradox. But it could be solved by incorporating environmental sensors, such as temperature and humidity sensors, into a range of consumer appliances around the home. This would allow such appliances to monitor and react to conditions inside the home, operating when – and only when – needed to maintain a comfortable and productive environment while minimizing energy use.

Perhaps the most obvious example of this is the smart thermostat. Because temperature and humidity are so interlinked in human perception of what makes for comfortable conditions, a smart thermostat that monitors both can deliver the ideal conditions with the maximum efficiency.

In the bathroom, rather than just switching on and off with the lights or a timer, a smart extractor fan could automatically adjust its operating times and power to remove all excess moisture (preventing mold growth), stopping the second it has achieved its target. Meanwhile in the kitchen, smart cooker hoods could operate autonomously, increasing or decreasing power as needed – no more guesswork for the user along with less noise and less energy wasted.

Industry-leading temperature and humidity sensing

All these energy-saving, comfort-building applications rely on accurate measurement of temperature and relative humidity. To support them, ScioSense has drawn on its environmental sensing expertise to create the ENS211 and ENS212 digital temperature and humidity sensors.

Targeting consumer and premium consumer appliances respectively, the ENS211 and ENS212 combine wide sensing ranges with industry-leading accuracy and fast response times. For temperature, that means an accuracy of 0.15 °C across a -40 to +105 °C range with response times below 1 second. This is combined with 2.0% (ENS211) or 1.5% (ENS212) accuracy for relative humidities from 0 to 100%, which can be measured in less than 3 seconds.

Part of our industry-leading and growing ENS21x digital humidity and temperature sensor family, the new sensors offer ultra-low power consumption, drawing a standby current of just 40 nA. They are supplied in a tiny QFN4 package with a footprint of just 2 x 2 mm, and feature an I²C interface for communication with an external host processor. Together with their pre-calibrated digital outputs, this helps simplify integration into a host of smart consumer and premium consumer appliances.

Click here to read more on the ENS211 and ENS212