Inside
Insights
There Are HOBOs
Everywhere at LAX!
Steve Tredinnick, PE, Vice President of Energy Services, Syska Hennessy Group
Editor’s Note: “Inside Insights” is a column designed to address ongoing issues
of interest to building owners, managers
and operating engineers who use district
energy services.
Figure 1. HOBO® Data Logger.
Ihave just returned from a business trip for a project at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), where I learned something so intriguing that I just had to tell
someone: I was introduced to my very first
HOBO. Now, you may think that HOBOs
hang out mostly at train stations, hitching
rides, eating soup from a rusty can, etc.,
but I am here to tell you that I saw them
at the airport. They were everywhere just
hanging around. They may even be in
your neighborhood or your office building, and you don’t even know it.
Courtesy Ross Truitt of AECO.
The HOBOs that I refer to are field-
mounted sensors used in data logging.
(Okay, okay. I was a little dramatic, but
the vagabond image captures my first
reaction upon hearing the word “HOBO.”)
These HOBOs at LAX are remote-mounted
sensors that have trending and archiving
capabilities (fig. 1). They are manufac-
tured by Onset Computer Corp. (www.
onsetcomp.com), which has been in busi-
ness for more than 30 years.
Figure 2. A Comparison of Concourse and Ticketing Area Temperatures Versus Outside Ambient Temperatures, Los Angeles International Airport.
85
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Hours of Day
