It's only Money, I need Data

Money vs Data

A friend recently commented that I spend an awful lot of money on gadgets.  He exclaimed that I should save for my retirement.  I tried to explain, but it's hard to let someone else see inside my head.  The above image is a pretty close ideal; lots of numbers and pictures all centering on the flow of money out of my pockets and the flow of data in.

I want all the Data

I want all the data, but to get it costs money, so I will trade my money for the equipment that will bring me the data.   Alas, why do I want the data instead of the money?   I love to solve problems (sometimes problems that no one, besides me, has asked).   I like correlations, I like to see where my problems come from and for that I need more data.

Take My Money, Please

I don't make a lot of money doing this or my other distractions (er jobs).  But I also do not have kids (yet) and so a lot of my money goes to projects like what I will relate in later posts.  I dedicate a sizable chunk of my income to analysis and enjoy searching for more interesting ideas that analysis.  The money isn't the important part, but what the tool of money can do to get me to the important part.

So Why do all this?

Why do anything that one loves to do?  It certainly meets a need or desire.  I love to do it.  But of all the analysis that I have done or will do, is there a purpose or just a need?  I think it best if something that I need and want be beneficial to others.  Many scientist and researchers before me spent most of their lives studying things that might not have been looked upon as necessary or useful.  But now that they have done the work, we all have benefited from it.  I work for mankind

What Data do you Seek?

I seek monitoring data for analysis of the home environment.  I want to find out how to better manage the environment of the home.   There are so many points of information that are in a home, whether it be an old Apartment building or a new Townhouse.   Insulation, Location, Water, Sewer, Lighting, Heating / Cooling, Waste, and so on; these factors are normal lifestyle aspects.  They can be efficient or inefficient, but without data and analysis a person might never know how their life could be easier or better.

Lately, I've been set on Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC).  There are several important factors to consider.  Maintaining a constant stasis temperature requires good insulation and then efficient heating and cooling.  You could heat a cold room all day, but if all the heat is leaking out or pouring out, it causes a good system to be inefficient.   But without the data, how are you even able to find out that this is happening?

Hardware & Software, Data & Analysis

Here comes the part where I recommend some hardware and software that I use help me find data and analyze it. 

Since the outset, even prior to the buyout, I have used Nest products.  They do (most of ) what I want.  And although they're far from cheap, they live up to the axiom that "you get what you pay for."   Utilizing the Nest Thermostat, Nest Cameras, and Nest Temperature Sensors, I am able to get a much more clear picture of what is happening with the temperature and humidity in my home and I have the capacity to make changes immediately.   These products allow me to see not only the current statuses of the home and its rooms, but to track the performance of the HVAC and it's constant war with the exterior climate.

Because Reasons

Since High School, I have sought data analysis and the ways to obtain it.  I wanted to know why my parents refused to turn keep the temp in the house in summer at a reasonable level.  Little did I know that it wasn't that they wanted to be uncomfortable, but that they liked money more than physical comfort.  If I knew then, what I know now about how to make the house more efficient, I would have set out for that immediately.  It took me more than two decades and a great deal of life lessons to discover the reasons.   And it is from these life-lessons that drives me to analyze and divulge to this blog, my experiences and thoughts.

Next Up

In subsequent blog posts I will cover other aspects of home monitoring, such as Lighting, Water management, Air Quality, and Insulation.