HOBO Data Loggers: No Longer Just for Researchers

Founded in 1981, Onset has 120 employees in its solar-powered manufacturing facility on Cape Cod and has shipped more than 2 million data loggers to customers worldwide. The product name, HOBO, came from the founder’s interest in all things railroad-related, according to Evan Lubofsky, the director of marketing for the company, and it refers to a person who traveled around the country and did jobs behind the scenes. Later, an after-the-fact acronym was derived for the name: “Honest OBserver by Onset.”

What are data loggers?

Data loggers are electronic data-collection instruments that capture and record measurements at set intervals over a period of time. In buildings, data loggers most commonly collect temperature and relative humidity (RH) data, but they can also capture equipment run-time, events like window opening and heating plant cycling, light intensity, carbon dioxide levels, and flow rates. In outdoor applications, they are used to measure such conditions as rainfall, soil moisture, and wind direction and speed. “You’re only limited by your imagination,” says Gregg Daly, Onset’s director of sales, in describing the breadth of their use.