The right climate in sensitive environments at the Art Museum

Published 2022-08-11

Halland Art Museum is beautifully located next to Nissan and Norre Katts Park in Halmstad. Here visitors can enjoy exhibitions and exciting events. A few years ago, the museum underwent a major refurbishment. The house was renovated and an extension added with the entrance facing the city. As part of this work, the museum invested in measuring equipment to monitor temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide and light in different spaces.

A total of 20 testo 160 WiFi data loggers were purchased by Stefan Kjelberg, the store manager, to monitor the indoor climate at the art museum.

Why do you want to measure temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide and light?
– Because the art we have is sensitive to temperature fluctuations and because a lot of light over a long period of time damages paintings. For example, if it is too dry, the wooden frames of the art can twist or shrink, which in turn can damage the painting.

Where are the measurement boxes located?
– We measure in the exhibition halls and in our art warehouse. I also have two testo 160 IAQs in public spaces to monitor the CO2 content of the indoor air, so that the air is not too bad for visitors.

What are your impressions of the measurement system?
– I am very happy with the system! It’s nice to have a cloud service that gives you an overview of all the devices in the house.

Is the cloud service working well?
– Yes, it works well. If I had a complaint, it would be that you can’t see averages in chart mode. It’s usually the average value that we want to be stable so that we don’t get too large fluctuations in, for example, humidity or temperature. So we mostly choose to look at the values in table mode, where it is possible to see averages.

How many measuring points do you have?
– We have 20 measuring points where we have installed data loggers of the type testo 160 TH (°C and %RH), testo 160 THL (°C, %RH, lux and UV) and testo 160 IAQ (CO2, °C, %RH and mbar).

How do you use the logger system in practice?
– During installation, all data logs were registered in the cloud service. After that, all you have to do is log in via the web interface to see the current measurement data from all 20 measurement points.

– We have four different ventilation systems with external sensors around the museum. By setting up the testo 160 loggers alongside these sensors, I can follow all the readings at these points.

– When I see that the measured values are not optimal, I can control all four installations via a dedicated web interface and cool, heat or humidify the premises. So I have full control of the indoor climate!

Does the monitoring of the indoor climate cause any disturbance to visitors?
– As we have mostly white walls everywhere in the art galleries, the logos blend in very well. We have also purchased covers for all logs that can be painted, if necessary.

Has a temperature alarm or something else exciting happened?
– No, unfortunately I have no exciting alarms to tell you about, but we have a refrigerated magazine for photography and in there I have put a testo 160 THL. It has helped us a lot in getting the right climate in the cooled reservoir and in the lock.

How did you monitor the indoor climate before?
– We used to have standard data loggers that you had to walk around and read manually, which was very time-consuming. We also could not see any real-time metrics.

– Thanks to the Testo cloud service, we can collect measurements automatically whenever we want. I’ve set them to measure once an hour and send the data to the cloud once an hour, so now you can adjust the temperature and humidity in the rooms pretty much immediately if you need to.

Do you have plans to expand the system?
– Yes, more logs may be needed. For example, I would like to put logs in our external magazine as well. However, we cannot change the temperature and humidity as well as in the museum. But I could get a good picture of what the climate is like there over time.