The complete guide to temperature monitoring

Temperature monitoring is the continuous measurement and recording of temperature, and often humidity and other conditions, in a controlled space such as a laboratory fridge, freezer, cold room, warehouse, cleanroom or museum store. Calibrated sensors log data automatically at set intervals, raise alarms when readings drift outside defined limits, and store a time-stamped, tamper-evident record. It replaces manual spot checks with round-the-clock evidence that conditions stayed within specification.

They are two stages of the same evidence chain rather than alternatives. Temperature mapping is a one-time or periodic qualification exercise that places calibrated loggers throughout a space to characterise how temperature is distributed across the whole volume and to identify where the extremes are. Temperature monitoring is what happens afterwards: permanent sensors watch the positions the mapping study justified, continuously, so any excursion is caught as it occurs. In short, mapping decides where the monitoring sensors belong; monitoring then keeps watch at those positions.

Look for continuous automatic logging rather than manual spot checks; real-time alarms that escalate by SMS, email and on-screen until acknowledged; calibrated sensors with accuracy traceable to national standards, in the UK normally UKAS-accredited calibration to ISO/IEC 17025; a tamper-evident, time-stamped record with secure audit trails; compliance-ready reporting for your regulatory workflow; coverage that scales across sites and zones; the option of both wired and wireless sensing; and a supplier that will support and recalibrate the system for years.

Most real estates use both. Wireless sensors are battery-powered and quick to deploy where running cable is impractical, for example across a large warehouse, a listed building or a busy laboratory, and they scale easily with repeaters. Wired sensors suit fixed positions that need cabled, high-accuracy measurement or where a permanent power and data run already exists. A good platform, such as Eltek’s Darca, accepts both feeding one set of software, so you can match the architecture to each space rather than compromise on one approach.

Yes. Regulated environments have to evidence that storage held its specified conditions, not just that a setpoint was dialled in. A monitoring system provides that evidence: continuous time-stamped data, alarms that show excursions were caught and acted on, and secure audit trails. Eltek’s Darca Command produces compliance-ready reporting suited to GxP, GMP, HTA and 21 CFR Part 11 workflows. No monitoring system makes a facility compliant on its own; validation of the storage in its intended use stays the organisation’s responsibility, and the system supplies the traceable evidence that supports it.

Eltek uses one connected platform, Darca, in three layers. Collect measures conditions with battery-powered GenII wireless transmitters for temperature, humidity, CO₂ and pressure, and with Darca Wired and the GD-series transmitters for fixed cabled installs. Connect relays data securely from site to software through the SRV450 hub, with the SMS450 raising SMS alarms and repeaters extending range. Command provides live dashboards, real-time alarms and compliance-ready reporting with full audit trails. Sensors carry UKAS-traceable calibration, and Eltek has designed and manufactured monitoring equipment in the UK for over 40 years.

Yes. Darca Command shows every site and zone in one view and lets you drill into any single sensor, so a team can watch storage across several buildings or locations from one place. Connectivity through the SRV450 hub and repeaters that extend range across large, multi-zone and multi-building sites means the same platform scales from a single laboratory fridge to a whole estate, with role-based permissions keeping the right people in control at each site.

As well as temperature, Eltek’s GenII wireless range measures relative humidity, CO₂ and pressure, and analogue transmitters such as the GD44 bring in voltage and current-loop signals from existing plant and instruments. That means a single monitoring platform can cover the full environmental picture a space depends on, from a museum store watching temperature, humidity and light to an industrial process watching an analogue sensor output, all in one connected system with the same alarms, reporting and audit trail.