A data logger is an equipment which has an in built sensor. It also has an electronic chip and a storage memory. This device records data at systematic intervals and stores the same for future analysis. A data logger is used as a substitute to manual recording. There are various parameters and applications for which a data logger is used.

To summarize, data loggers can measure the following few parameters:

  1. Temperature
  2. Humidity
  3. Current
  4. Voltage
  5. Pressure
  6. Strain and Shock
  7. pH level
  8. Flow
  9. CO2
  10. Vibration
  11. Water level
  12. Wind Speed

And many more…

Data loggers are differentiated by its features. The necessity of data loggers depends on the requirement of particular applications. For example, a warehouse and a cold store would require a temperature and a humidity recording. A hospital would require temperature, humidity and pressure to be recorded. Data loggers can be of different sizes and shapes. They are portable units which can be hung or fixed on to walls or cabinets.

Data Loggers are of various types. They can be of:

  1. Single use type
  2. Multiple use type
  3. Multichannel type
  4. Bluetooth type
  5. Wireless

The single use data loggers are devices which can be programmed to certain high and low temperature levels with a particular sampling interval. This device has a start and a stop button. The single use data logger once started and stopped, cannot be restarted again. The duration of period for which it had started until it stopped will be recorded and the same data can be downloaded in various formats. This data consists of all readings from the start time till the stop time.
If any variations occur, it is clearly shown in the readings.

The multiuser data logger is similar to the the single use data logger usage. The only thing is that this device has the capability to be reprogrammed any number of times and can be reused. These units can be used for recording various parameters such as the temperature, humidity, etc.

The multichannel data logger is a unit which has the capability to connect many channels to different parameters so that different sets of data are recorded simultaneously. Here, mostly the parameters would be temperature. Here, thermocouples of different ranges are connected to the multichannel data logger to record the temperature. After recording this data can be downloaded and viewed for further analysis.

The bluetooth data logger is based on the concept of bluetooth. Here the data is recorded for various parameters and the data is sent via bluetooth. Bluetooth data loggers are both compatible for android and iOS versions.
The wireless data loggers are units which work on concepts like radio frequency, etc.

The most comply used data loggers among all of the above is the multiple use data logger. This is a clear replacement to human manual data recording which is done on pen and paper. The human recording is always prone to errors, but a data logger is at a very high level of accuracy and can be trusted completely.

Data loggers have various applications. Some of the major applications are pharmaceutical warehouse, cold stores, vehicles, etc. Data loggers are also used in plenty in hospitals, health care centers. Logistics is another essential industry where data loggers are used.

Data loggers are designed and customized in many forms, for example some are with an internal sensor and some with external sensors. Data loggers are the most basic devices to measure temperature, humidity, etc.