What happens today
A technician puts gauges on twice a year, or the unit trips on low pressure in the hottest week of the year and the fault is found then. Between those two events nobody has a number.
Guided kit · hardware gateway + software
A slow leak shows up as a drifting subcooling number, not a puddle.
refridgemon tracks the temperature pair that charge moves — liquid line and suction line against ambient — and turns it into superheat and subcooling trends per circuit, with a plant room door event so a service visit is not read as a fault. It is for building operators and mechanical contractors who would rather find a leak in April than in February.
LiquidSubcoolingdrift against ambient
SuctionSuperheatsame circuit, same clock
Leak flag
a trend, not a trip
a trend, not a trip
building operatorsmechanical contractorscold rooms and cool roomsfacilities portfolios
A pressure switch only tells you once it is too late to be useful
Charge leaves a system slowly, and a low-pressure cutout protects the compressor rather than giving notice. By the time it trips, the unit has run a whole summer at reduced capacity. AS/NZS 5149 governs servicing of refrigerating systems and refrigerant handling is licensed work, so the instrument that helps watches from outside the circuit.
What refridgemon records instead
A weekly trend of superheat and subcooling per circuit against a baseline taken at a verified charge, with a flag when the pair drifts outside the band the technician set.
Two line sensors, a door contact, an off-the-shelf gateway
The temperature and humidity node, the magnetic reed door contact and the 8-channel LoRaWAN gateway are bought off the shelf; Techsol writes the correlation and the trend. Pressure is not in the starter, and where a technician wants it, a transmitter is fitted separately by an ARC-licensed business.
1. SHT31 node
Ambient temperature and humidity at the unit, plus the line temperature pair on the circuits in scope. Ambient is the reference every superheat and subcooling figure is read against.
2. Reed door contact
Marks plant room and unit door openings on the timeline. A service visit, a filter change or a technician adding charge all move the numbers, and the contact keeps that work out of the fault count.
3. 8-channel LoRaWAN gateway
An off-the-shelf gateway that carries the nodes off a plant room with no usable Wi-Fi. Eight channels is enough for a small plant room or a rooftop cluster; larger sites need more than one.
Six steps, and the baseline is not optional
- Have the charge verified against the manufacturer's data by an ARC-licensed technician first.
- Identify which circuits you are watching and how many the gateway has to carry.
- Fit the line temperature pair on the liquid and suction lines, insulated from ambient.
- Mount the ambient node away from discharge air and direct sun.
- Fit the door contact, then record the verified-charge baseline with its date.
- Set the drift band with the technician, and treat the first month as learning, not alerting.
What the starter price buys
One temperature and humidity node, one magnetic reed door contact, one off-the-shelf 8-channel LoRaWAN gateway, the correlation engine and the first 3 years of subscription. Pressure transmitters and refrigerant work are separate.
A trend you can hand to the licensed business
refridgemon does not find leaks; it finds the circuit that is losing charge and says how long it has been doing it. That is what makes the call-out specific and the conversation with an ARC-licensed contractor short. The record below is a sample rendered on this page, not a real plant.
Sample circuit trend — RTU-7, circuit 1, rooftop cluster B (sample, not a real unit) LEAK FLAG
- Asset
- RTU-7, circuit 1, R410A packaged unit
- Baseline
- charge verified 2 Feb, subcooling 8.4 K
- Reading
- subcooling 3.1 K at 31°C ambient
- Suction
- superheat 14.2 K, up from 7.9 K
- Door events
- 2 openings, both logged as service visits
- Trend
- drift began 41 days after verification
- Disposition
- detector call-out booked, circuit named
The signature covers the baseline date, the verified-charge note and the readings since. It is not a refrigerant record and does not certify the system.
Why this is not a commodity sensor
Two temperatures and a door contact, read against ambient for months, beat a gauge reading twice a year. The correlation is the argument; the sensor is not.
What this is not
refridgemon does not perform regulated refrigerant handling and holds no ARC licence. It does not break into the circuit, recover, evacuate or recharge, and it does not detect gas concentration in the air. Pressure is not in the starter; any pressure connection is made by an ARC-licensed technician under AS/NZS 5149. It cannot localise a leak, and it is not a refrigerant record for reporting — the servicing business holds those. One starter covers one circuit pair plus ambient, so multi-circuit plant is a scoped job.
Claim ceiling — C1, the evidence, not the certification
The record refridgemon produces is the environmental / water-safety reporting obligation. The claim is scoped to that record: it is evidence that the step happened, on the date, at the temperature or state the record shows, and it is what you hand an auditor. It does not certify the plant, the process or the device, and no S5 document calls it a certification.
Price and quotation
One product page S5 owns. The listed price is A$10 and includes the first 3 years of the subscription. Nothing is sold directly from this page: the listed price is recorded through a written quotation, and the quotation states the lead time, the freight and the payment terms for your site.
| Piece | What happens | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Quotation | A written quotation is issued for this page and the configuration shown | Issued on request |
| Buy now | Opens the quotation page: the listed price is recorded against a written quotation, no order, no payment | A$10 held |
| Lead time and freight | Stated in the written quotation for your site | Confirmed in the quotation |
| Commercial quote | A quotation reference is issued for this page and configuration | Instant, same page |
| Subscription, from year 4 | The first 3 years are inside the listed price | Not charged today |
Get instant commercial quote
One email address and your configuration, and the quotation for this refridgemon build is issued against this page. No account, no sales call required.
Published specifications
The temperature and humidity node in refridgemon uses a Sensirion SHT31 sensor element. Sensirion's published SHT3x-DIS datasheet specifies the sensor over a temperature range of −40 °C to 125 °C and a relative humidity range of 0 %RH to 100 %RH, with a typical relative humidity accuracy of ±2 %RH. The same SHT3x-DIS datasheet gives the sensor element a typical temperature accuracy of ±0.2 °C over 0 °C to 90 °C.
| Item | Published figure |
|---|---|
| Sensor element | Sensirion SHT31 |
| Sensor temperature range (specified) | −40 °C to 125 °C |
| Sensor relative humidity range | 0 %RH to 100 %RH, ±2 %RH typical accuracy |
| Sensor temperature accuracy (typical) | ±0.2 °C over 0 °C to 90 °C |
| Sensor supply voltage | 2.15 V to 5.5 V |
| Recommended operating condition (sensor element) | 5 °C to 60 °C at 20 %RH to 80 %RH |
| Monitoring range | not published — the band each cabinet is alerted on is set at commissioning from the customer's own requirement |
| Included in the starter | 2 × temperature and humidity node, 1 × Magnetic reed door contact, 1 × 8-channel LoRaWAN gateway |
| Not published | node IP rating, assembled-node temperature rating, node power or current rating |
Sensirion recommends operating the sensor element within 5 °C to 60 °C at 20 %RH to 80 %RH, and gives a supply voltage of 2.15 V to 5.5 V for it. The published kit is 2 × temperature and humidity nodes, 1 × magnetic reed door contact and 1 × 8-channel LoRaWAN gateway. Every quantity here is the supplier's published price-table figure for this starter. refridgemon publishes no monitoring range of its own, so neither the sensor's −40 °C to 125 °C specified range nor the recommended 5 °C to 60 °C at 20 %RH to 80 %RH condition is a statement of what refridgemon monitors: the band each cabinet alerts on is set at commissioning from the customer's own temperature requirement. Not published on this page: an IP rating for the node, an operating temperature rating for the assembled node, and a power or current rating for the node. Those are confirmed with the supplier before an order is accepted, and this page does not estimate them.
Figures quoted from the Sensirion Datasheet SHT3x-DIS, December 2022, version 7 (Table 2 (temperature specified range and typical temperature accuracy), Table 6 (operating temperature range), table 1 (operating relative humidity), section 1.1 (recommended operating condition), product summary (supply voltage range)). S5 publishes no figure that is not in a manufacturer document.
Frequently asked questions
Direct answers to the questions buyers, installers and AI search tools ask about refridgemon.
How does refridgemon detect a leak without a gas sensor?
It watches the temperature pair that a change in charge moves: liquid line temperature for subcooling and suction line temperature for superheat, both read against ambient. A system losing charge slowly shows subcooling falling and superheat rising together, often weeks before a low-pressure cutout trips. The kit flags the trend; it does not measure concentration in the air.
Does refridgemon handle, recover or top up refrigerant?
No. refridgemon does not perform regulated refrigerant handling, holds no ARC licence and does not break into the refrigerant circuit. Any pressure connection, recovery, evacuation or recharge is licensed work by an ARC-licensed technician under AS/NZS 5149 and the Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas Management Regulations. The kit stays outside the circuit by design.
What are superheat and subcooling, and why track both?
Superheat is how far the suction gas rises above its saturation temperature; subcooling is how far the liquid falls below it. Charge loss usually moves both at once, so the pair narrows a diagnosis that one number alone would blur into a dirty coil, a failing fan or a restricted metering device. Ambient temperature is logged because both figures shift with it.
Why is there a door contact in a refrigerant leak kit?
Because a door opening explains most sudden moves in the data. A service visit, a filter change or a technician adding charge all change the trend, and without the door event the engine reads that as a leak or a recovery. The contact marks the visit on the timeline so a contractor's own work is not counted against the asset.
Can refridgemon tell me where the leak is?
No. It tells you which circuit is losing charge and roughly how fast, not which joint, flare or coil is passing gas. Localisation is a technician's job with an electronic detector or a dye trace, and on a large system that is the expensive part. The kit's contribution is to move the call-out earlier and to name the circuit before the trip.
Does it work on a VRF system or a chiller?
Only where the plant exposes the temperature points the correlation needs, which is a smaller set than the marketing suggests. A multi-circuit VRF or a chiller with several compressors needs a sensor pair and a baseline per circuit, and the starter covers one circuit plus ambient. Treat multi-circuit plant as a scoped job with its own gateway count, not as a starter kit.
Does refridgemon satisfy AS/NZS 5149 or refrigerant reporting?
No. AS/NZS 5149 sets requirements for the safe design, installation and servicing of refrigerating systems, and the record-keeping and leak-check duties sit with the ARC-licensed business that services the plant. refridgemon produces a temperature trend you can hand to that business; it is not a compliance record and does not replace their logs or their reporting.
What if the system is already low on charge when I install it?
Then the baseline is wrong and every trend afterwards measures loss from a system that was already short. Take the baseline only after an ARC-licensed technician has verified the charge against the manufacturer's data, and record that verification date alongside it. This is the one installation step that cannot be worked around later, because the drift band is meaningless without it.
How much does refridgemon cost, and what is included in the price?
refridgemon is A$3,780 as listed, and that figure already includes the first 3 years of the subscription. From year 4 the subscription continues at the published monthly rate. The price covers one temperature and humidity node, one magnetic reed door contact, one off-the-shelf 8-channel LoRaWAN gateway, the correlation engine and the first 3 years of subscription. Pressure transmitters and refrigerant work are separate.
What hardware do I have to buy or install for refridgemon?
refridgemon ships as a kit: One temperature and humidity node, one magnetic reed door contact, one off-the-shelf 8-channel LoRaWAN gateway, the correlation engine and the first 3 years of subscription. Pressure transmitters and refrigerant work are separate. No S5-designed radio enclosure is required, because the site gateway is a finished product bought off the shelf. Installation is a guided self-install, and the site needs mains power or the supplied battery option at the gateway location.
How is refridgemon quoted, and what does the written quotation state?
refridgemon is quoted against a written commercial quotation. The quotation states the configuration, the price, the lead time and the freight for your site, and sets out the ordering, invoicing and delivery terms before anything is committed.
How do I get a price for my site, and what happens after I submit the form?
Use the “Get instant commercial quote” form on this page, which needs only your email address and your configuration choice. The store records the request against the refridgemon subdomain and issues a quotation reference, so the enquiry is traceable rather than lost in a mailbox. You receive the quotation for the configuration and price shown. Nothing is ordered and nothing is charged until you accept it; use the Buy now button to record that price against your quotation.
What happens if refridgemon reports a failure or goes offline?
A refridgemon failure is recorded as evidence and handed to the operator, not silently retried. The record keeps the measured values, the time of the event and the limit that was crossed, and the response is a documented action by your team, not an automatic decision by the device. A missing reading is treated as a missing data point, not as a pass.