[geeks] Level monitoring

[Sridhar Ayengar]

Phil Stracchino wrote:
> Does anyone have any good, practical suggestions for how to remotely
> monitor and log the propane level in an outside propane tank?
> 
> The tank in question is a 500-gallon tank, maybe 30 feet from the house.
>  It has an existing analog gauge, under a hinged semi-armored cover that
> protects the gauge and the valves.  What I need is some way to remotely
> sense the level in the tank on an hourly or several-times-hourly basis,
> in a way that yields a result I can simply log and chart without having
> to (for example) do image recognition of the gauge.  One acceptably
> accurate way would probably be to track the weight of the tank, but as
> the tank is already in place, retrofitting strain gauges under it would
> be challenging and possibly infeasible.

There are Wifi-compatible industrial instrumentation and control devices 
out there.  It should be possible to rig one to a pressure sensor.

A used one should be pretty cheap.

Peace...  Sridhar