Monitor Your Coolers and Pest Control Efforts with IoT Sensors

While Bar-i’s services focus on handling your bar inventory, we also possess a vast amount of knowledge about the industry. Our co-owners, Jamie and Scotty, both worked in bars and restaurants for over 20 years before starting Bar-i. We’ve built on this experience over the last 10 years by performing more than 7,000 inventory audits for bars in 23 states. We’ve seen it all during this time and as a result, we’re also able to provide consulting services that will help you streamline every aspect of your operations.

One of the ways we try to help our clients is by pointing out technological innovations that can allow them to run their business more efficiently and cost-effectively. We recently began collaborating with John Hann from Rocky Mountain Sensors. John has a software engineering background and has been a valuable resource for us as we’ve explored cloud storage capabilities for our new software products. As we learned more about the sensor products John and his partner Jess Cobb have created, it became obvious that they can provide many benefits to bar and restaurant owners.

Innovative Sensor Technology for Your Bar or Restaurant

Rocky Mountain Sensors has been working on their sensor technology for three years. They spent the first two years designing and developing the product, and they released their sensors in January 2019. These sensors use M1 cellular technology (a low-power cellular modem) that only connects to a cellular tower when there is data to transmit. This allows their sensors to get much more power out of a battery than is possible with a cell phone that is always connected to a tower.

These sensors use infrared to detect motion. In addition, they have patent-pending technology that allows the sensors to more effectively detect false readings. You also have the ability to count the number of detections, which enables you to set alerts that will notify you after a certain number of readings have occurred.

The sensor hub runs on AA batteries, but you can also plug it into the wall. If you have a power outage while the hub is plugged in, you’ll receive an alert. You’ll also receive data that allows you to determine how long the power was out.

Improve Your Pest Control Monitoring with Sensor Technology

Rodents are a common problem in many bars and restaurants. While it is an issue all year, many establishments see an increase in rodents during the summer months when patio doors are open all day, making it easier for rodents to get in and out of the restaurant. You can use these sensors to streamline your pest control efforts and more effectively get rid of unwanted rodents.

The sensors work with a variety of different rodent traps, ensuring they can be integrated with your current pest control system. The sensor goes on top of the trap. When a mouse enters the trap, the sensor detects the motion and sends an alert to the employee monitoring your traps. This allows you to clear the trap before the rodent dies and starts to smell.

When you use the feature allowing you to set the number of detections before an alert is sent, it will help you to know when a mouse is actually in the trap and not just roaming around it. If you see a spike in motion, it usually indicates the mouse is in the trap and when the motion stops, you know the mouse is dead.

You can also place the sensors along the walls, floorboards and ceiling tiles to determine precisely where the mice are coming from. This information will help you determine the most effective locations to place your traps.

There are several benefits to using these sensors to monitor for rodents at your restaurant:

• Provides a more cost-effective, in-house alternative to having a pest control company come to your restaurant on a regular basis
• Ability to target your pest control efforts in the right places since you can determine exactly where rodents are entering your restaurant
• Email alerts allow you to clear traps more quickly, eliminating the foul smell associated with dead rodents

Monitor Your Cooler and Freezer Temperatures with Sensor Technology

The same sensors can be used to help you monitor the temperatures in your coolers and freezers. In most restaurants, these temperatures are typically recorded every shift. If this task has to be done manually by an employee, there’s a greater chance it doesn’t get done every day or that data errors occur. Using sensors for this task eliminates these potential problems.

This is a full industrial range product so it can be used in a freezer as well as a walk-in cooler. As long as there is a seal or a window in the room, the signal from the sensor can get out and provide you with the data you need.

The sensor system will take a temperature reading every hour, and you will get an alert if the temperature reading is outside of the range you specify. This will help you identify when there are problems with your cooler or freezer right away before food spoils.

You can log into the cloud anytime you want to see your data. Rocky Mountain Sensors graphs the data for you so that you can see how consistent your cooler temperatures are over an extended period of time. There aren’t many other products providing these kinds of monitoring services for restaurant coolers, so this presents an effective way to automate an important task that would otherwise take up your staff’s valuable time.

Some of the benefits you’ll receive when you monitor your cooler temperatures using sensors include:

• More accurate data
• Ability to track data over time
• Automation of a process that otherwise must be performed manually by an employee
• Notifies you immediately when there is an issue with the temperature, allowing you to correct the problem much faster

Cost of Installing a Sensor System in Your Restaurant or Bar

A starter package for two sensors and a hub is $580. Additional sensors can be purchased for $119, and the hub can be purchased separately for $375. You will pay $119 per year for data reporting.

Rocky Mountain Sensors has offered Bar-i clients and followers a 20% discount on their sensors. Simply use the coupon code “bari20” when you place your order to receive this deal.

Overall, this represents a relatively small cost for a service that can provide valuable benefits to your operations. Most pest control companies will charge much more than this to keep your restaurant free of rodents. In addition, the ability to address temperature problems in your coolers and freezers in real time will help you avoid losing money because food spoils.

If you’d like to learn more about how Bar-i can help you streamline your operations and maximize your profitability, please contact us today to schedule a free consultation. We serve bars and restaurants nationwide from our offices in Denver, Colorado.