Buildings · Strong theory
TankLevel & Plant-Room Inventory
Reads how full the plant-room tanks are without touching them.
The physics is solid; our own validation is scheduled.
How it works
WiFi waves pass through air easily but slow down and fade in water, so the water line inside a tank marks a boundary the signals can find. As the level changes, the signals crossing the vessel change with it — even on sealed and decades-old tanks.
In the physics: The air-water interface inside a tank is a strong dielectric discontinuity (eps_r 1 vs 80): as level changes, reflection/transmission paths through the vessel shift in delay and amplitude, and the water column's bulk absorption scales with fill height. The eps_r field map literally images how much water is where.
See it work
This is real pipeline output for Buildings, replayed. The exact reading depends on your room.
Go deeper
How the field becomes an answer
How we prove it
Own-hardware: 200L plastic tank between ESP32 nodes, stepped fill/drain vs float-gauge ground truth; repeat with steel tank (exploit dome/fitting paths) to bound the metal-vessel case.
Who it is for
For the facilities/plant manager: 'Retrofit-free level sensing on every tank in the mechanical room — and a slow-leak alarm you never had to plumb in.'
The matching solution
Complete first-room estimateFloor Utilization Node3 nodes · ~$130 parts · 90 min Request kit, subscribe, or set up →Compatible DIY hardware options
120 min · advanced
240 min · installer