The $2 Thermistor Temperature Sensor

A thermistor makes for a very inexpensive temperature sensor, under $2 for the thermistor and the 10k ohm resistor, not counting the $45 for the Arduino and LCD display:



#include <LiquidCrystal.h>
#include <math.h>

/*
LCD Connections:
rs (LCD pin 4) to Arduino pin 12
rw (LCD pin 5) to Arduino pin 11
enable (LCD pin 6) to Arduino pin 10
LCD pin 15 to Arduino pin 13
LCD pins d4, d5, d6, d7 to Arduino pins 5, 4, 3, 2

Thermistor Connections:
Thermistor Pin 1 to +5v
Thermistor Pin 2 to Analog Pin 0
10k ohm resistor pin 1 to Analog Pin 0
10k ohm resistor pin 2 to Gnd
*/

LiquidCrystal lcd(12, 11, 10, 5, 4, 3, 2);
int backLight = 13;    // pin 13 will control the backlight



void setup(void) {
  pinMode(backLight, OUTPUT);
  digitalWrite(backLight, HIGH); // turn backlight on. Replace 'HIGH' with 'LOW' to turn it off.
  lcd.begin(20, 4);              // rows, columns.  use 16,2 for a 16x2 LCD, etc.
  lcd.clear();                   // start with a blank screen
  lcd.setCursor(0,0);            // set cursor to column 0, row 0
}

double Thermistor(int RawADC) {
  double Temp;
  // See See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermistor for explanation of formula
  Temp = log(((10240000/RawADC) - 10000));
  Temp = 1 / (0.001129148 + (0.000234125 * Temp) + (0.0000000876741 * Temp * Temp * Temp));
  Temp = Temp - 273.15;           // Convert Kelvin to Celcius
  return Temp;
}

void printTemp(void) {
  double fTemp;
  double temp = Thermistor(analogRead(0));  // Read sensor on Pin 0
  lcd.clear();
  lcd.setCursor(0,0);
  lcd.print("Temperature is:");
  lcd.setCursor(0,1);
  lcd.print(temp);
  lcd.print(" C, ");
  fTemp = (temp * 1.8) + 32.0;    // Convert to Fahrenheit
  lcd.print(fTemp);
  lcd.print(" F");
  if (fTemp > 68 && fTemp < 78) {
    lcd.setCursor(0,3);
    lcd.print("Very comfortable");
  }
}

void loop(void) {
  printTemp();
  delay(1000);
}