Arduino Humidity Sensor: A beginner's guide to measuring humidity using an Arduino Uno and DHT11 sensor

Introduction

This beginners Arduino humidity sensor tutorial will allow you to easily measure humidity using a DHT11 sensor connected to an Arduino (or Nano - they have very similar pinouts, and use the same processor).


how to read humidity from a DHT11 sensor

Measuring humidity is an important part of monitoring environmental conditions. Whether you're creating a greenhouse monitoring system, checking for proper storage conditions, or just wanting to track humidity levels in your home, an Arduino humidity sensor can provide valuable humidity data.

In this tutorial, we'll show you how to use a popular humidity sensor - the DHT11 - with an Arduino board to measure humidity levels. The DHT11 is an affordable and easy-to-use sensor that reports both temperature and humidity. It connects directly to any Arduino pin and requires just one wire for communication.

Measuring Humidity has many useful applications:

  • Home/greenhouse environment monitoring
  • 3D printer enclosure humidity control
  • Laboratory/industrial process control
  • Weather stations
  • Swimming pool/spa equipment control
  • Building automation
  • Storage environment monitoring
  • Agricultural environment control

This beginner's project will teach how to use an affordable DHT11 digital humidity sensor with an Arduino board to detect and monitor ambient humidity levels.

You will connect the DHT11 to an Arduino, write code to read the humidity values, and display the results.

By learning humidity sensing, you'll gain skills applicable to other sensors and environmental monitoring projects. This tutorial will cover connecting the sensor, writing code, and testing the finished circuit.

What is a DHT11 sensor?

The DHT11 is a digital temperature and humidity sensor. It is low-cost, easy to use, and provides reliable humidity readings. The sensor has three pins - power, data, and ground - making it simple to interface with a microcontroller like the Arduino. Note that the "raw unit" has 4 pins one of which is not connected. On breakout boards there are three pins.

DHT11 humidity sensor breakoutHumidity readings are dependent on temperature - The amount of moisture the air can hold is directly related to temperature. Warmer air can hold more water vapor than cooler air. So to get an accurate relative humidity reading, the temperature must also be known to compensate calculations. This is why it can return both temperature and humidity readings.

One thing you should know about the DHT series of humidity sensors is that they use a special single wire protocol and it's not compatible with other single wire protocols. It means that each DHT device must be connected to a single I/O pin. You can't wire up several units on the same pin (as you can with a DS18B20).


Required Components

  • Arduino Uno
  • DHT11 Humidity Sensor
  • Breadboard
  • Jumper wires
  • Computer with Arduino IDE

Arduino humidity sensor: Circuit Diagram

arduino humidity sensor layout

Diagram using Fritzing

Schematic Diagram

arduino humidity sensor dht11 schematic

Diagram using Fritzing

Libraries needed

The library you need to install is "DHT". This is the library from Adafruit and it may require you to install dependent libraries - just say yes when asked (when you follow the process below).

Installing an Arduino Library with IDE

Install the library as follows:

1st method:

    Click the menu bar and follow the menu items:

Sketch-->Include Library-->Manage Libraries...

2nd method:

    Click the ICON on the left that looks like a set of books.
The library manager appears on the left of the screen.

In the search box type DHT. Now click the install button.

Arduino humidity sensor: Example Sketch

The following sketch reads the humidity sensor, and outputs the obtained humidity and temperature readings to the serial monitor.

Note: There are accuracy specification on this device (DHT11) and it is slightly less accurate than a DHT22 but it is still very useful; see this page "Detailed DHT11 and DHT22 Information".

#include "DHT.h"
#define DHTPIN 3
#define DHTTYPE DHT11

DHT dht(DHTPIN, DHTTYPE);

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(9600);
  dht.begin();
}

void loop() {
  delay(2000);
  float humidity = dht.readHumidity();
  float temperature = dht.readTemperature();

  Serial.print("Humidity: ");
  Serial.print(humidity);
  Serial.print(" %\t");
  Serial.print("Temperature: ");
  Serial.print(temperature);
  Serial.println(" *C");
}

Short Code Explanation

  • Include DHT library
  • Define sensor pin and type
  • Initialize DHT object
  • Take readings in loop()
  • Print values to serial

Detailed Code Explanation

  • #include "DHT.h" - Includes the DHT sensor library which contains functions to read the sensor data
  • #define DHTPIN 2 - Defines the pin that will be connected to the sensor's data pin (pin 2 in this case)
  • #define DHTTYPE DHT11 - Defines the type of sensor used (DHT11)
  • DHT dht(DHTPIN, DHTTYPE); - Creates an instance of the DHT object and passes the pin number and sensor type
  • void setup() - Arduino setup function, runs once at startup
  • Serial.begin(9600); - Initializes serial communication at 9600 baud rate
  • dht.begin(); - Initializes the DHT sensor
  • void loop() - Main Arduino loop function, runs continuously after setup
  • delay(2000); - Waits 2 seconds between readings
  • float humidity = dht.readHumidity(); - Reads the humidity value from the sensor
  • float temperature = dht.readTemperature(); - Reads the temperature value
  • Serial.print - Prints the humidity and temperature values to the serial monitor

So in summary, it initializes serial communication and the sensor, then takes readings in a loop and prints the values out periodically.

Arduino Humidity sensor: Uploading the Code

There are a few steps to uploading the code using the Arduino IDE:

  • Connect the Arduino Uno to the PC with a USB cable.
  • Select the Arduino Uno hardware.
  • Open a new sketch.
  • Paste the code above into the new page (overwrite everything).
  • Press the upload button (right arrow at top).

You can find a more detailed tutorial on the Arduino IDE page.

Testing the Circuit

Check serial monitor for changing humidity readings.

Conclusions

This concludes the tutorial on measuring humidity with an Arduino and humidity sensor - specifically a DHT22 sensor. With additional sensors, you can expand environmental monitoring e.g. with pressure monitoring, sunlight detection etc.

Note that each DHT needs its own Arduino I/O pin - you can not connect multiple units to a single pin

For further reading this page has more details on the DHT11 and DHT22.


Written by John Main who has a degree in Electronic Engineering.

Note: Parts of this page were written using claude-instant as a research assistant.




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