# Make It Hot or Cold ## Overview ![](https://cdn-learn.adafruit.com/assets/assets/000/060/335/medium800/temperature___humidity_hot-cold.jpg?1535493981 MS Word 2010 Clip Art) How can I heat something up? How can I cool something? Controlling the temperature of a substance is fundamental to automation. Most buildings have thermostats and a heating & cooling unit. Products like Nest automate that hard job. But what about smaller requirements? There are small-scale heating and cooling needs but not a great deal has been written to show Makers how to provide temperature control. This guide will show you some techniques for heating something up and cooling something down, along with methods to monitor the temperatures. This work will be done by two Adafruit products: the [Circuit Playground Express microcontroller](https://www.adafruit.com/product/3333) and the [Crickit add-on controller](https://www.adafruit.com/product/3093) to provide the interface between digital signals and analog devices. Danger: ## Parts ### Part: Circuit Playground Express quantity: 1 Circuit Playground Express is the next step towards a perfect introduction to electronics and programming. [Circuit Playground Express](https://www.adafruit.com/product/3333) ### Part: Adafruit CRICKIT for Circuit Playground Express quantity: 1 Our Creative Robotics & Interactive Construction Kit. It's an add-on to our popular Circuit Playground Express [Adafruit CRICKIT for Circuit Playground Express](https://www.adafruit.com/product/3093) ### Part: Electric Heating Pad - 10cm x 5cm quantity: 1 This is hot! Literally! Apply 5-12VDC and the stainless steel fibers in this heating fabric will warm up, creating a little heating pad. [Electric Heating Pad - 10cm x 5cm](https://www.adafruit.com/product/1481) ### Part: Peltier Thermo-Electric Cooler Module - 5V 1A quantity: 1 Apply 5V to the red (positive) and black (negative) wires and one side will get cold while the other side gets hot. [Peltier Thermo-Electric Cooler Module - 5V 1A](https://www.adafruit.com/product/1331) ### Part: TMP36 - Analog Temperature sensor quantity: 1 Wide range, low power temperature sensor outputs an analog voltage [TMP36 - Analog Temperature sensor](https://www.adafruit.com/product/165) ### Part: Panel Mount 10K potentiometer quantity: 1 Breadboard Friendly - 10K Linear [Panel Mount 10K potentiometer ](https://www.adafruit.com/product/562) ### Part: Potentiometer Knob quantity: 1 Soft Touch T18 - Red [Potentiometer Knob](https://www.adafruit.com/product/2046) ### Part: Small Alligator Clip to Male Jumper Wire Bundle - 12 Pieces quantity: 1 These cables will be your best friends! No longer will you have long strands of alligator clips that are grabbing extension wires. [ Small Alligator Clip to Male Jumper Wire Bundle - 12 Pieces](https://www.adafruit.com/product/3255) ### Part: Short Wire Alligator Clip Test Lead (set of 12) quantity: 1 These are shorter - if you need longer, order the longer "small alligator clip" bundles. [Short Wire Alligator Clip Test Lead (set of 12)](https://www.adafruit.com/product/1592) ### Part: Female DC Power adapter - 2.1mm jack to screw terminal block quantity: 1 Connect a DC power wall wart to a board that doesn't have a DC jack. [Female DC Power adapter - 2.1mm jack to screw terminal block](https://www.adafruit.com/product/368) - [Next Page](https://learn.adafruit.com/make-it-hot-or-cold/make-it-hot.md) ## Featured Products ### Circuit Playground Express [Circuit Playground Express](https://www.adafruit.com/product/3333) **Circuit Playground Express** is the next step towards a perfect introduction to electronics and programming. We've taken the original Circuit Playground Classic and made it even better! Not only did we pack even more sensors in, we also made it even easier to... Out of Stock [Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/3333) [Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/3333/guides) ### Adafruit CRICKIT for Circuit Playground Express [Adafruit CRICKIT for Circuit Playground Express](https://www.adafruit.com/product/3093) Sometimes we wonder if robotics engineers ever watch movies. If they did, they'd know that making robots into servants always ends up in a robot rebellion. Why even go down that path? Here at Adafruit, we believe in making robots our  **friends!** So if you find... In Stock [Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/3093) [Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/3093/guides) ### Electric Heating Pad - 10cm x 5cm [Electric Heating Pad - 10cm x 5cm](https://www.adafruit.com/product/1481) This is hot! Literally! Apply 5-12VDC and the stainless steel fibers in this heating fabric will warm up, creating a little heating pad. On one hand, it's just a gigantic resistor. On the other hand, it's flexible, light, and can be wrapped around a project. Originally designed for... In Stock [Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/1481) [Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/1481/guides) ### Peltier Thermo-Electric Cooler Module - 5V 1A [Peltier Thermo-Electric Cooler Module - 5V 1A](https://www.adafruit.com/product/1331) Keep it cool with a Peltier module. These unique electronic components can generate a temperature differential when powered. That is to say, apply 5V to the red (positive) and black (negative) wires and one side will get cold while the other side gets hot. For best results, you'll need to... In Stock [Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/1331) [Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/1331/guides) ### TMP36 - Analog Temperature sensor [TMP36 - Analog Temperature sensor](https://www.adafruit.com/product/165) Wide range, low power temperature sensor outputs an analog voltage that is proportional to the ambient temperature. To use, connect pin 1 (left) to power (between 2.7 and 5.5V), pin 3 (right) to ground, and pin 2 to analog in on your microcontroller. The voltage out is 0V at -50°C and... In Stock [Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/165) [Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/165/guides) ### Panel Mount 10K potentiometer (Breadboard Friendly) [Panel Mount 10K potentiometer (Breadboard Friendly)](https://www.adafruit.com/product/562) This potentiometer is a two-in-one, good in a breadboard or with a panel. It's a fairly standard linear taper 10K ohm potentiometer, with a grippy shaft. It's smooth and easy to turn, but not so loose that it will shift on its own. We like this one because the legs are 0.2" apart... In Stock [Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/562) [Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/562/guides) ### Potentiometer Knob - Soft Touch T18 - Red [Potentiometer Knob - Soft Touch T18 - Red](https://www.adafruit.com/product/2046) _Oh say can you see_ _By the knob's early light..._ Sorry - we thought that was clever.  And while it wasn't really, this potentiometer knob definitely is.  It's a 'soft touch' T18 knob that works great with our In Stock [Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/2046) [Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/2046/guides) ### Short Wire Alligator Clip Test Lead (set of 12) [Short Wire Alligator Clip Test Lead (set of 12)](https://www.adafruit.com/product/1592) Connect this to that without soldering using these handy mini alligator clip test leads. Approximately 4.5" overall cables with alligator clip on each end, color coded. You get 12 pieces in 6 colors. Strong and grippy, these always come in handy! We often use these in conjunction with a... In Stock [Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/1592) [Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/1592/guides) ## Related Guides - [Adafruit Circuit Playground Express](https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-circuit-playground-express.md) - [CircuitPython Made Easy on Circuit Playground Express and Bluefruit](https://learn.adafruit.com/circuitpython-made-easy-on-circuit-playground-express.md) - [Make It Log](https://learn.adafruit.com/make-it-data-log-spreadsheet-circuit-playground.md) - [Using EduBlocks with Circuit Playground Express](https://learn.adafruit.com/using-edublocks-with-circuit-playground-express.md) - [Circuit Playground Express Head-Tilt Ears](https://learn.adafruit.com/circuit-playground-express-head-tilt-ears.md) - [Case for Circuit Playground](https://learn.adafruit.com/case-for-circuit-playground.md) - [Circuit Playground Minecraft Gesture Controller](https://learn.adafruit.com/circuitplayground-minecraft-gesture-controller.md) - [Infrared Transmit and Receive on Circuit Playground Express in C++](https://learn.adafruit.com/infrared-transmit-and-receive-on-circuit-playground-express-in-c-plus-plus-2.md) - [Crickit Powered Maker Ice Cream Truck!](https://learn.adafruit.com/crickit-maker-ice-cream-truck.md) - [Illuminated City Skyline with MakeCode](https://learn.adafruit.com/city-skyline-with-makecode-for-cpx.md) - [Make It Sense](https://learn.adafruit.com/make-it-sense.md) - [Makey Paper Craft ](https://learn.adafruit.com/makey-paper-craft.md) - [Sound Activated Shark Mask](https://learn.adafruit.com/sound-activated-shark-mask.md) - [Sparky the Blue Smoke Monster Automaton](https://learn.adafruit.com/sparky-automaton.md) - [Steven Universe Cosplay Shirt & Gem](https://learn.adafruit.com/steven-universe-cosplay-shirt-gem.md) - [Blues Playground](https://learn.adafruit.com/blues-playground.md)