System control

Hi, anyone tried to use a Raspberry for other purposes than media/gaming? Like monitoring different things in a house or building robots or control systems? Or is Basic stamp better for that?

What I have in mind is a system for monitoring the temperature and humidity under my house. This data should then be used for the RPi to decide whether to open or close the ventilation openings and eventually start the de-humidifier. It is also important to keep the temperature above freezing point as i have my water lines under there. If anyone has some experience of theese things I'll be happy to hear about it.

Not specifically with RPi but the easiest way to measure temperature would be with a thermistor, current source and ADC.