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  • Author Author: ntewinkel
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Temperature Tester - IR Thermometer

ntewinkel

I thought I'd share something else I picked up as part of a shopping cart prize - this nice little Infrared Thermometer by Multicomp.

Multicomp IR Thermometer

I guess these type of thermometers were all the rage during the height of the pandemic with all the people fever testing going on, but trust me these things are super useful for so many other reasons as well Slight smile
So this might be a good time to pick one up, as I suspect there will be extras now.

Here I'm testing it compared to that little weather station I mentioned in an earlier post:

multicomp IR thermometer

I'm not sure about accuracy, but this sort of deviation by a few degrees (22.1 vs 20.6 = 1.5 degrees C... see picture) seems to be pretty standard - my older IR thermometer, from my days as energy advisor, has the same sort of difference. I guess if you want super accurate you'd need a different sensor or thermometer, but for my purposes quick and easy is what I want more!

I do wish it was more accurate when it comes to "freezing" and "not freezing" outside. My old unit seems to need to be acclimated to the outside temperature for a while to get a better reading, so I'm not sure if that's the trick - maybe they compare to an internal temperature?

For me, I've been using it to test the temperature of my hummingbird feeders to check the performance of the heating setup. Spoiler alert: heat rises Stuck out tongue winking eye

I've also had to use it for some heat pump issues - basically just to verify that my heat pump was no longer pumping heat as promised. Cry
For that, it was easy to just point it at the indoor unit where the air comes out, and compare to the air above and beside the unit. It also helped at the outdoor unit to take the guesswork out of whether or not the copper lines are any warmer when the unit was operating - simply touching them can be deceiving.

And yes I did also use it to check our temperatures after a potential exposure. But don't worry - we're cool Laughing

Stay well,
-Nico

ps, Here is the link to it in the element14/Newark (Canada) store, with datasheet for details:
https://canada.newark.com/multicomp-pro/mp780004/infrared-thermometer-32-to-400deg/dp/07AH2548?ost=mp780004

Parents

  • For accuracy then don't you have to factor in the thermal emissivity of the surface you are measuring compared with what the thermometer has been calibrated against ? Also the field of view and distance you are using it at so as to be sure that the target completely fills the measurement area. 

    I'd imagine that the medical ones have been calibrated against the thermal emissivity of human skin and for use at a fairly close range so that the the forehead being measured fills the the measurement target area.

Comment

  • For accuracy then don't you have to factor in the thermal emissivity of the surface you are measuring compared with what the thermometer has been calibrated against ? Also the field of view and distance you are using it at so as to be sure that the target completely fills the measurement area. 

    I'd imagine that the medical ones have been calibrated against the thermal emissivity of human skin and for use at a fairly close range so that the the forehead being measured fills the the measurement target area.

Children
  • in reply to beacon_dave

    >...factor in the thermal emissivity...

    True, the top left corner of the display shows emissivity set to 0.95, which seems to be ok for most things like wood, drywall, paper. Like you say, I bet it could be tuned to the surface type when testing the same things repeatedly. I'm too lazy to bother with that detail Laughing

    The spec sheet does say it can be out a few degrees: "Accuracy : ±2°C or ±2%"

    I imagine it's best used for things where we are looking for generally colder or warmer spots, like in engines, home energy, and maybe electronics. Even with fever it doesn't matter exactly how many degrees warmer someone is, just that they happen to be warmer than usual.