Are All Digital Thermometers Created Equal?

[mikeleblanc413]

Looking for the best digital thermometer for the money...will be using on our Ford car and Dodge truck. Appreciate all comments!

[DrewE]

mikeleblanc413 wrote:
THANKS to everyone who took the time to respond! I'm looking for a digital tire thermometer to read tire pressure on our 2018 Ford.

Are you looking for a thermometer or a pressure gauge? A thermometer of course can't measure pressure, just temperature--and while you can reasonably conclude that a tire may be low if it's excessively hot after driving, it's not reading the pressure in any way.

Anyhow, for this, IMHO pretty much any laser aimed non-contact thermometer will work fine. The Harbor Freight model is readily available and pretty inexpensive and mine, at least, seems to be pretty accurate (certainly close enough for checking tire temperatures).

For measuring pressure, pretty much any digital tire gauge will be quite accurate, likely more so (and more liable to stay accurate) than nearly any mechanical gauge that doesn't cost a king's ransom. I'd go by what seems convenient to use.

[mikeleblanc413]

THANKS to everyone who took the time to respond! I'm looking for a digital tire thermometer to read tire pressure on our 2018 Ford.

[George3037]

I use a Raytek brand with laser pointer I bought at Grainger about 25 years ago. Think I paid around $100 plus for it at the time. I used to get it calibrated every couple of years when I was working (work paid for the calibration) but haven't had it done in past 2 years. There are many brands available from a $30 HF unit to well over $500.
A friend of mine has the HF unit and it reads within .05 degrees of my more expensive Raytek. I don't need to read exact temps within hundredths of a degree as long as they are within a degree or two is fine for me.

[MrWizard]

mikeleblanc413 wrote:
Looking for the best digital thermometer for the money...will be using on our Ford car and Dodge truck. Appreciate all comments!

for what purpose ?

tires,wheels etc.. ?

digital thermometer leaves it why open in application

a $20 laser point infrared, is find for comparing tire temps

[TenOC]

Since I do not need a thermometer that is accurate to .00001 degrees I purchase the cheap one that is only accurate to +/- 3 degrees.

[2oldman]

westend wrote:
What will you be measuring?

x2

[westend]

mikeleblanc413 wrote:
Looking for the best digital thermometer for the money...will be using on our Ford car and Dodge truck. Appreciate all comments!

What will you be measuring?
FWIW, I have a cheap Harbor Freight infrared and it does comparative readings very well. I calibrated it against a known temp some time back and it was within 2-3f. Some hand held meters like Fluke, Extech, and others can be used with a contact temperature probe. Those are very accurate and are typically used for head, block, or exhaust temperatures.

[wa8yxm]

Are they all created equal.. NO WAY. but they may all read within a degree.. Just sone last longer.. I too favor LaCross technologies.

[Mike_LeClair]

OP - Mr. Bishop answered your query and I thank you for that David! You need an accurate, trustworthy and reliable ambient temperature gauge for any fine calibration work like you are contemplating.

Cheers!

Mike

[Chuck_thehammer]

if you do not NEED plus or minus 5 degrees..
for 20 dollars. go to a R/C (radio controlled) hobby shop... they work well...
used for the nitro/gas engines...

to compare one temp to another..

as for bearings... should be about 20 degrees above ambient air temperature...
tires.. 10 to 30 degrees above ambient air temperature.. but REMEMBER the Full SUN side might be another 20 degrees more...

I started out using one.. to quickly find a car engine mis-fire.... that exhaust tube will be cooler... then other engine problems... cooling .. ect.

[D_E_Bishop]

In answer to the OP, I've never felt the need to check bearing temps and don't know if there is a temp that they normally run at. I assume that you are really looking for variations from what you find to be normal for your vehicles and accuracy is not too important.

To wenglish, no, you would be measuring surface temps and what you want are ambient air temps, I don't think it would work.

[wenglish]

Mike LeClair wrote:
Good catch 2oldman! In re reading the op's query methinks that I am on the wrong rail with my reply. So, OP, you are asking about a digital point and shoot infrared thermometer? To check tire, wheel bearing and other vehicle type temps? The prices do vary wildly on these. The one that I use retails at $100.00 and I got it on sale for about $30.00 IIRC. I think the adage "you get what you pay for" rings quite true. Tons of vendors on Amazon and EBay for these devices. I use ours mainly for wheel bearing and hub temp measurements as well as hunting for seal and gasket leaks in the RV (looking fort cool spots).

Cheers!

Mike

Would a device like this be useful for calibrating a thermometer used for measuring room temperature or outside temperature?

I have a bunch of temperature sensors as part of my home automation system, and the software allows you to adjust the reported temperature (to correct for inaccuracies in the sensor). I'm wondering if I aimed a digital point and shoot infrared thermometer at the sensor (or something in the vicinity of the sensor), would that give an accurate reading that I could use for calibration? (assuming the digital point and shoot infrared thermometer is reasonably accurate, of course).

[Mike_LeClair]

Good catch 2oldman! In re reading the op's query methinks that I am on the wrong rail with my reply. So, OP, you are asking about a digital point and shoot infrared thermometer? To check tire, wheel bearing and other vehicle type temps? The prices do vary wildly on these. The one that I use retails at $100.00 and I got it on sale for about $30.00 IIRC. I think the adage "you get what you pay for" rings quite true. Tons of vendors on Amazon and EBay for these devices. I use ours mainly for wheel bearing and hub temp measurements as well as hunting for seal and gasket leaks in the RV (looking fort cool spots).

Cheers!

Mike

[2oldman]

I guess you're looking for an infrared?