it Sunday afternoon online and it arrived today, nice piece of useful kit. 9:1, -50 C to +400 C, 0.1 C resolution, 0.95 emissivity, max temperature measured hold, C or F, back light and auto shut off. I can measure our radiator temperatures from 20 feet away, laser is spot on and the reading is almost instant. Not yet checked its accuracy, but it seems close to what I would expect. I've been looking for one for a month or two and this seems to fit the bill. Delivery £2.99 unless you spend over £35, of course I made up to more.
Regardless of the accuracy (I am sure it will be fine) wait until you point it around the house at certain things. I insulated my loft hatch very quickly after taking a reading of it.
I've got the older model that only reads to 266C but it only gives 84C when pointed into a thermos of freshly boiled water. It seems OK at the lower end, showing 4C in the fridge.
I bought one several years ago to use for balancing the rads and when we invested in cavity wall insulation about 15 months ago, I measured an out side wall as 9 degrees warmer the next day.
No, I had to take all the water out of the rad system to drain it. I took several rads off the wall to decorate behind them by draining by opening the SOV and lockshield valves.
To set up the lockshield valves after, I bought a Maplin infrared thermometer to set them up again.
You definately need one - think about it. Getting your CH j& insulation ust right reduces your carbon footprint & therefore helps saves the planet. If you don't get one we are all doomed!
Yup, had one since they last had one on special and have found it very good.
It was used regularly after the missus had her new knee to check when she needed to put a cold compress on it (one knee still reads a couple of degrees higher than the other) and when the Daughter and I were bending some Perspex in the oven for her college project.
Practical (no contact required) interesting and fun!
Q) Can this DIL thermometer be safely used on humans and animals, (cows, pigs, dogs, cats etc.) It would be so useful on the farm..... thanks... ))**_**(( - LG A) Yes
No problem at all to 'hit' a small pipe, you just need to be nearer - say six feet if the pipe is not too close to others - the 'beam' seems to be much narrower than the 9:1 in the spec.. If it is too close to other pipes you might be struggling to work out which one it is seeing the temperature of. This is what I have found from testing it today-
They are no good at all for body temperature, as they measure surface temperature of a body. No good for water, or chrome taps, or anything reflective - it reads several degrees cooler than actual. Put something in the water which it can measure the temperature of - and its fine. Add some dark tape to a tap or shiny pipe and that too works fine, as do dull and/or painted pipes. You cannot measure air temperature, but you can check the temperature of an object in the room, or incoming air temperature from the body of a vent etc.. You can check walls and to some extent (and surprisingly) window glass surface temperatures. The angle of the surface doesn't seem to make much difference to the temperature reading. I could actually pick up the small rise in local temperature around a dimmer switch at the far end of the living room.
Unlike a temperature probe which takes time to settle on the temperature, these are almost instant - so you can spin it around the walls and see the variations instantly. Last night objects in our living room were reading around the 22 to 24 degree mark, as were the internal walls. Move it an external wall and it fell to around 19 degrees, then onto a window at 17 degrees. You can actually see the wall temperature rise by a couple or so degrees as you move the height of the point you are measuring up the wall. Checking my weather stations outside temperature sensor I saw 4.2 (with the Maplin unit) - near as matters the same as my weather stations actual displayed reading.
One problem it does have is the soft holster type case - touch either of the two buttons and the unit springs to life and it is all too easy for the buttons to be nudged though the case. So the batteries probably will not last long if it is carried around much on your belt. Perhaps a bit of stiff card in the case might help resolve it?
Well, I've gone and done it. One is on the way (of the 150 or so showing as in stock).
Thinking about it, I'm in a rented house at the moment with six huge evacuated tube solar water heaters high up on the side wall (southish facing). I've been told the people who had them fitted moved out in a hurry after some job change or something, and never did get them working right. Sounds like a cowboy firm put them in, and had to be called back to try again...
If that's not a good reason to *need* a non contact thermomenter to try and follow what the system is up to, I don't know what is.
I picked one up at lunchtime today, and it was a hit in the office, with all the women trying to figure out who was coldest (!)
My missus, might I add, was highly unimpressed, asking what the hell I bought it for...
So far, my most inventive use has been to check the temperature of the milk for her latte after dinner (you should have heard the "tut" she did as I checked it !)
Wish I hadn't read this thread. I've just gone and bought=20 one too. =A310 postage to France is a bit steep though.
My excuse is I'm in the process of insulating the house,=20 bit by bit, and want to see where the heat is all going. It will be interesting to check the temperature difference=20 between inside and outside walls and between floors.
Ah, unfortunately women do not appreciate the pleasure an expensive yet unnecessary tool brings to a man. I have ordered my infrared thermometer knowing full well that my wife will first ask "how much was that" followed by " what do you need it for". As usual I will make something up about optimising the central heating to save us money.
When I bought my fluke scope meter I had to say I needed to check the mains was "in spec". LOL
I expect EXACTLY those two statements too. Are women's brains hardwired the same?
I too will give some woffle about how it will allow me to pinpoint parts of the house that need extra insulation and that it will save money in heating bills.
I bought the first model Maplin did some years back. As a result of taking it in to work a few times, and people seeing me using it whilst cooking, I've bought I think about
6 more of them for other people, one of which was part of a CPC order which arrived just today:
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