Infrared Thermometer

Investing in tools is another hobby of mine. My recent acquisition is an Infrared Thermometer. It's shaped like a gun and you point it to the target to measure using its built-in laser. Temperature is measured instantaneously. I bought this online for about 40 USD.

The thermometer I got can measure from -50°C - 900°C (-58°F - 1652°F). I did paid extra to get this range. There are available models which can go only up to 380°C (716°F) for about 14 USD but you may never know when you might need to measure higher temperature.

The thermometer itself has an LCD screen that has a back-light so you can read out while in total darkness. It's very simple to use, point and pull the trigger. If you hold the trigger, it will read continuously so it can be used to 'scan' hot spots. Other features includes sensing the max/min/average temp, storing data and hi-temp / lo-temp alarm. There's one caveat on this device, not all surfaces has same emissivity so you need to set the emissivity value for certain materials. On most surfaces, the emissivity or ems value is 0.95 and this is the default setting. Aluminium however is only 0.30 while human skin is 0.98. Due to this, it's important to keep the user manual and probably make a quick guide on a small piece of paper to get the most accurate results.

Another option is to cover the surface with masking tape and measure over the tape once the temperature matches the surface beneath it. The device is powered by a single 9V battery.

Measuring the LCD screen of TV

After testing the device, I found out some interesting readouts:

1. Freezer = -30°C

2. Chilled water in ref = 4°C

3. Hot coffee ready to drink = 65°C

4. Aircon output at cool setting = 17°C (while the room temperature is at 29°C)

5. Iced drink = 1°C

6. Bonfire = 650°C

I would like to point out that it cannot read temperature behind a glass, it will read the glass' surface temperature instead. Also it takes a while to measure ambient temps after measuring extreme temps. The device needs to cool down or warm up to ambient temp to be able to measure accurately again. I use my readings on my ear for reference.