what is a good thermometer for mesauring interior air temp?

[Hobby_Man22]

I bought a field piece SPK2 temperature meter that i'm waiting for in the mail, but was wondering if I can just go to walmart and buy a regular thermometer that you hang up on the wall to check interior temp in the middle of the room. Are these accurate? I know when you put them outside they aren't really accurate because the sun ends up shining on them making them read warmer than they should. etc

 

[Showkey]

Don’t over think this it’s a thermomete.
Two channel digital for under $10 would work just fine.
Accurate enough as your comparing the measured temperature against itself.

 

[PFSard]

- I have a thermometer (inexpensive ones) in each room of my house. Some digital. Some analog. Before being placed in each room, I had them in one area. They were within a degree of each other.
- The two I have outside are placed where the sun won't shine directly on them.

 

[karoc]

Its not important if its spot on with the actual temp but it does needs to be consistent. Unless your working in lab them it may be important I guess

 

[rkevins]

get a cheep one with a probe and check the accuracy with a glass of ice water( full glass ,Styrofoam works good, add cool water 32F +/- 1/2 degree or so, unless it is a OR you will be close enough.

 

[floridafarmer]

I'm a fan of analog... picked this up years ago at an estate sale..

 

[Showkey]

Me too……

 

[larry_g]

For me when I buy thermometers I check all in the store. If a majority of the ones in the bin all indicate the same temp then I get one that is in the median temp. Don't buy an outlier.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[finn]

I just use a thermometer with red liquid and a scale. It has advertising for some long defunct pharmacy, and I remember it hanging in my grandpa’s front porch in about 1959.

It was probably old then.

All of the cheap digital thermometer’s I have encountered are pretty accurate. Your experience with them reading high in direct sunlight doesn’t mean they are inaccurate by any means. They are just reading the temperature they are exposed to, considering the radiant energy in that location. Shield it from exposure to radiant energy, ie direct sunlight, and it will be close enough for anything but lab work.

 

[bonneyman]

Old school all the way! Not pictured is an 18" long scientific mercury thermometer in Celsius measurements. It only gets deployed on the really accurate jobs.
If the metal inside don't flow then it's a no-go! lol

For those who avoid mercury there's a newer style of liquid metal thermo that's safe and works the same way called Galinstan.

 

[Ralf11]

a cheap digital one will be fine - but get one with a little fold out stand and stick it near your seat in the room, instead of on the wall