Temperature Gun for Tortoise enclosure temp analysis

ZappCatt

New Member
Joined
Apr 24, 2020
Messages
23
Location (City and/or State)
SF Bay Area, California
Howdy all,
Mr. Question man is back.

Besides humidity(and uv I guess) temperatures in the enclosure seems to be one of the hardest things to nail down.

I have read about the different areas and their temperature requirements and the mention of a temperature gun for instantaneous/valid measurements appealed to me.

I picked up a Ryobi temp gun at Home Depot last night, and unless my body is totally out of whack, found that it is woefully inadequate as a true temperature reader(locations in my house which I consider cool or room temperature to the touch were listed at high 80s). It is mentioned to be great to see hot or cold spots..which would not require exact temperatures, but rather a difference between 2 similar locations. When reading the packaging, it admitted it was accurate to +- 5C, which means it is a 16 degree range in F.
It was only $40, and they also offer a $90 Milwaukee tools one. Amazon is full of 1/2/3 star rated ones from $30 on up to multiple hundreds of dollars.

It seems like this is not accurate enough, since the gradient I am looking for (70-90) is just slightly larger than it's level of accuracy.

Am I over thinking this? Just being cheap?
 
L

LasTortugasNinja

Guest
I got an "el cheap-o" Chinese temp gun from Amazon years ago. See if yours has a setting to calibrate temp. Mine I just hold in a button til the LCD blinks, then scan boiling water. Then it's right+/- 2 degrees F. For me, I always assume it's going to be slightly off one way or another because of how small a sampling rate is. What I do is I zap 3 areas within the zone I'm scanning and average it out. For instance, if his basking spot says 102, 99, and 105, I average it to 101. His cool side hide says 72, 80, 77, then I average it around 76 degrees. I only worry about calibration if I'm at a spot and it says 105, 89, and 91. I'll recalibrate then, and see if that corrects the discrepancy (usually happens when I change batteries or it sits in the drawer too long unused).
 

ZappCatt

New Member
Joined
Apr 24, 2020
Messages
23
Location (City and/or State)
SF Bay Area, California
I got an "el cheap-o" Chinese temp gun from Amazon years ago. See if yours has a setting to calibrate temp. Mine I just hold in a button til the LCD blinks, then scan boiling water. Then it's right+/- 2 degrees F. For me, I always assume it's going to be slightly off one way or another because of how small a sampling rate is. What I do is I zap 3 areas within the zone I'm scanning and average it out. For instance, if his basking spot says 102, 99, and 105, I average it to 101. His cool side hide says 72, 80, 77, then I average it around 76 degrees. I only worry about calibration if I'm at a spot and it says 105, 89, and 91. I'll recalibrate then, and see if that corrects the discrepancy (usually happens when I change batteries or it sits in the drawer too long unused).

Thanks for the reply. This does not have a calibration option. It really is a no frills, we gotta offer something from our inhouse brand type of product. It has a 2 percent repeatability claim to go with the +- 5C(others are typically +- 3F
 

Gunner253

New Member
Joined
May 14, 2020
Messages
6
Location (City and/or State)
Orting, Washington
Howdy all,
Mr. Question man is back.

Besides humidity(and uv I guess) temperatures in the enclosure seems to be one of the hardest things to nail down.

I have read about the different areas and their temperature requirements and the mention of a temperature gun for instantaneous/valid measurements appealed to me.

I picked up a Ryobi temp gun at Home Depot last night, and unless my body is totally out of whack, found that it is woefully inadequate as a true temperature reader(locations in my house which I consider cool or room temperature to the touch were listed at high 80s). It is mentioned to be great to see hot or cold spots..which would not require exact temperatures, but rather a difference between 2 similar locations. When reading the packaging, it admitted it was accurate to +- 5C, which means it is a 16 degree range in F.
It was only $40, and they also offer a $90 Milwaukee tools one. Amazon is full of 1/2/3 star rated ones from $30 on up to multiple hundreds of dollars.

It seems like this is not accurate enough, since the gradient I am looking for (70-90) is just slightly larger than it's level of accuracy.

Am I over thinking this? Just being cheap?
I got mine from harbor freight several years ago. Has a very wide range of temps and good accuracy. Haven't had a single problem with it
 

ZappCatt

New Member
Joined
Apr 24, 2020
Messages
23
Location (City and/or State)
SF Bay Area, California
I got mine from harbor freight several years ago. Has a very wide range of temps and good accuracy. Haven't had a single problem with it
Darnit, why did I not think of Harbor Freight. I have many little "disposable" items from them. Thanks, will see what they have(and if they are open)
 
Top