sorry to post off topic here but I'm experimenting on how I can make
my instant read thermometer a multipurpose tool and I'd like to know
if there is any substance that I can poke my thermometer in to gauge a
rooms temperature. Water seems to get a little colder than the room
temp as does the open air. does anyone know a substance that maintains
the room temp?

On Thu, 21 Feb 2008 06:01:23 -0800 (PST), Joe >
wrote:

>sorry to post off topic here but I'm experimenting on how I can make
>my instant read thermometer a multipurpose tool and I'd like to know
>if there is any substance that I can poke my thermometer in to gauge a
>rooms temperature. Water seems to get a little colder than the room
>temp as does the open air. does anyone know a substance that maintains
>the room temp?

My IR reads the same as my room thermometer. Maybe yours if off?

Lou

On Feb 21, 9:50 am, Lou Decruss > wrote:
> On Thu, 21 Feb 2008 06:01:23 -0800 (PST), Joe >
> wrote:
>
> >sorry to post off topic here but I'm experimenting on how I can make
> >my instant read thermometer a multipurpose tool and I'd like to know
> >if there is any substance that I can poke my thermometer in to gauge a
> >rooms temperature. Water seems to get a little colder than the room
> >temp as does the open air. does anyone know a substance that maintains
> >the room temp?
>
> My IR reads the same as my room thermometer. Maybe yours if off?
>
> Lou

Maybe it's my house thermostat gauge that's off because my instant
read is new. Reminds me of an old Chinese proverb: A man with one
watch always knows what time it is and a man with two is never sure...

On Thu, 21 Feb 2008 07:22:37 -0800 (PST), Joe >
wrote:

>On Feb 21, 9:50 am, Lou Decruss > wrote:
>> On Thu, 21 Feb 2008 06:01:23 -0800 (PST), Joe >
>> wrote:
>>
>> >sorry to post off topic here but I'm experimenting on how I can make
>> >my instant read thermometer a multipurpose tool and I'd like to know
>> >if there is any substance that I can poke my thermometer in to gauge a
>> >rooms temperature. Water seems to get a little colder than the room
>> >temp as does the open air. does anyone know a substance that maintains
>> >the room temp?
>>
>> My IR reads the same as my room thermometer. Maybe yours if off?
>>
>> Lou
>
>Maybe it's my house thermostat gauge that's off because my instant
>read is new. Reminds me of an old Chinese proverb: A man with one
>watch always knows what time it is and a man with two is never sure...

Is it a digital thermostat or an older dial type? The dial ones are
never accurate. And if the t-stat is in a hall and your IR is in the
kitchen there could easily be a few degrees difference there.

Lou

Joe wrote:
> sorry to post off topic here but I'm experimenting on how I can make
> my instant read thermometer a multipurpose tool and I'd like to know
> if there is any substance that I can poke my thermometer in to gauge a
> rooms temperature. Water seems to get a little colder than the room
> temp as does the open air. does anyone know a substance that maintains
> the room temp?


Take an ordinary household glass. Fill it with ice cubes. Then fill it
with water. The temperature of the water is now exactly 32 degrees
Fahrenheit. Note the reading on your thermometer. Determine its
accuracy from there.


--Lia

Julia Altshuler > wrote in
:

> Joe wrote:
>> sorry to post off topic here but I'm experimenting on how I can make
>> my instant read thermometer a multipurpose tool and I'd like to know
>> if there is any substance that I can poke my thermometer in to gauge a
>> rooms temperature. Water seems to get a little colder than the room
>> temp as does the open air. does anyone know a substance that maintains
>> the room temp?
>
>
> Take an ordinary household glass. Fill it with ice cubes. Then fill
it
> with water. The temperature of the water is now exactly 32 degrees
> Fahrenheit. Note the reading on your thermometer. Determine its
> accuracy from there.
>
>
> --Lia
>
>

A room any room doesn't have a fixed temp. There are air currents,
draughts, heat or cold radiating things like walls, cold fronts etc to
take into account.

Your best bet is a cast iron pan...lay the thermometer directly on it and
read it after 1 hour...move it 2 feet in any direction and repeat...after
sampling the entire room all over at various heights you'll have a idea
of what the average temp of that room is for that days weather
condition...sunny, cloudy, high winds etc out side...after about 6 or 7
years of repeating this daily you could start to make assumptions about
that room. The first assumption I'd make is a thermometer that costs
under 10 bucks and wasn't designed for that purpose isn't up to the task
and It all had been a waste of my time.

--

The house of the burning beet-Alan

It'll be a sunny day in August, when the Moon will shine that night-
Elbonian Folklore

On Thu, 21 Feb 2008 06:01:23 -0800 (PST), Joe >
wrote:

>sorry to post off topic here but I'm experimenting on how I can make
>my instant read thermometer a multipurpose tool and I'd like to know
>if there is any substance that I can poke my thermometer in to gauge a
>rooms temperature. Water seems to get a little colder than the room
>temp as does the open air. does anyone know a substance that maintains
>the room temp?

Huh?
If the temperature of the air in a room isn't the 'room temperature',
what is it?

Ross.

On Feb 21, 5:43�pm, Sqwertz > wrote:
> On Thu, 21 Feb 2008 11:41:32 -0500, Julia Altshuler wrote:
> > Joe wrote:
> >> sorry to post off topic here but I'm experimenting on how I can make
> >> my instant read thermometer a multipurpose tool and I'd like to know
> >> if there is any substance that I can poke my thermometer in to gauge a
> >> rooms temperature. Water seems to get a little colder than the room
> >> temp as does the open air. does anyone know a substance that maintains
> >> the room temp?
>
> > Take an ordinary household glass. �Fill it with ice cubes. �Then fill it
> > with water. �The temperature of the water is now exactly 32 degrees
> > Fahrenheit. �Note the reading on your thermometer. �Determine its
> > accuracy from there.
>
> The water will not be 32F.

Yes it will, if the water is very hard it may even be slightly
lower... but it's silly to calibrate a cooking thermometer at freezing
temperature.

Also note that almost all
> thermometers that are not calibrated correctly will be off
> different amounts at different temperatures. �two thermometers
> that both read 50F may disagree by many degrees at 300F.

This part is true.

It's best to calibrate a cooking thermometer at temperatures closer to
cooking temperatures. Check an instant read thermometer with boiling
water... and if it's off a few degrees so what.

Janet Baraclough wrote:
> The message >
> from Julia Altshuler > contains these words:
>
>
>> Take an ordinary household glass. Fill it with ice cubes. Then
>> fill it with water. The temperature of the water is now exactly 32
>> degrees Fahrenheit.
>
> Um, doesn't that depend what temperature the water was when you
> added it?

You need to wait for about 10 minutes before taking a reading.
--
Dave
www.davebbq.com

On Thu, 21 Feb 2008 10:01:56 -0600, Lou Decruss wrote:

always knows what time it is and a man with two is never sure...
>
> Is it a digital thermostat or an older dial type? The dial ones are
> never accurate. And if the t-stat is in a hall and your IR is in the
> kitchen there could easily be a few degrees difference there.
>
> Lou
Note that the primary difference between digital and dial devices,
thermometers or others, is that everyone reads them the same (no
interpolation necessary) and NOT that they are inherently more accurate.

Joel Swartz wrote:
> On Thu, 21 Feb 2008 10:01:56 -0600, Lou Decruss wrote:
>
> always knows what time it is and a man with two is never sure...
>> Is it a digital thermostat or an older dial type? The dial ones are
>> never accurate. And if the t-stat is in a hall and your IR is in the
>> kitchen there could easily be a few degrees difference there.
>>
>> Lou
> Note that the primary difference between digital and dial devices,
> thermometers or others, is that everyone reads them the same (no
> interpolation necessary) and NOT that they are inherently more accurate.

I read an article about the technologies involved, and it was pretty
clear from the article that they are more accurate.

Some credible links that suggest this is true (sorry, I couldn't
find the link to the article I read):

http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasc...9/gen99812.htm
http://www.sustainablehospitals.org/...FTNonmerc.html

Serene

Janet Baraclough wrote:
> The message >
> from Julia Altshuler > contains these words:
>
>
>> Take an ordinary household glass. Fill it with ice cubes. Then fill it
>> with water. The temperature of the water is now exactly 32 degrees
>> Fahrenheit.
>
> Um, doesn't that depend what temperature the water was when you added it?
>

Within reason, no. That is, if the water you add is boiling, and
there's not much ice, the ice might all melt before you can get what
you want, which is a glass that's full of partially-melted ice
surrounded by water. Mostly, though, you just want to add some
water and stir things around until you've got a water/ice mixture.
Then you've got something that's the temperature that water
melts/freezes at, and that's a constant thing.

We won't go into the fact that temperature is *always* just an
average of how fast the molecules are speeding and bumping against
the thermometer. That's too much non-food geeking for one post.

Serene

Janet Baraclough wrote:
> The message >
> from Julia Altshuler > contains these words:
>
>
>
>>Take an ordinary household glass. Fill it with ice cubes. Then fill it
>>with water. The temperature of the water is now exactly 32 degrees
>>Fahrenheit.
>
>
> Um, doesn't that depend what temperature the water was when you added it?


I tried to make it clear from my original instructions that I was
talking about ordinary household conditions, not something that could be
dreamt up in a laboratory. If the glass was huge, the ice cubes small
and few, and the water boiling, then yes, it would depend on the
temperature of the water.


But under normal circumstances, as long as the ice is melting into the
water (outside air temperature is higher than 32) or the water is in the
process of freezing into ice (outside air temperature is lower than 32),
then the water is 32 degrees. If you want to get really technical, you
might want to wait a minute to make sure the ice has a chance to start
melting into the water.


Furthermore, some variables that others have mentioned would make a
difference. If, for example, you were using salt water or extremely
hard water, the temperature would change. But I was assuming we're
using ordinary drinking water from the tap.


This nifty trick is an easy way to test thermometers with readily
available equipment.


--Lia

Joe wrote:
> Sorry to post off topic here but I'm experimenting on how I can make
> my instant read thermometer a multipurpose tool, and I'd like to know
> if there is any substance that I can poke my thermometer in to gauge a
> room's temperature. Water seems to get a little colder than the room
> temp as does the open air. Does anyone know a substance that maintains
> the room temp?


I got sidetracked earlier and only reread your question now.
Take a glass of water. Leave it at room temperature for several hours.
Poke your thermometer into that. It will give you the room's
temperature.


Water feels colder than the room's air, but that's only because it's
better at carrying away your body's heat. The air in the room and the
water in the room will be the same temperature if you give the water
time to warm up or cool down (probably warm up if the water is coming
from the tap).


--Lia

wrote:
:On Thu, 21 Feb 2008 06:01:23 -0800 (PST), Joe >
:wrote:

:>sorry to post off topic here but I'm experimenting on how I can make
:>my instant read thermometer a multipurpose tool and I'd like to know
:>if there is any substance that I can poke my thermometer in to gauge a
:>rooms temperature. Water seems to get a little colder than the room
:>temp as does the open air. does anyone know a substance that maintains
:>the room temp?

:Huh?
:If the temperature of the air in a room isn't the 'room temperature',
:what is it?

For measuring the temperature of things like walk in coolers, it's common
to put a thermometer in a container of water. The air temperature
will vary a lot. Open the door, and the air temperature goes up,
dramatically. When the blower comes on, the air temperature shoots down;
if the thermometer happens to be under a vent, it'll be much lower than
the temperature you're interested in, which is the temperature of things
stored in the cooler.

For humans, comfort in a room isn't entirely -- or even largely --
about air temperature. A very big factor is heat loss through the skin
by radiation. So the temperature of walls and windows matters a lot,
because that's what you're radiating heat to. (It's also why even light
weight long sleeves make you feel much warmer than heavy short sleeve
shirts. It's also one of the reasons people complain hot air heat
isn't as warm as radiators.) So, in that sense, room temperature is
misleading.

On Feb 21, 10:22 am, Joe > wrote:
> Maybe it's my house thermostat gauge that's off because my instant
> read is new. Reminds me of an old Chinese proverb: A man with one
> watch always knows what time it is and a man with two is never sure...

If you've even owned old Chinese watches, you'd know why.

In article >,
wrote:

> On Thu, 21 Feb 2008 06:01:23 -0800 (PST), Joe >
> wrote:
>
> >sorry to post off topic here but I'm experimenting on how I can make
> >my instant read thermometer a multipurpose tool and I'd like to know
> >if there is any substance that I can poke my thermometer in to gauge a
> >rooms temperature. Water seems to get a little colder than the room
> >temp as does the open air. does anyone know a substance that maintains
> >the room temp?
>
> Huh?
> If the temperature of the air in a room isn't the 'room temperature',
> what is it?


More importantly, if Joe already knows what the temperature of the room
is, why is he trying to measure it?

--
Dan Abel
Petaluma, California USA

On Feb 21, 9:43�pm, David Scheidt > wrote:
> wrote:
>
> :On Thu, 21 Feb 2008 06:01:23 -0800 (PST), Joe >
> :wrote:
>
> :>sorry to post off topic here but I'm experimenting on how I can make
> :>my instant read thermometer a multipurpose tool and I'd like to know
> :>if there is any substance that I can poke my thermometer in to gauge a
> :>rooms temperature. Water seems to get a little colder than the room
> :>temp as does the open air. does anyone know a substance that maintains
> :>the room temp?
>
> :Huh?
> :If the temperature of the air in a room isn't the 'room temperature',
> :what is it?
>
> For measuring the temperature of things like walk in coolers, it's common
> to put a thermometer in a container of water. �The air temperature
> will vary a lot. �Open the door, and the air temperature goes up,
> dramatically. �When the blower comes on, the air temperature shoots down;
> if the thermometer happens to be under a vent, it'll be much lower than
> the temperature you're interested in, which is the temperature of things
> stored in the cooler.
>
> For humans, comfort in a room isn't entirely -- or even largely --
> about air temperature. �A very big factor is heat loss through the skin
> by radiation. �So the temperature of walls and windows matters a lot,
> because that's what you're radiating heat to. �(It's also why even light
> weight long sleeves make you feel much warmer than heavy short sleeve
> shirts. �It's also one of the reasons people complain hot air heat
> isn't as warm as radiators.) �So, in that sense, room temperature is
> misleading.

Actually human comfort level is primarily a product of air temperature
and *relative humidity*.

On Fri, 22 Feb 2008 06:40:12 -0800 (PST), Sheldon
> wrote:

>Actually human comfort level is primarily a product of air temperature
>and *relative humidity*.

and convection... and radiation... and any other aspects of
heat loss or gain.

All the best,
--
Kenneth

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