Temp gun question :/

[Andyrc]

Hey guys. I've been using a digital thermometer with a probe and the surface temps on my warm side are always in the 90's, as they should be. But the other day I decided to get myself a thermometer gun just for the fun of it. (I like to point it at my wife and tell her how hot she is ) Anyway, I pointed the gun at the floor on the warm side and it's reading at like. 113 degrees! Is my gun broken maybe? I was under the impression that it's the most accurate way of reading temps. My digital thermometer probe is touching the floor in the warm hide and it's still reading in the 90's. And I've been sticking my hand in there to feel it and it doesn't feel extremely hot, I feel like 113 degrees wouldn't feel so pleasant on my hand.. But it feels nice and warm.

Any ideas as to why the discrepancies between the two?

 

[tb144050]

I cant remember if you mentioned having one in your other posts, but an overhead lamp will also contribute heat to surface temps. And the combo would reach 110+ out in the open.....and regular floor temp in the shade (+ maybe 2 degrees because of the elevated ambient air temp sideeffect). id keep my uth set at 90 and remove or limit the overhead heat.

 

[Andyrc]

I do have an overhead lamp, however it's a very low wattage and hardly emits any heat. I just use it for day/night cycling. Just to be sure I turned it off and measured the temps again, I'm getting the exact same readings. It's always around 113 with the temp gun, and mid 90's with the probe. From what the instructions on the temp gun said, it should only read surface temps and doesn't take into account ambient temps as long as the gun is less than two feet away. So I'm just a little confuzzled as to why it's saying temps are so high when my digital thermometer is saying that the temps are spot on... shouldn't they be reading the same?

 

[tb144050]

What I meant when I mentioned "ambient air": a surface temp is DIRECTLY relevant to the ambient air around it. What I was talking about was the "floor temp inside the hides" probably being +2 BECAUSE the ambient air temp is higher....This makes it easier for the floor to retain (and increase) heat.

If you "turned it off and got the exact same readings", it is probably because you did not wait long enough for the excess heat from the floor (and ambient air) to dissipate. It probably takes 2 hours or so for the floor temp to balance out after turning off the overhead.

For example, turn the stovetop surface on and let it heat to "high". Then turn it off...check the surface temp (not with your hand) every 5 minutes after you turn it off.

Just turn the light off when you go to bed tonight and check the temps before you turn the light on tomorrow. It should be lower.

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After you see those lower temps, you will notice that the floor temp is still OVER 90F. (probably anywhere from 94 - 100, depending on position over the UTH). This is why people recommend using a thermostat to regulate the temp of the UTH.

 

[Andyrc]

I did wait about an hour after turning the overhead off. But I'll check it in the morning after it's been off the whole night. In the event the the temp gun is still reading high. What should I do? The probe is telling me things are perfect, the gun says otherwise. I'm just wondering if there is something malfunctioning with either of the two devices.. as the difference is pretty significant. Is there any way to test it? I won't have a problem adjusting the temps if something is off, I just want to know which one is giving me an accurate reading before I change things. I guess my real question is.. Why am I getting two different readings?

 

[tb144050]

Unless the probe is being "anchored down to the surface", it probably has a miniscule amount of air space between the probe and the floor surface. The probe is probably getting most of it's measurement from the airtemp. That's why people say to use a gun for an accurate read.