I would suggest an IR thermometer, but I got one at Micocenter and it is fine around room temperature, but sucks when it is cold outside. Other thermometers say it is about freezing and the IR says it is 25 or even
22F, even when I point it right at the other thermometer.-- Rick
If it works the way I think it does the sensing element is a thermopile or a bolometer which measures the difference in temperature between the target and the sensor. If it's REALLY cheap someone may have just taken a circuit that works in the lab and used it, or taken a circuit that's supposed to have a thermometer or a temperature controller and pulled the "extra stuff" off for cost savings.
-- www.wescottdesign.com
During the ebola panic, there were security people with cheap chinese IR temp sensors shooting at people in line to board a plane, from like
10 feet away, looking for fevers. A cheap IR sensor is wildly inaccurate and has a huge field of view. The built-in laser pointers are a joke.Emissivity matters, too. A brass lamp can burn your hand but indicate room temp on an IR thermometer.
-- John Larkin Highland Technology, Inc lunatic fringe electronics
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