Stove top thermometer temp error

Really all you have gained from this test (experiment) is to notice that the two temp gauges don't agree. I would be more inclined to believe your Woodstock gauge. I have seen a 75 degree difference in an oven temp and actual temp. A 25 degree error in either one is minimal and causes no harm. Use it and enjoy it.

If it's a run of the mill stovetop thermometer, that's typical. Also, I'd expect any surface thermometer to read higher in an oven, where heat is trapped versus sitting in open air on a hot surface.
For comparision, the TEL-TRU DM-014-750 thermometer (glass front, about $45) has a specified accuracy of +/- 2% over its temp range. For this model, that's 15 deg F. That's apparently about as accurate as you can get with a bimetallic coil surface thermometer.

anyone ever had that problem with a rut land stove top thermometer?

corey21 said:

anyone ever had that problem with a rut land stove top thermometer?

Click to expand...

I have three (soon to be four). All read different temperatures. I only trust my IR. Use the stove top for broad stroke estimates.

i have one on the stove and one on the flue. soon i will get a conder probe in the mail. i have single wall pipe run straight up.

On the topic of stove top temps.........I've run experiments with two seperate stove top thermometers, at the same time. My purpose in doing so, was to compare the two, and find the Delta (Nominal) between them.

Now............I only watch my Flue Thermometer Temp, and left only one stove top thermometer in place.(lol)

-Soupy1957

Rutland on top of stove, within a pointers distance of IR gun.

There have been many, many threads about stove thermometers and how inaccurate they may be . . . me . . . I use my woodstove thermometers (stove top magnetic and probe thermometer) as a general guide and tool rather than trust their readings as absolute . . . in other words . . . I figure the numbers may be off a bit . . . up or down . . . but as long as I keep things somewhere in the "safe" zone (i.e. not overfiring the stove, not burning too cooly, etc.) then I'm happy . . .

So far this line of reasoning has worked quite well for me . . . then again I've never been a Class A personality . . . "good enough for government work" is most definitely in my vocabulary.

That said . . . occasionally the time arises when I want to narrow down the temps a bit more . . . and this is when I may dig out my IR thermometer. For example, this morning I had a very intense secondary going and wanted to double check the temps to be sure I was within the safe limits for the stove . . . and point in fact . . . in the past I often found my stove top thermometer to be running very close to the reading from the IR thermometer.

I would kill for only a 25 degree error!

We've tried several and the only ones that seem to be somewhat accurate are the 2 we got from Woodstock.