Dont believe those Rutland mech coil temp gauges.

Like my Condars . . . the stove top Condar I checked when I got my IR thermo from Harbor Freight . . . read then and still reads within 25-50 degrees of each other . . . which is close enough for my needs . . . I'm not baking a souffle.

I might try one of those, THe IR gun is nice but im not going to use it every day.

I'd like to share the IR gun that I got a few weeks ago. This one is adjustable for emissivity so it's useful for more things, especially shiny objects with low emissivity. Most are set at .95. It also uses AAA batteries which I like because I can use inexpensive rechargeable's. About $15 shipped (from China). Works fine and the dog loves the laser!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/110928922971?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

Just pondering alternatives... anyone have any luck with grill thermometers?

I'm not sure how good of 'contact' it would make on the stove surface compared to being in the open heat of a grill? Its about half the price of the Condars.

Or one of the electronic meters w/ probe. How does one make a reliable thermal connection with the probe, would a magnet suffice? That one only reads up to 572 but for my purposes on my old stove that is plenty, but thats just a quick example, I havent searched too hard yet.

Like Jake said I have the Condar medallion stove top therm and it reads within 20-30 degrees of my IR gun. Not too bad!

Good for BBQ and has a Dial

That pic is a link to the product - they make lots of them still.

DD... is that one like the one I linked that you just set it on something (like the grill grate) or is it attached some other way?

I have no problems trying out the Condar except the price... that one looks like it would be about $21 or so shipped. The one I linked you could get 3 for nearly the same price.

Its magnetic. Just like most other stove top thermo's.

DD What is the model # of the magnetic Tel-Tru? I looked on their site and only saw ones with probes.

Under Surface (Dual magnet). You have to change the max temp to 750° in the drop down options.

http://www.teltru.com/p-496-dual-magnet-thermometer-dm.aspx

$47 ouch.

Well I couldnt really find any other 'stove top thermo's' but the grill surface thermos I dont think are magnetic. But they are <$10 for example http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_n...rden&field-keywords=grill surface thermometer which is fine for my intended use on the stove top of my old stove, but without the magnet it would have to lay flat on the top. I just wonder if those are as accurate without having a better 'connection' to the surface. I might just order one on my next amazon order and compare it to my IR.

With the one Min/Max needle (option) it was $65.07 plus shipping

But, it is dead accurate and even holds up pretty good in front of the blower.

Having that emmisivity adjustment is vital if you want to use an IR gun on various substrates. I use these all the time since I'm in the very high performance insulation market, and even though I've been trained by FLIR, and we own a $20,000 IR camera, having the wrong emissivity setting can completely change the interpretation of how hot a surface is. If you want to try it out take a piece of smooth aluminum foil and lay it flat on top of your matte black stove while it's running. Once it comes to steady state (won't take long since the thermal conductivity of aluminum is extremely high), shine your gun at both surfaces. The foil will likely read cool enough to touch, while the stove will be hundreds of degrees warmer. Both are truly the same temperature, and will burn you just as fast, but the IR radation coming off the foil is extremely low, and that's what the gun is picking up.

Good thing I dont wrap my stoves in aluminum foil

All three of my stoves I use a flat black surface for taking temps... the only non-flat black surfaces on them would be glass doors (but I rarely shoot the door) and one of the 3 has a shiny green porcelain finish, but I generally hit the black cast part on the rear of it. Buut for the sake of knowledge, do these two surfaces read substantially different than flat black painted cast iron or steel due to emissivity?

I wrote on another post about the condor and rutland therms I use as a guide. Many write, regardless of brand, they don't work well or are complicated or expensive. But I think my store guy is right - he has none. And he keeps lots of stoves going in his store. Just get a good roaring fire once or twice a day to prevent creosote and to keep the window clean, and cruise otherwise. So I just don't worry so much about measuring temperature. At cleaning I'm told all looks fine, I'm burning correctly.

While leaving it up to luck may work for some, I would never recommend not having a thermometer. Some stoves are much more finicky than others, especially with certain types or dryness of wood. My stove likes to go nuclear if you let it get too hot before turning it down with something like well seasoned locust. So monitoring the temps on startup is the key. I also like to reload at certain temps, if it drops too low it becomes more of a pain and more smoke to get the new load going, especially with marginal wood. So some may get away with no thermometer, but they are useful tools for others. Store guy isnt necessarily running his stoves like we do anyhow.

I would like something digital as well, for the insert. Time to search.

X100- My 30 runs a fine line between overfire, just right, and not good.... Thermo's are a Must have.

Judging a fire by the window cleanliness? No need to burn "Hot" a couple times a day, if you have good burning techniques, seasoned wood, and proper operating system (correct install, proper chimney height and requirements, and a thermo).

I just received a Reed 314FC magnetic thermometer which cost me about $29 on eBay. Checked it against my IR thermometer on a black stovetop pan and it was spot on with temps over about 150F. I tested it up to 580F, at which point the bottom of the pan started smoking a bit, so I turned down the heat. The thermometer was fine of course.

I'd put this thermometer in the same category as the Tel-Tru, but a good bit cheaper.

Right, stoves may differ in working. I have a new stove last Spring, huge box, never goes nuclear. I've gotten used to knowing what the fire looks like and what the temp is, so I rarely look now.

My stove runs great as is my set-up. Once in a blue moon it starts slow and is a bit smoky, leaving some soot on window. A good roaring fire cleans that right up, and is the way I begin my daily fire (late afternoon) before I begin cruising. That is good technique for me.

This morning at 7 my rutland thermo was reading almost 500 and my ir gun showed 380 this was in the coaling part from an over night burn.

All this talk made me pick up a $35 IR at Harbor Freight when I was there today. My Rutland reads about 50° too high. It showed a little under 400, while the IR said 340.

Which one is right? Dunno, cause they're both pretty cheap, but I'd lean more towards the IR.

I retested my IR gun this evening and it is spot on.