IR guns for wood stove use

Hi all

Anyone else have this IR gun? Is it any good? I have one coming for Friday. I will let you know what I think of it. It might be a bit OCD to use an IR gun, but I don't want to cook my new stove this winter and still maximize its potential.

http://www.amazon.com/Kintrex-IRT04...qid=1352989845&sr=1-3&keywords=ir thermometer

Nope . . . not OCD . . . many of us have purchased an IR thermometer . . . if nothing else it can clue you in as to whether the magnetic thermo is accurate/inaccurate. I use mine occasionally on the stove top . . . or stove side . . . hearth temp . . . wall temp . . . cat's temp . . . to see how hot my wife is . . . etc.

So were you able to repair the IR thermometer after it was tossed against the wall . . . or did you have to buy a new one?

My wife didn't like that either.

I just bought a BAC IR gun from amazon. It is pretty acurate so far, i checked a glass of ice water and it was about 2 degrees off. Think i paid 20 dollars for mine. Just make sure the one you buy has enough range for what you are going to do.

Wow, now I know what I want for Xmas! Thanks guys

Which, a hot wife or a IR gun? IR gun a lot cheaper in the long run .

LOL, thanks for the advice guys.

Don't think the wife wants me to measure how hot she is......

I am messing with it this morning. Looks like my mag thermometer is spot on temp wise. I am finding the face of my stove is the hottest location once the air isn't on high. The top is running 150F lower.

So far I like it! Good ergo, easy to use, point and shoot. goes up to 950F.

Hope you don't get the stove quite that hot !

Well, I have been using it for a few weeks now. I really like it. I can watch flue temp, top temp and compare to door frame temp and see how each zone is affected by air position. The laser pointer is very helpful. Plus it is kinda fun.

good idea! when we do weekend breakfasts i do cook them. will have to try that out.

Do you measure the pancake temp, the pan temp or both? What temps are you shooting for? This is a great idea.

One thing to be aware of when using non contact IR thermometers is that they are giving you an average reading of a conical area. Depending upon the aperture diameter and focal length (ie distance to object) the sensing chip is seeing an area greater then you might think. It is not reporting the temp only at the laser aiming dot. It merely provides an average of the area it is seeing. Accuracy goes up with reduced distance to the object, as you are closing the cone. As Pen noted, they have difficulty reading shiny objects because these are usually have a high emissivity, and the IR guns are usually tuned to an average emissivity.

Cheers!

I wouldn't dream of trying this.

(but I did once take a FLIR image of her feet). ;-)

She did NOT think it was funny.

Cheers!