Continuing the MyTech series covering the gadgets I know and
love, I thought I would take a chance to talk about a couple of cool (or hot)
gadgets that make temp taking a painless (and even fun) experience. In the
image above you’ll find the Exergen Temporal Artery Thermometer on the left,
and the Mastercool 52225-A Infrared Thermometer on the right. Both take temps,
but for vastly different reasons.
As a father of two, I have more cause to take a temperature
that ever before. Not only am I concerned with fevers caused by the continuous
cycle of bizarre illnesses named like they were discovered in the bowels of the
Amazon rainforest (thanks day care), but I am also barraged with a litany of warnings
about the temperature of drinks, food, bathwater, you name it.
It doesn’t stop there though. Kids or no kids, I get sick too
and hate waiting for the minutes to tick by with a thermometer jammed in my
mouth. Also, as a homeowner of a
relatively old and drafty home, I’m always on the hunt for ways to keep warm
air in and cool air out in winter (and vice versa in summer). Once I’m done
finding the air leaks and spending boatloads of cash fixing them, I’m generally
famished and ready to cook a nice meal. What does the recipe I want to use tell
me? “Please heat the pan to 100 degrees Celsius.” Oh come on! Another temp to
take? What’s a gadget lover to do? Well, buy some awesome thermometers so I can
have some fun doing it of course. Here's why I like these two:
Mastercool 52225-A
Infrared Thermometer
This is one of my favorite gadgets and it seems to be
finding daily uses now that we have kids in the house. All I have to do to take
a surface temp is point it at an object, and pull the trigger. It is even
shaped like a gun. The kid inside me screams with glee every time I pull the trigger
and see the FREAKING LASER BEAM shoot out and tell me the temperature of
anything. What’s the temp of my windows, my floor, my walls, the kids’ bathwater,
the baby’s bottle, the cooking pan, my cats (oh the cats love the laser on this
thing, and no, no cats were harmed in the writing of this post).
If you ever schedule a home energy audit of your home to
test for air leaks, I guarantee the guy will show up with an infrared
thermometer like this one. He might even show up with this very same one as it
is an industrial-grade model. In fact, I’ll say now that this particular model
is likely overkill for most. I chose it as it has a hard to find 30 to 1, distance
to spot ratio. What that means is that from 30 feet away, I can read the
temperature of a surface area as small as 1 inch. If I get closer, the area I
can read with accuracy is even smaller. Many cheaper models are available with
ratios more like 8 to 1 or 10 to 1. I like accuracy and overkill is a lot
better than too little accuracy if you can afford it.
Also in the overkill department is the ability of this model
to measure temps anywhere from -76F up to 1400F. Cheaper models I have seen are
in the range of -32 to 716F. When will I ever need to measure a temp of 1400
degrees? I have no idea, but I always like my gadgets to have more power than I
think I will need.
 |
| Checking the temp of a hot glass of water |
One of my first uses for the Mastercool was to test the old
windows in my house and find the draftiest ones. It has also been very
comforting to know that my child’s bathwater is around 102 degrees so I don’t
accidentally startle or even scald him and that my infant’s milk is a safe 100
degrees. Keep in mind that these are surface temps though. For even more
accuracy, the Mastercool comes with a wire probe that can be inserted into
liquid for a reading at the core (don’t worry, I don’t go that far with
bathwater).
The Mastercool
52225-A is available at Amazon
for around $95 with shipping.
Exergen Temporal
Artery Thermometer
So, you’ve just had a new baby and you’re headed home happy (and
a little scared) to get started with your new life. The nurses will smile, wish
you luck, and say if your baby has a fever of over 100.4 when they are less
than three months old, call IMMEDIATELY. And so begins many years of worrying
about your child’s temps. How should I take such a temp? Oh simple, gently
insert a thermometer in the child’s rectum they answer. Wait what!? You insert
a thermometer in your rectum I think to myself. That doesn’t sound like fun for
either of us.
Enter the Exergen Temporal Artery Thermometer that sounds
like something straight out of Star Trek. The dang thing even beeps like a tricorder when I use it. How
cool is that?! I will say up front
though that if you or your children ever have a dangerously high temperature,
get a second “opinion” by means of any other type of thermometer (ear, oral, or
even the heinous but most accurate rectal method) and call a doctor.
None of the alternatives to the temporal artery route are
easy to do when you are dealing with a sick, screaming, squirming and all
around ticked off child. With the Exergen, all it takes is a quick swipe across
the forehead and you’ll immediately know why I love it so much when you are
instantly rewarded with an accurate and consistent reading in seconds.
According to Exergen’s own literature, the thermometer is not only taking your temp in a second or
two, it is actually taking it 1000 times a second and then displaying the
highest recorded reading. The next time
you visit your doctor, pay attention to what they use to take your temp. I’m
willing to bet they’ll be using this medical-grade version of the Exergen.
Skip to 3:48 to see the Exergen mentioned on The Today Show
One of the downsides to the Exergen is that it is dependent
on ambient temperature in order to produce an accurate temp. As a result, I
usually keep it in the same room to avoid inaccurate readings that could result
from moving the thermometer to a room that has a large difference in ambient
air temperature (it must acclimate for 30 min if you move it). Also, sweat on
the forehead or even measuring the side of the head that just spent hours
sleeping on a pillow can throw the measurement off. I think after while though,
you will find that this is the thermometer of choice for the whole family.
The Exergen Temporal Artery Thermometer, Model TAT-2000C is
available from Amazon
for $30 or other retail outlets like Walgreens
or Target.
Got any better temp taking gadgets? Let me know below.
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