Anybody ever monitored their fridge temperature?
- Thread starter ClubMan
- Start date
Some caution should be exercised even with the digital ones - as a fridge operates in a relatively narrow temperature band, something with only 1 degree resolution and +/- 1, or even worse 2 degrees will not provide a particularly useful reading.
To provide a useful reference you would really need to consider something with 0.1C resolution and +/-0.5 C (or better) accuracy. You should get something of reasonable quality from about €40 upwards.
Edit: post crossed with Yorky - sorry can't view your link - PC is running v.slow but will check tomorrow on faster connection.
To provide a useful reference you would really need to consider something with 0.1C resolution and +/-0.5 C (or better) accuracy. You should get something of reasonable quality from about €40 upwards.
Edit: post crossed with Yorky - sorry can't view your link - PC is running v.slow but will check tomorrow on faster connection.
Not those listed but ones that are very similar. Check the specs for details of how accurate the reading can be.
Yorky, none of those listed seem to have accuracy better than +/- 1C & some are +/- 1.5C
You could try www.nisbets.ie and do a search for thermometers/probes/fridge etc
(no connection)
You could try www.nisbets.ie and do a search for thermometers/probes/fridge etc
(no connection)
Most of the thermometres used industrially (in hotels, supermarkets and restaurants) have accuracy of +/-1oC.
(Even speeding guns used by road police have accuracy of +/-10 %)
Also remember that you dont want your fridge to be too cold as salads freeze very quickly and deteriorate.
I do monitor my fridge temperature and try to keep it closer to 3oC. This way it doesn't matter what the accuracy of your probe is. It still would be within the specified temperature
(Even speeding guns used by road police have accuracy of +/-10 %)
Also remember that you dont want your fridge to be too cold as salads freeze very quickly and deteriorate.
I do monitor my fridge temperature and try to keep it closer to 3oC. This way it doesn't matter what the accuracy of your probe is. It still would be within the specified temperature
Incorrect.
There might be some of these lower accuracy models knocking around but in my experience, not many at all. For checking food in commercial premises, if the accuracy isn't better than +/- 1C (preferably +/- 0.5C) a visiting EHO will tell them to upgrade their unit. They will also be required to get an annual traceable calibration certificate to demonstrate that their thermometer/probe is performing as it should.
Why is it incorrect? I said Most.
And from my experience, most are. (I have inspected over 100 food premises in Dublin and greater area)
If that's your experience fair enough - over the last 10 years it certainly hasn't been mine.
If they are getting away with it, I'm surprised. These days, even the likes of creches need to have accurate thermometers for their storage of lunches in domestic fridges.
Ah, common, lets not start on what they have been getting away with.
Have you not seen those blue yokes that don't even have decimals.Ah, common, lets not start on what they have been getting away with.
One of the problem with any digital instrument is that people assume that they are somehow more acurate. Thus even the fact something displays "4.2 C" leads them to think it is actually that temperature. Not so: it could be anywhere from 3 to 5 degrees in most cases. Same with weighing scales (an old fashioned balance scales with weights is far more acurate than any digital domestic scales).
I'm digressing here....
It's highly unlikely that any gauge targetted at the domestic market is going to be much better then about plus or minus 2 degrees acurate in practice. Even if rated at half this, if they are not calibrated they will most likely drift over time (and that's even being optimistic, bearing in mind "user error" in how the probe is placed or treated).
Please read more carefully
When I was talking decimals I was not comparing digital thermometers to other types. I was referring to digital thermometers widely used in food establishments that dont show decimals.
For instance if thermometer shows 5oC it could as well be 5.9oC which is way above the specific requirement.
Joe Nonety
Registered User
- Messages
- 418
It always seemed counter intuitive to me that the higher you turn the dial in your fridge to, the colder it gets. It took me about 20 years to finally remember that!
Is it true if you leave your fridge door open, the temperature in the room goes up while the temperature in the fridge goes down?
Is it true if you leave your fridge door open, the temperature in the room goes up while the temperature in the fridge goes down?
Simple answer is no, but it's a little complicated. If you leave it open, the cool air from the fridge will escape thereby initially cooling the room slightly. The objects in the fridge will start to rise to room temperature, cooling the air around them. The temp. in the fridge will rise to approach that of the room. The fridge will work harder in an attempt to reduce the temp. in the fridge, so the compressor/ heat exchanger will give off more heat to the room while the back of the fridge will be cooler as it works to bring the fridge back down within the target temperature range.
The heat exchanger won't be 100% efficient, so will give off more in the way of heat than it will be providing in cooling, so the net effect is both will end up warmer!
Leo
OK, point taken. However, surely it depends if it does rounding or truncation?
In either case, it's misleading: spurious acuracy. When people see a reading 543 they imediately assume the acuracy is plus or minus one; when they see 14.2 they assume plus or minus 0.1 and so on. If a gauge is plus or minus 1, putting any decimal figure is misleading (assuming it rounds rather than truncates): you're not getting any more acuracy than one without the decimal.
No, you're not - but in practice thermometers with 0.1C resolution generally do have better accuracy than those with 1C resolution.
You may well be right, but you can't assume it to be the case.
As an example of the kind of thing I'm talking about, a kitchen balance scales with weights will easily measure to within 5 grammes for a 5 kg weight, or 0.1% acuracy. Believe me, there is no digital scales on the market that comes even close to this, so when it tells you something weights 5001 grammes, you can take it with the proverbial grain of salt: could be anything between 5050 and 4950 in most cases (if you're lucky).
Same goes for digital temperature gauges: they present an appearance of accuracy that is rarely met in reality.
Sorry to bang on about this (I'll stop now!), but it's one of my hobby hourses.
As an example of the kind of thing I'm talking about, a kitchen balance scales with weights will easily measure to within 5 grammes for a 5 kg weight, or 0.1% acuracy. Believe me, there is no digital scales on the market that comes even close to this, so when it tells you something weights 5001 grammes, you can take it with the proverbial grain of salt: could be anything between 5050 and 4950 in most cases (if you're lucky).
Same goes for digital temperature gauges: they present an appearance of accuracy that is rarely met in reality.
Sorry to bang on about this (I'll stop now!), but it's one of my hobby hourses.
You are right - it's a common misconception: resolution = accuracy.
Related to this, some of the more conscientious manufacturers take extra care when expressing accuracy:
e.g. "System (i.e.thermometer + probe) accuracy between -30.0 and + 99.9C; +/- 0.5 C; +/- instrument resolution"
I.e, in this case, the practical accuracy is really +/- 0.6, as the instrument's display cannot account for any errors in lesser increments than 0.1...if you know what I mean...