Heatermeter, really well done.

I just got my heatermerter fired up for the first time and I have to say nice work to all the contributors here. I still have a few things to sort out before my first smoke, but this was all much easier than I expected it to be. The build was pretty straightforward, the fit between all the boards... man that must have been a pain to work out. It went together pretty easily, fired right up, probes are all providing accurate temps too.

I got a 3d printed case on the cheap, and I can't believe how precise it is. The fit is just amazing. heatermeter dropped right in. (if anyone want a $10 3dhubs coupon let me know)

Really nice work guys. I can't wait to get some brisket started.

I am very happy with mine and my first brisket is in the near future! I think it will be an overnighter after I get a few more HM cooks under my belt.

They did a great job didn't they!

The design is really well done. The boards fit really well, not easy to make it so compact when you are starting with something like the RPi. The fits really well too. Then the software. I know it is based on OpenWRT. That was a very smart choice though, so much functionality... and it has REST APIs too, come on, that is just awesome. The whole package is really well done.

My wife saw what I was working on and decided I'm smoking a turkey for christmas. I think she is as impressed as I am.

So, how much did cost you, all in? I'm thinking with the Heameter, RPi, case and probes it is about $150. What was your experience?

VMastros said:

So, how much did cost you, all in? I'm thinking with the Heameter, RPi, case and probes it is about $150. What was your experience?

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Depends on how deep you go in. I got my HM kit from the website, and as well as my RPi. Then I got a sliding back case and a rotodamper 3 from Ralph, and thermoworks probes. I'm easily over $300 in this project. But I've also got a BBQ controller that wows me every time I use it, even 6 month into ownership. I'm constantly impressed how tightly I can hold a temperature on my Big Green Egg with my setup.

You can save some cash by not using a damper setup, and getting cheaper probes somewhere. But I was tired of cheap probes breaking, and trust Thermoworks.

I think I'm closer to the $200 mark for mine.


The biggest cost seems to be the probes, but you don't need to get 4 if you are on a budget. You can get by with one pit probe and one food probe. Even though I bought 4 probes I suspect my typical run will use 1 pit probe, 2 food probes, and the ambient temp thermistor.

To be honest I think I hit $200 cause I needed a dog bowl and some hardware to mount the RD to my WSM.

Then I decided I really needed to seal up my WSM now so I bought gaskets, RTV etc... I would not consider that part of the HM costs though.

I think this is not just a great project but a great value. I'm comparing this to another wifi unit which I wanted to buy that costed $400. This one was assembled by me and is much more feature rich. It is also totally hackable. The other unit had a 25 CFM fan and closed loop PID tuning. So set and forget vs build and tune. Hopefully once it is tuned I don't have to tinker too much. In the end much more satisfying having done it myself. Cheaper too.