40% off IRK-2 Infrared Surface Thermometer today only!


 
If figures this would show up now, just my luck. I think my wife got me a Thermopro similar knockoff for Xmas and how do I request an undo redo on that??
 
Mike, I have a cheap Harbor Freight version. It works fine. I am betting your prospective ThermoPro will as well. For someone who doesn’t have one and is interested, this is a great opportunity, though.
 
I really can't see why most grillers would need such a high end instrument to get a basic idea of their grate temperature. I see having the best you can afford for measuring food temps, but for a quick look at your grate/grill, it seems to me this is all you need. Mine works like a champ and I have even used it to check my A/C-Heat registers:

go.harborfreight.com

AMES 12:1 Infrared Laser Thermometer for $14.99

Buy the AMES 12:1 Infrared Laser Thermometer (Item 63985) for $14.99 with coupon code 64632066, valid through December 26, 2022. See the coupon for details.Compare our price of $14.99 to GENERAL TO…
go.harborfreight.com go.harborfreight.com
 
Jon Tofte said:
I really can't see why most grillers would need such a high end instrument to get a basic idea of their grate temperature.
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Most grillers don't need this. But I have one and it's fun to use in the backyard, in the kitchen, on car tires, on HVAC vents, etc. Just kind of a toy for me. Same for the FLIR attachment I bought for my iPhone...an expensive toy that's fun to have, but not for everyone.

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Chris Allingham said:
Most grillers don't need this. But I have one and it's fun to use in the backyard, in the kitchen, on car tires, on HVAC vents, etc. Just kind of a toy for me. Same for the FLIR attachment I bought for my iPhone...an expensive toy that's fun to have, but not for everyone.

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Same here it’s mostly a fun item to have but I particularly use it for keeping an eye on my frying oil cooking outdoors.
 
Chris Allingham said:
Most grillers don't need this. But I have one and it's fun to use in the backyard, in the kitchen, on car tires, on HVAC vents, etc. Just kind of a toy for me. Same for the FLIR attachment I bought for my iPhone...an expensive toy that's fun to have, but not for everyone.

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Same here.
It's one of those things where I got my "want" and "needs" confused! I do love goofing around with it.
 
I think having an infrared is somewhat useful and can be informative. You know better what's going on at the grate level and can spot unevenness that might indicate a problem. My main thought is that Thermoworks makes professional grade products and has to price them accordingly. For backyard bbqers using it only occasionally, I think the Thermoworks unit, even with the very nice discount, might be overkill. Not at all am I saying that someone who can afford it shouldn't buy one. Just that the degree of accuracy/speed, etc. for this application doesn't seem to me to be nearly as critical as it is for testing your food.

My 15 buck Harbor Freight one is actually a pretty nice basic unit. (The one HF offers now looks to be even better. See add above.) At that price, it might make more sense to someone who otherwise wouldn't jump in to buy a professional grade infrared.

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Broilmaster grills can get HOT!
 
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Jon Tofte said:
I think having an infrared is somewhat useful and can be informative. You know better what's going on at the grate level and can spot unevenness that might indicate a problem. My main thought is that Thermoworks makes professional grade products and has to price them accordingly. For backyard bbqers using it only occasionally, I think the Thermoworks unit, even with the very nice discount, might be overkill. Not at all am I saying that someone who can afford it shouldn't buy one. Just that the degree of accuracy/speed, etc. for this application doesn't seem to me to be nearly as critical as it is for testing your food.

My 15 buck Harbor Freight one is actually a pretty nice basic unit. (The one HF offers now looks to be even better. See add above.) At that price, it might make more sense to someone who otherwise wouldn't jump in to buy a professional grade infrared.

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Broilmaster grills can get HOT!
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One thing to know, Jon...these IR guns have a "spot-size ratio", typically 12:1 or 10:1. What that means is that, if you are 12" away, the area that you are scanning is 1" in diameter. With a thin grate rod like that, you are picking up quite a bit of the IR coming off the flames in the background and that is averaging that amount of IR into your reading. Many people seem to think the laser dot is the scanning area...it is not. It is merely a convenience for aiming. The IRK-2 takes this one step further and has a circular array of LEDs that show an approximation of the actual scanning area.

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Also, these guns have a sensor inside, similar to a CCD sensor in a digital camera. These sensors come in different sizes and different resolutions The sensor in a cheap IR gun is smaller and lower resolution than a quality gun, so like in photography, better IR guns have better components. I agree, though...for what we do, the cheap guns are adequate. We had an AC installed earlier in the year and the installer used his cheap gun to show how well the system worked. I brought out the IRK-2 and showed him how he wasn't using the gun properly, but apart from that his gun was way off, according to the IRK-2. Is it better to have a watch that tells you the wrong time, or not to have a watch at all?
 
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Good points, Ed. I have found that mine seems "reasonable" both for grills and even checking my AC vents. Good enough for a griller and other very basic use. I still think someone (me, for instance!) who would never drop $95 or more for one of these tools could benefit from a $15 HF one.
 
I had FLIR Level I Thermography training in L.A. in 2015 as part of my job duties. My company bought a Fluke Thermal Imager for $5k, which I thought was a large amount of money. There were some folks out from Duke Energy with $35k imagers, the difference being in how far away you could get and still get a valid reading. Nobody wants to get too close to a high voltage transformer that could blow at any moment. Anyway, I learned a lot, especially about emissivity.
 
That's really amazing! Thanks for sharing. I would like to take pictures like that of the outside of my house to see if I could find obvious points of heat loss in my home.
 
Yes, I've used it to take pictures of walls in our home to check for areas lacking insulation, intrusion of cold air, etc.
 
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Bruce said:
I bet Weber has some pretty fancy IR equipment in the R&D department.
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Don't get me wrong, IR has its applications, but it's more of a convenient than accurate way of measuring temperature, especially if accuracy is a priority. First thing is, each material has its own emissivity (how well it emits IR). If you were to heat up a piece of unpainted aluminum or copper, for instance, your IR gun will give you a reading just above ambient even though the material may be just below its melting point. The gun has an emissivity value that can be set to compensate for this but many people don't know anything about emissivity. Another thing is, ambient temperature (and/or reflected IR) and wind speed needs to be compensated for if you are going to report or record accurate temperatures. Angle of incidence is important, too...is the IR coming in at an angle or perpendicular to the sensor? For hobbyists, ballpark is good enough, but if accuracy is important, there are better, more accurate ways.
 
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