# Digital Hygrometer/Thermometer



## PeanutbuttER (Jul 21, 2010)

So, I'm trying to find an affordable digital hygrometer and thermometer. Do you all have any you recommend or you've used? I found this one http://www.zilla-rules.com/products/specialty-equipment/terrarium-hygrometer-thermometer.htm
by zilla that looks like it would do the job but I wanted to hear what you all thought. Other suggestions are of course welcome and appreciated as well. I live in a dry area so a reliable hygrometer is especially important to me.


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## heyprettyrave (Jul 22, 2010)

i honestly dont use the digital ones, i found that the regular ones work better and are more accurate


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## GBtortoises (Jul 22, 2010)

I agree with not using a digital thermometer. I've found them to very inconsistent. I've sat three digitals side by side and had as much as an 8 degree temperature difference between them. The humidity level between them was inconsistent also, but at least a bit closer than the temperatures were! I use digital hygrometers and rely on lab quality mercury filled thermometers for temperatures readings, especially in incubators. You don't even have to have lab thermometers, just good quality mecury thermometers.


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## PeanutbuttER (Jul 22, 2010)

Well, that's not at all what I expected to hear. So the little "button" hygrometers and thermometers are pretty good then? Are there any brands that I should avoid? Like are the cheapo ones on eBay as good as any others? 

GBtortoises, are you saying that digital hygrometers are better than traditional ones but digital thermometers are the ones that aren't any good? I'm to get a trustworthy hygrometer (they usually come with a built-in thermometer as well when they're digital) and am surprised to hear that the traditional ones are more accurate.


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## Tom (Jul 22, 2010)

I use these as well as a few others. They are close enough for me.

http://tortoiseforum.org/thread-12436.html


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## DoctorCosmonaut (Jul 23, 2010)

I also find that digital ones are no better than analog ones... I have both but always endup looking at the analog for some reason lol


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## terryo (Jul 23, 2010)

Tom...where abouts in Lowes did you get that...what department? I can't find it.


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## Tom (Jul 23, 2010)

terryo said:


> Tom...where abouts in Lowes did you get that...what department? I can't find it.



They are in the garden section of two different Lowes near me.


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## DoctorCosmonaut (Jul 24, 2010)

Btw, How do you use relative humidity?


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## GBtortoises (Jul 25, 2010)

"are you saying that digital hygrometers are better than traditional ones but digital thermometers are the ones that aren't any good? I'm to get a trustworthy hygrometer (they usually come with a built-in thermometer as well when they're digital) and am surprised to hear that the traditional ones are more accurate."

I'm saying that I don't worry as much about the exact humidity level because it is easier to tell how humid an area is compared to an exact temperature. Maybe not precisely, but I can tell when a location is too dry or too wet based on moisture (or lack of) in an enclosure or incubator. If a digital hygrometer tells me it's 65% I know it's within 10% in either direction. Not a big deal. I've never put any faith in the cheap dial type hygrometers like those that ZooMed and other companies sell. If I needed absolute accuracy with humidity I'd invest in a lab quality instrument.

Thermometers are a different story. If they vary some within an enclosure or my tortoise room I don't get very concerned about it. If one reads that the room is 80 degrees and it's actually 77 or 83 degrees it's not that big of deal really. I do check basking spots with a mecury thermometer for accuracy. The crucial place that thermometer accuracy matters is in an incubator. If a digital thermometer is reading 87 degrees but is inaccurate it's worthless! Lower and/or higher temperatures can kill all the embryo within the incubating eggs. This is where I _never_ use a digital thermometer, not until I can find one that is proven to be 100% accurate. So far I haven't. 

Just to give it a try (again) to make sure what I'm saying is true, I place three digital thermometer/hygrometers side by side in an incubator yesterday. Two are identical Radio Shack brands that I've had for years. The other is a Springfield "Precisetemp" that I bought at Wal-Mart a year ago. I just checked them and they read as follows:
Radio Shack #1--90 degrees/79% humidity
Radio Shack #2--85 degrees/76% humidity
Springfield #1----89 degrees/81% humidity

Both of my Mercury thermometers read exactly 88 degrees which is what I have the incubator set for. The humidty is within the ballpark of what I try to maintain it, 70-80%.


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## hpfirework (Jul 25, 2010)

Don't place mercury around animals.


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## GBtortoises (Jul 25, 2010)

"Don't place mercury around animals."

The mercury in thermometers are sealed in thick glass and are perfectly safe. They're the same type of thermometers that are used in the research & medical field, often times in contact with humans.


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## Tom (Jul 25, 2010)

Great posts GB. I agree and concur.


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