Anyone ever hear of a Westward brand infrared thermometer with laser sighting?

[leftyscott]

Sells for $99 at Grainger.

I'm having trouble determining how hot my fires are. Figure this nifty tool will do the job. I have about a 2 inch opening at the top of my quad to get a good shot at the stove pipe.

The model I'm looking at goes to 932 deg.
I guess that's high enough. If my pipe gets hotter than that, I'm in big trouble.

Anybody use these?

Are there any other household uses for one of these things?

Thanks,

 

[Jags]

Are there any other household uses for one of these things?

I use a different brand, but....
Other uses include checking for air leaks around doors/windows/elec outlets
Checking the temp of the oil that your getting ready to fry with. Or the water that you want to poach an egg with (just a couple of examples of kitchen duties it can perform).
Getting a baseline forehead temp can provide for easy temp checks for little sick people.
Messing with the cat. The laser light will drive them nuts.
Checking fridge/freezer temps. Or hitting your favorite bottle of beer for optimum drinking temps.

It does TONS of things----now run out there and get yourself one. There cool.

 

[leftyscott]

Are there any other household uses for one of these things?

I use a different brand, but....
Other uses include checking for air leaks around doors/windows/elec outlets
Checking the temp of the oil that your getting ready to fry with. Or the water that you want to poach an egg with (just a couple of examples of kitchen duties it can perform).
Getting a baseline forehead temp can provide for easy temp checks for little sick people.
Messing with the cat. The laser light will drive them nuts.
Checking fridge/freezer temps. Or hitting your favorite bottle of beer for optimum drinking temps.

It does TONS of things----now run out there and get yourself one. There cool.

Jags,
Thanks for the additional uses suggestions.
Made the purchase today.. and got a 20% corporate discount... YEAH

Now, I'm running all over the house like a mental patient, checking temps.

 

[Gooserider]

Caution - checking the "significant other" to see if she's "Hot" can have a cooling effect... %-P

In general the IR guns can be handy, but you do need to be aware of their limitations and failings as well... They are designed to shoot flat black, smooth surfaces - curved surfaces or reflective ones can give inaccurate readings.

The laser dot can be deceptive, as the reading area is more of a cone shape (or a flashlight beam) so if you try to shoot a small object (like a pipe) from any distance, you may well be reading more of an area than just the target - again this can cause false readings.

Those are just two of the "weaknesses" that you need to be aware of you will probably see more mentioned in the manual - they aren't "fatal" but you need to take them into account when making readings...

One can also debate whether the fancier and more expensive models have much of an advantage over the cheaper units from places like HF (I got mine there, and it works OK)

Gooserider