Digital Thermometer Overview
A digital thermometer is a temperature measuring tool which indicates the temperature in a digital format. It consists of two elements, i.e. a temperature sensor and an indicator. The temperature sensor experiences a change with change in temperature, and the indicator converts that change in a numerical value and indicates the temperature. Measuring the temperature through digital thermometers requires an agreed-upon scale. Digital thermometers as compared to traditional thermometers are known to be more precise and convenient to use by the general public.
Uses
Digital thermometers are used in almost every household device these days. They are used in refrigerators, mobile phones, air conditioners in homes and cars, freezers and heaters. The most known use is in the medical field, where they are used for different reasons, for example, to measure fever. They are also used to maintain certain levels of temperature for specific patients. For example, heart patients are mostly advised to keep away from hot and humid places; hence the required temperature can be maintained at certain sections of the hospitals in which heart patients are cared for.
Sports
Digital thermometers are also used in many sporting events like swimming, where the temperature of the water has to be maintained at an agreed international standard. Digital thermometers are used in digital devices for safety reasons as in they measure how hot the device has become and at a certain temperature the device is forced to shut down to cool before it can be safely used again.
Use in COVID-19
In the recent COVID-19 outbreak, the use of electric thermometers skyrocketed as one of the symptoms of the coronavirus is the high temperature of a person. Hence, almost all public places have a person who keeps a check on the temperature of every person entering the premises and interacting with other people.
Pros
The digital thermometers definitely do have a lot of positive aspects. Some of them are
- Accurate readings of the temperature in a displayed form, not like a pointer, manual reading on a mercury thermometer.
- The digital thermometer can read the temperature of the body very quickly as compared to the glass thermometers and the mercury thermometers.
- There is a reset button on most of the digital thermometer that helps reset the reading meter to zero in a second.
- Being compact in size, it uses less space to carry. The use of 3 AAA batteries makes it convenient for long term use as well.
Cons
Battery issues
While using a digital thermometer, the drawback of running out of batteries should always be kept in mind as it can result in wrong readings on the screen when the batteries don’t work properly or are about to run out. Sometimes the specialized batteries specified to the thermometers make it difficult to find it on the market and can cause waste of time looking for them as they have to be looked upon specifically.
Cleaning
When it comes to the cleaning of the digital thermometers, certain things should be kept in mind in order to ensure the thermometer’s safety. Like the mercury thermometer can be placed in an alcohol solution or soap solution, the cleaned through this process can prove to be risky as it could damage the mechanism of the digital thermometer if the liquid gets into it. To overcome this issue, some of the digital thermometers come with disposable tips to ensure the thermometer’s safety.
Conclusion
Thermometers without any doubt, prove to be a great helping device when it comes for some quick recognition, scanning and treatment procedures. When used correctly, digital thermometers can prove to be as useful as one can expect them to be.