this post was submitted on 26 Jul 2023
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God I hate those no-contact temperature sensors - people use them on literally every surface without realizing there's something called thermal emissivity - different surfaces reflect and radiate heat differently. A glass or metal surface will reflect heat much differently from wood or drywall surfaces.
These cheap no-contact temp sensors usually are set to measure the heat from surfaces found in home construction - drywall, wood, painted surfaces, etc. Some of the nicer ones can have adjustable emissivity but most people never tinker with that setting.
Now if you're using a nice FLiR thermal camera, you absolutely need to tinker with emissivity to get a good image.
Given the fact that the display on this temp sensor does not display the emissivity setting, I'd assume it's fixed - and not set to accurately read the temperature of that metal surface.
Speaking from experience with mine set to .95ε an anodized aluminum surface actually comes close to what wood measures at same temp.