Do digital thermometers really work?

[petedk]

I have just been to a local supermarket and had my temperature checked as I entered the main building.

 

The sign said "Anyone with a temperature over 37.2 will not be admitted." Mine was 37.1 and the security guard smiled and asked if I was Ok. Anyway, I was let in.

I walk 5 meters to the lift. Went down 2 floors and went to the supermarket about 2 minutes later. Here I was tested again - 35.9.

 

Did my temperature really fall so much in 2 minutes?

[Mavideol]

it happens to me every single day..... 555 and do think the cause is their thermometers are from the same supplier of TAT calculators, they need to change the batteries but too lazy to do so

[Skallywag]

No, many of the digital thermometers are not accurate here

Many of the digital thermometers are not calibrated originally, or re-calibrated often enough.   Ones that work should show at 36.2-36.6.  I had 33.2 at Terminal 21 a few weeks ago when they were still open.

 

Are you achy, tired, have chills, have a headache, swollen lymph glands?

If so, you may have a fever.

[scubascuba3]

i tend to be around 36.5 at Big C Extra and around 36 at Makro, i guess it's useful to see if the reading varies from day to day

[petedk]

39 minutes ago, Skallywag said:

No, many of the digital thermometers are not accurate here

Many of the digital thermometers are not calibrated originally, or re-calibrated often enough.   Ones that work should show at 36.2-36.6.  I had 33.2 at Terminal 21 a few weeks ago when they were still open.

 

Are you achy, tired, have chills, have a headache, swollen lymph glands?

If so, you may have a fever.

nope

I am ok

[sezze]

Can your body temp fall in such short time , no it can't . If there's like 30mins timeframe , then it can you are talking shorter .

Then how is it possible :

1: the temp meters are not the most accurate around , and are not calibrated , hence a difference between 2 different thermometers .

2: the measurement is surface measurement , which can be greatly influenced by external factors . Like the 1 you said going inside the building , maybe you walked in the sun for 2 minutes before , and so your skin temperature is higher . Next you go in AC room , and maybe even near the fridges , and take measurement again and highly likely your skin temp will have fallen by "massive" amount .

Correct temp measurement is inside body , to get your core temperature . Hence the old system of mouth / ass ( hopefully not the same thermometer haha ) and by lesser amount armpit . The IR thermometers can be accurate , but mostly they are used as fast detection method . As fast detection , they do not work 100% , but they give a indication of a possible fever .

[KhunBENQ]

A bit of nitpicking: sure digital thermometers work fine.

But here it is about infrared (digital) thermometers (contact less).

There are highly precise instruments based on this but in a different price league than these handy toys.

 

You might know where temperature is measured best with a digital thermometer.

But who wants that at the entrance of a supermarket.

(previous post names it as "inside body")

Edited April 15, 2020 by KhunBENQ

[ben2talk]

Despite some people complaining, I bought one dirt cheap on Ali about 7 months back, and it's accurate - just a standard chip...

HOwever, they'll only filter out folks with fever - not COVID... hopefully if anyone with COVID does go out and has a fever then it would filter them out. I can't imagine that happening, but it's nice to know nobody with COVID and a fever will get in.

[petedk]

1 hour ago, sezze said:

maybe you walked in the sun for 2 minutes before

More like 10 minutes. Yes, I realise why there could be a difference over a few minutes but this was a 2 meter walk, down 2 floors and a five meter walk. I would have been quite angry if I had been refused entry after walking 10 minutes.

 

Actually I would probably have waited a few minutes and talked to him while I cooled down and then ask him to try again. He was friendly enough.

[petedk]

9 minutes ago, KhunBENQ said:

A bit of nitpicking: sure digital thermometers work fine.

But here it is about infrared (digital) thermometers (contact less).

There are highly precise instruments based on this but in a different price league than these handy toys.

 

You might know where temperature is measured best with a digital thermometer.

But who wants that at the entrance of a supermarket.

(previous post names it as "inside body")

I think inside the ear canal is fine enough. Doctors do that.

[AussieBob18]

Next time wipe forehead and have a 'rest' in shade before letting them take temp.

[Lacessit]

Most of the people using them don't understand standardisation. The measurement distance can be anywhere between a foot and a couple of inches.

[Metropolitian]

51 minutes ago, AussieBob18 said:

Next time wipe forehead and have a 'rest' in shade before letting them take temp.

Don't wipe forehead and stand in a breeze..

Evaporative cooling and once it is dry move to a better shade with breeze it will be forced convection ????

 

[ExpatOilWorker]

2 hours ago, sezze said:

Can your body temp fall in such short time , no it can't . If there's like 30mins timeframe , then it can you are talking shorter .

Then how is it possible :

1: the temp meters are not the most accurate around , and are not calibrated , hence a difference between 2 different thermometers .

2: the measurement is surface measurement , which can be greatly influenced by external factors . Like the 1 you said going inside the building , maybe you walked in the sun for 2 minutes before , and so your skin temperature is higher . Next you go in AC room , and maybe even near the fridges , and take measurement again and highly likely your skin temp will have fallen by "massive" amount .

Correct temp measurement is inside body , to get your core temperature . Hence the old system of mouth / ass ( hopefully not the same thermometer haha ) and by lesser amount armpit . The IR thermometers can be accurate , but mostly they are used as fast detection method . As fast detection , they do not work 100% , but they give a indication of a possible fever .

Made in China.

 

https://mobile.twitter.com/mantugaul/status/1247466690364858372

[CharlieH]

When I stop the car, I lean to the air-con vent for 30 seconds before turning the engine off, never shown above 35 !! 

I dont trust some of the mickey mouse guns they are using and dont wish to be inconvenienced by delays or no admittance etc so cool myself first. ????

 

[Metropolitian]

15 hours ago, CharlieH said:

I dont trust some of the mickey mouse guns they are using

 

When they start aiming this to you.. ????

 

[kingstonkid]

The funny thing is that no matter whether they work or not Thais swear by them and will not even look at buying a normal old style thermometer.  They want the gun that they can point and do not even want the ones that you put in your ear.

 

Remember if it is new and techie it must be the best LOL

[scubascuba3]

9 minutes ago, kingstonkid said:

The funny thing is that no matter whether they work or not Thais swear by them and will not even look at buying a normal old style thermometer.  They want the gun that they can point and do not even want the ones that you put in your ear.

 

Remember if it is new and techie it must be the best LOL

At Memorial Pattaya they have the one they put in your armpit, better than the mouth or backside i guess. Last time mine was checked there it was 42 degrees

[Benmart]

Diagnostic equipment merely indicates a need to investigate further, be it one used on an automobile or the human body.

[Guderian]

The Big C Extra mall now has an airport-style body temperature scanner when you enter from the underground car park, so you don't even know it's being taken. I assume they're doing the same at the pedestrian entrance from Klang as there's no check at Big C Extra itself now.

 

Saw a video on FB from the PI a few days ago. A woman with a digital thermometer is checking temperatures before letting people into a mall, but the batteries are dead so she's just pointing it at them and then feeling their foreheads with her hand before letting them through. Wish I could find the video now, short butt funny.

[1FinickyOne]

17 hours ago, Lacessit said:

Most of the people using them don't understand standardisation. The measurement distance can be anywhere between a foot and a couple of inches.

At makro they shot at my head from way far away and I was 34... 

[Lacessit]

16 hours ago, CharlieH said:

When I stop the car, I lean to the air-con vent for 30 seconds before turning the engine off, never shown above 35 !! 

I dont trust some of the mickey mouse guns they are using and dont wish to be inconvenienced by delays or no admittance etc so cool myself first. ????

 

You don't take the ice packs you have on hand when you are moderating?

[Estrada]

Yes the good ones work, the bad ones are only accurate to plus or minus 0.3C so those are no good. I check every time with my own thermometer. However, a high temperature is not 37.2C. The body temperature ranges between 36.5 to 37.5C with 37.8C being the alarm level because 38C indicates a fever. Most of the hand held infrared thermometers read perfectly it seems, even when coming out of the heat and sunshine.

 

[AsiaCheese]

55 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

At Memorial Pattaya they have the one they put in your armpit, better than the mouth or backside i guess. Last time mine was checked there it was 42 degrees

That must have been the time they rushed you to the ICU... 42°C, oh man, you're hot! ????

[natway09]

The good ones you can check that the calibration is correct.

The ones in the ear give the most accurate readings but are more expensive & have a throw away bit every test

[AAArdvark]

seems to me that 37.2 is a bit too stringent.  In the Philippines it is 38.  I go between 35.5 and 37.

[scubascuba3]

1 hour ago, AsiaCheese said:

That must have been the time they rushed you to the ICU... 42°C, oh man, you're hot! ????

Yes so the girls say..... i certainly felt hot, i was allowing the fever to do it's work for a few days until it got too much to bare, funny enough the day before i was hotter

[Max69xl]

22 hours ago, petedk said:

nope

I am ok

If the sign said max 37,2°, then it's wrong. It should be 37,5°. The best forehead thermometers are allowed +/- 0,2° error reading within the ~35-42° range. If your temperature actually are 37,2°, and with a +0,2° error reading, which is accepted,you wouldn't be allowed in.

[Max69xl]

55 minutes ago, AAArdvark said:

seems to me that 37.2 is a bit too stringent.  In the Philippines it is 38.  I go between 35.5 and 37.

If your real temperature is 35,5°,then something is wrong. Just Google 'normal body temperature'. The problem with digital forehead thermometers is the outdoor temperature. Let's say you go for a quite fast walk during the day and it's 35°C or laying on the beach.If not wearing a hat your forehead temperature can easily reach 38°C,but your internal temperature would be the correct one, as long as your not sick of course. Cheap thermometers are total c**p. 

[Dazinoz]

20 hours ago, Lacessit said:

Most of the people using them don't understand standardisation. The measurement distance can be anywhere between a foot and a couple of inches.

I don't know the temperature measuring range for the ones they are using. I have one that measures from -18C to 360C. It's for industrial usage. Its most accurate reading is mid range so trying to measure small body temperature changes is not very accurate.

 

I assume the ones they are using at check points have a much narrower measuring range but but most people know what assume does!!