The Indoor-Outdoor Thermometer as an Instrument
for Home Weather Forecasting
for Home Weather Forecasting
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To many, a thermometer is taken for granted. Unless you've been living in the deepest uncivilized regions of Java
for the entire last 100 years or so, you have been exposed to a thermometer almost every day of your life.
A
thermometer is the primary weather instrument, designed to tell you exactly how hot the ambient temperature is.
You have also used medical thermometers at some time during your life. Though they are used for a different
specific purpose, both weather and medical thermometers have one thing in common. They measure temperature.
The word "thermometer" comes from the Greek, meaning "heat measurer." Thermo means "heat" and ometer means "a
measurer of."
Weather thermometers measure the heat of the atmosphere. The range of most of these temperature measuring devices
is anywhere from -30 degrees below zero to about 120 above zero. That is the usual range of the Earth's atmospheric
temperatures. There are some parts of the Earth that are both colder and warmer, therefore they step outside of
the "normal" range and thermometers made for those ranges must be specially manufactured.
Most people know the old glass-bulb-with-mercury type thermometers that were used from the 18th century until the
late 20th century. These heat measuring devices, first called a "temperatometer," were invented by Daniel
Fahrenheit, who also invented the heat scale that bears his name.
The idea behind early thermometers was the fact that certain liquids either expanded or contracted with the amount
of heat that was applied to them. When these liquids were placed in tubes, the liquid expanded and moved up in the
tube when the temperature warmed yet contracted and went down when the temperature cooled. The problem was that
there was no specific standard scale or one specific liquid that was stable enough to be used in both warm and cold
temperatures. When Fahrenheit started using mercury, he did so because mercury does not change it's molecular
structure with temperature changes, yet it is very sensitive and expands at a comparative rate in both hot and cold
weather.
When a small amount is placed in a tube at the bottom of a tube of glass, it expands at a known rate and thus Mr.
Fahrenheit was able to apply his scale to the mercury thermometer. It withstood the centuries and, until recently,
was the primary weather thermometer in existence.
Today, thermometers are rarely made with mercury as their expanding agent because of its extreme toxicity. The vast
majority of contemporary thermometers are electronic in nature and can be used both indoor and outdoor.
Indoor outdoor thermometers are instruments that have two different sensors. One, the outdoor sensor, reflects the temperature on the outside of the house or structure while the inside sensor records the temperature in the comfort of the house or building. With the digital thermometers, the results are displayed on one screen with each temperature designated by a logo or indicator. This is a very handy device and every serious weather bug will have one.
The RMR382-B Wireless Indoor Outdoor Thermometer
If you prefer a large digital readout, you may like the Taylor 1457 Outdoor Sensor
While there are so many different IO thermometers, one of the most popular is the La Crosse Technology 9160U Digital Thermometer with Wireless Remote
It is necessary to determine temperatures for a number of different reasons, however, weather is, without a doubt,
the primary reason for this instrument and without this tool human existence would be both more complicated and
difficult.