Are There Any Accurate Fever Thermometers For Home Use?

[easysurfer]

I came down with a cold recently. Feeling much better now. But during that time, I did feel a bit feverish. Took my temperature with a non-contact forehead thermometer (the kind I point to my temple and result comes back in about a second). The readings were totally inconsistent. One second, result was no fever. A try again and it would show my with a fever over 102F. Yeah, right?

So I did some searching looking articles and even on some recommended articles on the best ones, after checking them out, complaints of them being inaccurate also exits.

Guess I have two questions. One is just a vent .

1) How difficult can it be to make a thermometer to consistently and accurately measure for a fever?

2) Are there any good ones out there?

 

[Exit 2024]

In my experience only mercury thermometer is a reliable one

 

[freedomatlast]

Look into how non-contact thermometers work and then you'll understand why they can be inconsistent. Research emissivity. Mercury thermometers will be the most repeatable.

 

[Sunset]

I use the electronic in the mouth type. Seems accurate to me.
I have a few, as I keep one in each first aid kit and one in the bathroom.
They were really low cost, maybe $3 each. If they were expensive, I'd only have 1

 

[Texas Proud]

We have a non-contact and an under the tongue digital... they seem to be accurate for what we want...

But, throwing out ideas... the Doc has one that they rub on your forehead or something... it has not happened to me recently so not sure how it works...

 

[Qs Laptop]

Years ago in 2013, when on vacation, one of the boys got sick. I went to Walgreen's and bought a cheap digital readout thermometer. I'm guessing it was $5.99 or somesuch. You use it like a traditional glass thermometer, by placing it under the tongue for about 30 seconds. Easy to use and read.

The thing still works. I don't know why someone would need something more accurate than this sort of device.

I'm not sure it's possible to buy a thermometer with mercury in it.

 

[Jerry1]

That type of thermometer may have inherent problems but I haven’t experienced any issues with mine. I record my temp, bp and weight every day and I’ve found my Thermoworks thermometer to work well.

WAND™ - Non-Contact Forehead Thermometer (FDA-Cleared)

Specializing in cool, unique and professional temperature tools. Super-Fast thermocouples, thermistors, infrared thermometers, data logging and more.

www.thermoworks.com

 

[Aerides]

I think the fancy no contact ones are for docs offices, or for parents to use with small children. For a grown adult who can easily enough hold something under their tongue for 20 seconds, keep it simple.

 

[disneysteve]

An under-the-tongue one should do the job. Mercury is best but you can't buy those. Just don't have anything hot or cold to eat or drink for a while before you take your temp.

At urgent care during COVID, they started using the awful ones that you swipe across the forehead and temple so that patients didn't need to remove their masks. I often went in and rechecked using an oral thermometer and got a totally different reading so I would say those swipe ones are pretty worthless.

 

[Sunset]

I always worried about the mercury ones breaking. We had it happen when was a kid, fortunately it was by dropping it rather than biting it.
Still, these days would have to call the environmental hazard team, to pick up the mercury.

 

[pacergal]

I have a temporal thermometer from Exergen, TAT-2000C. It was a bit spendy, this one is now $188 on my search. Easy to use, more accurate than the touchless. But, you have to use it accurately (make sure to wipe off any moisture/sweat the forehead, swipe correctly and keep it in contact with skin. If you move too quickly, it is not as accurate.
I agree the old, glass mercury ones were the best, but not the safest!

 

[Exit 2024]

You for sure can buy mercury one, example from Amazon

Edit : as pointed below it is non-mercury one.

 

[Out-to-Lunch]

You for sure can buy mercury one, example from Amazon

You missed an important word: Your link is for a Mercury-FREE thermometer:

From that site: "No, it does not contain mercury. It is a mercury-free glass thermometer that uses Galinstan, a non-toxic alloy of gallium, indium, and tin, as the liquid medium instead of mercury."

 

[Exit 2024]

You missed an important word: Your link is for a Mercury-FREE thermometer.

You are right, then even better

 

[easysurfer]

Years ago in 2013, when on vacation, one of the boys got sick. I went to Walgreen's and bought a cheap digital readout thermometer. I'm guessing it was $5.99 or somesuch. You use it like a traditional glass thermometer, by placing it under the tongue for about 30 seconds. Easy to use and read.

The thing still works. I don't know why someone would need something more accurate than this sort of device.

I'm not sure it's possible to buy a thermometer with mercury in it.

I had one of these digital but under the tongue ones too in the past. Worked great but the big con is batteries wouldn't last the next time I got a fever. I would fine til recovered. But may not get sick again for years. By that time, the battery is dead and if I'm home with a fever, I'm in no mood to run out and get a battery.

I did see one on Amazon that I'm considering that uses a CR-2032 size battery. I have some of those and even rechargeable ones of that size.

 

[rembrandt]

Rectal is the most accurate...

 

[imjustawarrior]

You for sure can buy mercury one, example from Amazon

The link goes to a mercury free thermometer.

 

[Golden Mean]

I had one of these digital but under the tongue ones too in the past. Worked great but the big con is batteries wouldn't last the next time I got a fever. I would fine til recovered. But may not get sick again for years. By that time, the battery is dead and if I'm home with a fever, I'm in no mood to run out and get a battery.

I did see one on Amazon that I'm considering that uses a CR-2032 size battery. I have some of those and even rechargeable ones of that size.

If it takes a lithium coin cell, the battery should last a decade outside the unit. Just remove it and maybe tape it to the outside when not in use.

 

[Qs Laptop]

Restrictions on Sales of Mercury Fever Thermometers​

Some states and municipalities have passed laws or ordinances barring the manufacture, sale and/or distribution of mercury fever thermometers. This is to help remove the threat of thermometer breakage and the subsequent release of mercury vapor indoors. At least 13 states – California, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Oregon, and Washington – have passed such laws.

Mercury Thermometers | US EPA

Learn about mercury thermometers, their uses, the laws regulating their sale, alternatives to them, and how to cleanup a broken mercury thermometer

www.epa.gov

 

[Qs Laptop]

I had one of these digital but under the tongue ones too in the past. Worked great but the big con is batteries wouldn't last the next time I got a fever. I would fine til recovered. But may not get sick again for years. By that time, the battery is dead and if I'm home with a fever, I'm in no mood to run out and get a battery.

I did see one on Amazon that I'm considering that uses a CR-2032 size battery. I have some of those and even rechargeable ones of that size.

I am amazed that the cheapo one I bought at Walgreen's 11 years ago still works. I've never replaced the battery.

 

[slaternuthink]

If you have an old mercury thermometer as we do, this is worth noting -

From the NIH -

The oral ingestion of elemental mercury is unlikely to cause systemic toxicity, as it is poorly absorbed through the gastrointestinal system. However, abnormal gastrointestinal function or anatomy may allow elemental mercury into the bloodstream and the peritoneal space. Systemic effects of massive oral intake of mercury have rarely been reported.

A 3 Year-Old Male Child Ingested Approximately 750 Grams of Elemental Mercury - PMC

The oral ingestion of elemental mercury is unlikely to cause systemic toxicity, as it is poorly absorbed through the gastrointestinal system. However, abnormal gastrointestinal function or anatomy may allow elemental mercury into the bloodstream and ...

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[easysurfer]

If it takes a lithium coin cell, the battery should last a decade outside the unit. Just remove it and maybe tape it to the outside when not in use.

That's my line of thinking. I do that (remove when not in use) for a digital caliper as otherwise, the battery drains if left in.

 

[easysurfer]

I am amazed that the cheapo one I bought at Walgreen's 11 years ago still works. I've never replaced the battery.

That's amazing. Maybe you have a very low power LCD one kind of like old calculators where batteries last a long long time.

 

[easysurfer]

After pouring over many Amazon reviews and internet articles on which are the "best" thermometers, the different types, I decided for now to just keep and continue to use my non-contact infrared thermometer. I've been testing and seems it's been pretty consistent again.

So, I'll chalk up the bad readings to user error. Kinda like when you take a picture, and wonder why the picture didn't work as the settings were "correct". But instead of pondering why, I decided to make a mental note and move on.

Thanks to everyone for your replies.

The booklet for my thermometer actually is quite good reading if you like that kind of stuff .

 

[CoolChange]

I tracked my temperature daily for a bit but got wildly different (almost three degrees on many days) readings over a a few minutes using two different electronic under the tongue digital thermometers more days than I got reasonably consistent readings. This was immediately after rising with no eating, drinking, etc. before taking my temperature.

I assumed it was my technique more than the equipment that was primarily to blame but never figured out what I was doing inconsistently.