Digital thermometers, which have replaced mercury thermometers because they are safer, play an important part in our daily lives. Whether we plan on going out or staying indoors, we think about the temperature. When we feel sick, we check our body temperature. When cooking or refrigerating our food, we make sure the proper temperatures are maintained. Also, there are many industrial processes that require specific temperature conditions. Some special types of digital thermometers include infrared, min/max and pocket thermometers that are often indispensable.

Cooks insert digital cooking thermometers into food so they can verify the cooking temperature. Digital medical thermometers are divided into oral, baby, rectal, basal, hypothermia, temple and ear. Infrared digital thermometers do not physically touch the subject, but rather use the infrared science of pyrometry to determine the temperature of the subject. Min/Max digital thermometers remember the lowest and highest temperatures measured and pocket thermometers are long-probed general purpose thermometers similar to cooking thermometers. When searching the wares of digital thermometer suppliers:

1. Look for medical digital thermometers for use in a doctor's office.

2. Find versatile indoor-outdoor digital thermometers.

3. Find infrared digital thermometers for the most sanitary usage.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Shop for medical digital thermometers

The typical range of medical thermometers is from about 89.6 degrees F to 109.4 degrees F. Digital thermometers have largely replaced mercury thermometers because they are safer. Besides the standard oral digital thermometer, other medical thermometers include digital infrared non-contact tympanum (ear) thermometer, rectal thermometers, hypothermia thermometers, basal thermometers, and even pacifier thermometers.

I recommend: CPR Savers carries disposable thermometers and digital thermometers. Emergency Medical Products offers a complete selection of medical digital thermometers. DigitalThermometers also has an impressive offering of medical digital thermometers.

Shop for indoor-outdoor and swimming pool digital thermometers

We often make decisions of where we are going to go based on the current or projected weather conditions. Digital indoor-outdoor thermometers are available that measure temperature from multiple remote locations, give indoor humidity, calculate outdoor temperature and humidity trends, provide ice alerts, provide an alarm clock, and even show the phase of the moon. Pool owners love to have a pool thermometer handy so they can decide from a distance whether or not the water is at a comfortable temperature for swimming.

I recommend: Wind & Weather specializes in outdoor stuff, so it has a good collection of indoor-outdoor digital thermometers, including one that predicts the weather and displays a girl whose clothing changes according to the weather prediction. DigitalThermometers has a complete list of indoor-outdoor digital thermometers, including pool thermometers.

Buy digital thermometers to measure the temperature of moving or hazardous objects

Sometimes it's necessary to determine the temperature of something that is at a distance or moving or contains hazardous materials where a regular thermometer cannot access the subject. For these situations, you can use infrared digital thermometers.

I recommend: InstruMart carries two models of digital infrared thermometers. They feature digital communication, come with a calibration report, are EMC compatible, feature target laser pointing, and cover temperature readings of up to 2,000 degrees Celsius. HVACTool has numerous infrared digital thermometers from which to choose. DigitalThermometers also carries an infrared digital thermometer.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  One potential customer for digital ear thermometers is the parent who has a restless child that can't seem to keep a thermometer under his or her tongue for the required time. The child's temperature can be taken with a digital ear thermometer instead. The eardrum happens to be an extremely accurate temperature measurement point.