It’s more important today than ever to know if someone has a fever. But even outside the pandemic situation, the control of body temperature is an important indication of infection or inflammation. Especially children are often not yet able to formulate other complaints.
Many fever thermometer tests focus on accuracy. Check all relevant aspects in the comparison table and decide on the best fever thermometer for your purposes. You can easily order it from one of the cheap providers from our comparison table.
Buying advice: How to find the right product in our fever thermometer comparison 2022
The most important in a nutshell
- If the fever thermometer is used for several people, a contactless measurement has clear advantages. However, this measurement method is still unfamiliar to many and it is necessary to keep the right distance.
- Alternatively, you should disinfect the fever thermometer after each use. This is recommended despite the use of covers, as the handle for measuring is also touched and viruses or bacteria can be transmitted in this way.
- While earlier fever thermometers contained mercury, today’s battery thermometers are mostly digital. But there are also analog expansion thermometers with more environmentally friendly ingredients than mercury, which represent an alternative for environmentally conscious people.
How does an infrared measurement work?
All objects and organisms with a temperature above 0 Kelvin (around -273 degrees Celsius) have measurable, infrared radiation that we cannot see. A lens bundles the rays onto a sensor, which passes the information on to the electronics for processing.
The range of fever thermometers is confusing for many – especially if you are rarely ill and have not dealt with fever measurements for a long time.
If you had a cold from time to time, a hand on your forehead was often enough before Corona to roughly check whether feverish flu could possibly be behind it. And somewhere in the drawer, there has been a thermometer lying around for a long time, of which it is no longer so clear whether its measurements can still be trusted.
Then you should decide whether a fever thermometer for the ear or one for the forehead is better suited for your purposes. Or maybe a fever thermometer to measure in the mouth? This buying advice will give you the necessary information and some interesting tips.
How will the different types of fever thermometers differ in 2022?
Today, practically no one has a glass thermometer with mercury, as this is far too dangerous to handle. Modern digital fever thermometers offer more comfort, speed, and safety.
Do you want to replace your old, analog thermometer and wonder which thermometer is the right thermometer for children?
In this table you will learn which properties the respective types have:
Electronic contact thermometers
- Measurement with fever thermometer in mouth, armpit, or buttocks
- Particularly accurate, deviations according to the standard max. one-tenth of a degree
- Must be disinfected after each application
- Recommended for this category is one fever thermometer per person in the household
- Inexpensive fever thermometer
- About 10 seconds before the result is displayed
- braun irt 6500 vs 6020
Infrared thermometer for disposable protective caps
- Measurement with fever thermometer in the ear
- A fever thermometer is suitable for children, but not for infants under 6 months
- Not very accurate; Deviations of up to three-tenths of a degree allowed according to the standard
- Correct positioning required
- Fast measurement ≤ 5 seconds
- More expensive than contact thermometers in the purchase and in consumables
- Additional consumables for the fever thermometer: sleeves
Infrared thermometer for forehead (partly contactless)
- Measurement with fever thermometer on the forehead depending on the type with or without skin contact
- Measurement of the temperature of, for example, drinks and food possible
- Fever thermometer suitable for babies (measurement undisturbed during sleep possible)
- Measurement inaccuracies due to ambient temperature possible or incorrect handling
- Standard allows a tolerance of three-tenths of a degree
- More expensive than contact thermometers
Tip: Commercially available pacifier thermometers are not recommended by various fever thermometer tests, as their measurement seemed insufficiently accurate and the batteries can not be replaced in some cases.
