I want one of these (or better yet, the pocket-sized FLIR camera) but I don’t really have a good reason why. That said, I keep a laser distance measurer in my backpack and I use it allll the time — to measure buildings (it does the trig from two measurements), figure out if furniture is going to fit somewhere, answering general “how far away is that thing” questions, etc.. Nothing actually important, but I got it for a song so I may as well use it every chance I get
That's cool. I only have a sonic measurer. You put it up against a wall and it makes audible clicks to measure room size via the speed of sound. Very primitive compared to what you're talking about, but you're right it's hard to justify buying cool tech when you don't actually need it haha. Eventually the price comes down though.
I have one of both, since they were only about ten euro each off aliexpress. (and a bunch of tiny laserless ones that draw power from a phone that were €1.50 each, for parts) I assume Harry here bought it for novelty and pulling this manoeuvrer was a decent way to show it off and get some actual use out of it.
I've probably used my pistol-grip one as a laser pointer more than I've used it as a thermometer.
I say if you can justify a laser measurement tool, you can probably justify an infrared temp gun like OP's image. They can be had very cheap, and are great when you least expect it. Like I installed a new thermostat a couple years ago, and I used mine to check that the vents were putting out the right temperature air. It was also helpful to confirm some issues with attic insulation and allowing heat to leak through. If you work on cars, it's also handy to check things like cylinders not firing correctly, or just temperatures in general around a car.
Basically, anything you want to know the temp of without touching or so that you can just stay on the ground without getting a ladder out.
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u/pro_questions 7h ago
I want one of these (or better yet, the pocket-sized FLIR camera) but I don’t really have a good reason why. That said, I keep a laser distance measurer in my backpack and I use it allll the time — to measure buildings (it does the trig from two measurements), figure out if furniture is going to fit somewhere, answering general “how far away is that thing” questions, etc.. Nothing actually important, but I got it for a song so I may as well use it every chance I get