Incubator thermometer placement for accurate readings

[WhiteTreeOfGondor]

I have an aquarium thermometer in my incubator and am trying to adjust the temperature because I think my incubator might run a degree or so low. After two batches with only one fertile egg in each (both died before hatching), I'm finally seeing at least 4 fertile eggs and I'm only on day 4 so might be more . I'm really hoping for some ducklings out of this batch. Is this a good place to put the thermometer for accurate results? It's alongside the eggs and currently reads just under 100. It's hard to tell if it's 99 or 99.5 though. My incubator is set to 100 right now.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

The placement is fine. I recommend a different thermometer.
As good as an aquarium thermometer may be, they are only required to be within 2F but can be off by more than that. Likewise, the incubator setting can be way off. They should always be calibrated.
I have 3 great thermometer suggestions but for your incubator, the Govee H5074. It is bluetooth and transmits right to your cell phone.
https://www.amazon.com/Govee-Hygrometer-Thermometer-Bluetooth-Notification/dp/B09BHSLWBL
Extremely accurate, reports to the tenth of a degree and tenth of a percent humidity, every 2 seconds. You can export months of data. It beats every thermometer/hygrometer I've ever used.
You won't have any temperature worries again.
It will be interesting to compare its readings with your thermometers and incubator setting.

 

[beluga3858]

Second @ChickenCanoe suggestion to get a different thermometer. The fully digital ones are very good accuracy.

We use the Xiaomi Mijia Bluetooth humidity sensor. It is very small and has a high quality digital humidity/temperature sensor.

You can find these for around $11 each on ebay (US based seller), or around $6 each if you can afford to wait a couple of months (or more) from non-US sellers on ebay, or on aliexpress.

One caveat: these display in Celsius. It is possible to reprogram/flash them to display Fahrenheit but that requires some fiddling around using an android phone, or it maybe possible to switch them using the Xiaomi app (which I've never used). FWIW we just leave them in Celsius

 

[WhiteTreeOfGondor]

The placement is fine. I recommend a different thermometer.
As good as an aquarium thermometer may be, they are only required to be within 2F but can be off by more than that. Likewise, the incubator setting can be way off. They should always be calibrated.
I have 3 great thermometer suggestions but for your incubator, the Govee H5074. It is bluetooth and transmits right to your cell phone.
https://www.amazon.com/Govee-Hygrometer-Thermometer-Bluetooth-Notification/dp/B09BHSLWBL
Extremely accurate, reports to the tenth of a degree and tenth of a percent humidity, every 2 seconds. You can export months of data. It beats every thermometer/hygrometer I've ever used.
You won't have any temperature worries again.
It will be interesting to compare its readings with your thermometers and incubator setting.

Second @ChickenCanoe suggestion to get a different thermometer. The fully digital ones are very good accuracy.

We use the Xiaomi Mijia Bluetooth humidity sensor. It is very small and has a high quality digital humidity/temperature sensor.

You can find these for around $11 each on ebay (US based seller), or around $6 each if you can afford to wait a couple of months (or more) from non-US sellers on ebay, or on aliexpress.

One caveat: these display in Celsius. It is possible to reprogram/flash them to display Fahrenheit but that requires some fiddling around using an android phone, or it maybe possible to switch them using the Xiaomi app (which I've never used). FWIW we just leave them in Celsius

Thanks! That's not a bad price at all for something that accurate. You haven't had any issues with bluetooth radiation so close to the eggs? That might concern me a bit.

 

[beluga3858]

No issues with using Bluetooth sensors in close proximity with eggs. They are very very very low power. We have more than a dozen such sensors in amongst our incubators and brooders, usually just dropped in an empty egg slot or slipped between two eggs.

 

[WhiteTreeOfGondor]

So I got a Govee, though this one has a screen so I can read it from the incubator. I hope it's just as accurate as the other model? It's this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B087313N8F/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1. The incubator is set to 99.5, and the humidity on it says 60%, so it looks like the built in thermometer is pretty accurate after all. The aquarium thermometer reads just between 98 and 100.

 

[WhiteTreeOfGondor]

Now the Govee is reading 97.6, and the aquarium one has also dropped! I haven't opened the lid or anything, and the incubator still says 99.5. Is it possible the incubator temperature is unstable?

 

[beluga3858]

In my experience some small incubators are prone to outside temperature changes affecting them. I haven't used that brand but suggest making sure:

- it's not where sunlight could hit it
- not under or near a heat or air conditioning vent
- not in any drafts from doors, windows, etc
- it's not against something that gets slightly warm or cold
- there's nothing covering it (my cat likes to curl up on or next to the incubator )
- it's not under a high powered light
- the internal fan is running

Good luck

 

[WhiteTreeOfGondor]

In my experience some small incubators are prone to outside temperature changes affecting them. I haven't used that brand but suggest making sure:

- it's not where sunlight could hit it
- not under or near a heat or air conditioning vent
- not in any drafts from doors, windows, etc
- it's not against something that gets slightly warm or cold
- there's nothing covering it (my cat likes to curl up on or next to the incubator )
- it's not under a high powered light
- the internal fan is running

Good luck

Thank you, it could be from the door. It's not too close to the door but it's a chillier day and the door has been open a lot.

 

[beluga3858]

Do double check the internal fan is running (you should be able to hear and/or feel the slight vibration from it) as it should be mixing the air in the incubator so it will eventually even out any temperature differences. ie the cooler air near the govee should get mixed in and drop the temperature measured by the incubator sensor and trigger it to warm up.