Anemometer Purchase: Recommendation

[theicecleaner]

I have used anemometers in the past, and am looking to purchase a new one to take various air velocity measurement, probably a hot wire. I would like to have data logging capabilities, and it needs to be portable. Target price would be <$300.

Any recommendations of makes and models that I should research?

[johnnymick]

You might look into the Testo 410, There are two models, the 410-2 with Temp and humidity and the 410-1 which is lacking humidity, both of which are under your target price at about 225 and 150 respectively. Both of those are vane. The only hot wire testo makes is about double your budget. Why are you preferring a hot wire?

[tostaos]

I like my Testo 416. But this one is more than double your budget.

[johnnymick]

Yea, the 416 was the hot wire Testo I was speaking of...a great tool, but for a price. But then, you get what you pay for. Whats the point of measuring something if your reading is not accurate?

Again, I would ask what your readings are used for... Would a differential manometer and some static pressure tips be a more economical route if you are seeking CFM readings? Not as quick and easy, but still... less expensive. Or a vane manometer?

Just depends how accurate you need your readings. I'm definitely a big testo fan in case you could not tell...

[tostaos]

The hot wire one is the Testo 425 and is actually cheaper.
That's the place to get it from.
http://www.trutechtools.com/Airflow-Measurement_c_164.html

[spark]

I have the Testo 416 and love it. I would just save up and get the 416 or just use static pressure tips (which you should have anyways lol).
The hotwire you have to correct for air density If I'm not mistaken.

Good luck,
-Mark

[theicecleaner]

Thanks you all for your valuable recommendations and feedback about anemometers.

And now my research really begins...

[gchb]

I have used a KIMMO branded one in several projects in the Algerian petrolium fields at the Algerian desert (a mesurment tools package containing anemometer with a small fan on it, thermometre, sonometer, pitot tube to mesure the pressure drop loss in ductworks...its) and it works very very well.
You can get more details about this brand on the net.

[mgenius33]

It's my opinion that there is no one perfectly accurate method of measuring airflow.
I've been told the return grille duct traverse with a vane is most useful in residential, light commercial applications. Yet, there are possibilities of duct leakage. So, in order to gather cfm info for capacity calculations, sometimes tests are better made at the unit where ducting can be assured to be sealed up to the entry of the blower.

For this reason, I'm investing in a vane for grille measurements and also using the old pitot tube for duct measurements. If I had a limitless budget, it wouldn't be an issue, but for now the more simple less expensive alternatives are the only choice.

I'm not yet convinced that the super pricey name brand anemometers work that much more accurately than the cheaper ones. I purchased another UNI-T product, because I was pretty impressed with the UT233 meter I purhcased from them. I expected a cheap POS, but tested it against my FLUKE and measured exactly the same, to the nearest 10th digit.
The vane anemometer is a UT362. I will be testing it against the Testo 410-2. I will post the results. The UT doesn't read RH, but it does have other features which I believe to be useful.

[mgenius33]

Ok, I received the UNI-T and have tested it for the past 4 days. The instructions are confusing to say the least, and appear to be written by someone who speaks broken English. Once I messed with the fuctions for a while I got the hang of it, and it worked pretty well, with the exception of consistency.

The UT-362 is not as consistent as the Testo. I did find the average to be within 2% but the range of the samples I averaged with a calculator was far greater than the 410's range of samples. For this reason, I would consider it unreliable.

I believe the problem to be in the bearing type. The UT uses a shaft set in a race made of ruby supposedly. Well, the drag is so high it actually makes a light scraping noise. If stainless low friction bearings were used, I believe it would make it a much more reliable meter, and I probably would keep it.

I'm trying the CEM DT-619 next. It has low friction bearings for "increased accuracy". It also has all of the functions I'm looking for in a vane meter.

On a side note, I tested my Supco DSP1000 against the Testo 410-2 and found it to read within a couple tenth's of a degree in wetbulb.

BTW. I has been my experience that it takes practice to become consistent when performing a grille traverse with a vane anemometer.