Thinking about a hot wire anamometer...

[BNME8EZ]

Would like to use it for airflow at registers & grills, may transverse ducts some times. Thoughts on the idea and which one is best would be helpful. Thought about the minivane but seems like they need a bigger opening for insertion. Other pros and cons would be great also.

[martinxxxxxx]

Seems to me to be a bit over the top - the pros you already know and if you need them - ie ability to measure turbulent or wildly fluctuating flows then this is the only thing that will fit the bill, but I use a TESTO Pocket Pro 410-2 Air Velocity Temperature RH Meter which I brought for a fraction of the price

[ernestomartineziii]

I don't think a hot wire is altogether necessary...as mentioned earlier, a pocket style anemometer should suit you fine. a hot wire is great in clean air applications, if you are going to use it for testing air flows in various applications, you'll find yourself maintaining the hot wire more often than not...as far as traversing duct; how often are you doing this? are you involved with a lot of commissioning work? if not, then i wouldn't think you would have to do too much traversing for readings. your register outlet readings will suffice. If you are balancing total systems, then this is another matter.

[BNME8EZ]

That's kinda the point, looking at doing more total system balancing. I have a vane as part of a cooper mfm300 kit but don't feel that is as acurate as it should be. Thinking the hot wire will be more acurate.

[ernestomartineziii]

oh, ok. if that's the direction you want to go in, then you may very well want to invest that way...keep in mind, the cleaner the application, such as new installs, is the appropriate environment for the tool...if you get involved with re-commissioning existing systems, you submit the hot wire anemometer to a more harsh environment. maintaining and cleaning it will be crucial to your accuracy. For that matter, a standard pitot tube will probably serve you better...just traverse the old fashioned way. Stick to the old math, lots of traverse points read will greatly increase your accuracy. investing in the right tools for TAB work is critical. perhaps balometer hoods are more appropriate for your register readings, as opposed to hand helds. a bit more material to carry around, but if you set up a good set of equipment for balancing, your accuracy and reputation stand to benefit greatly.

[BNME8EZ]

Mostly lookin gat doing resi work so a flow hood gets hard to move around. Borrowed one {Alnor} on the first one I did, getting it around furnature was a real pain. Thought a hotwire would be much easier to get around with. Also dropping a 2x2 hood over a 2x10 floor register takes a long time to fill the hood and since it's not close to centered just makes me question the reading. Besides the fact that it was upside down so the buttons were odd to operate. Would still like to get a hood eventually.

[ernestomartineziii]

I see. residential does seem a little light in regards to an Alnor...in a smaller residential application, hand helds will suffice. as long as you have the ability to correct/adjust cfm via adjustable dampers or maneuvering blade positions, which seems tedious, but little control is better than no control...

[RussellHarju]

Here's a video on Fieldpiece's Anemometer.

http://youtu.be/QmTcpGSQBEw

[ernestomartineziii]

Nice video! That should definitely help out. I'm not involved with TAB work myself, but that'll get you excited about jumping in! Thanx.

[Chuck]

I have the fieldpiece sta2. Very nice tool. Quick and accurate.

[BNME8EZ]

Nice video.

I had read on another site where their meter had to be adjusted for Bar. Press, Humid., & temp. to e accurate. Is this one self adjusting or is the other overly complicated?

[RussellHarju]

Nice video.

I had read on another site where their meter had to be adjusted for Bar. Press, Humid., & temp. to e accurate. Is this one self adjusting or is the other overly complicated?

It is adjusted for temp but not Bar, pressure, humidity, etc. Most of the ones built specifically for HVAC do not adjust for Bar, pressure, humidity, etc. For HVAC purposes the added accuracy you get when the anemometer is adjusted for those things is fairly negligible and creates a much more expensive anemometer. We went more middle of the road with the STA2 so it's price feasible for most HVAC technicians. It simple to use and does a great job for what it's meant to do. Here is the instruction manual with the specs so you can decide if it meets your needs or not.

http://fieldpiece.com/PDF/Manuals/Opman-STA2v19.pdf

[jeep6275]

ive got an sta2 also. i use it on average once a month, on a problem call.... but i am looking at doing more performance testing in the future. i like it aswell, but really havent used any other brands.

[pacnw]

I, too, was trying to determine the easiest/best product for determining airflow in a resi situation.

Most units I encounter have no charts available or are so modified they would be useless.

[martyinlincoln]

Another sta2 user here. I don't use it a lot but when needed it was a real time saver.

[Ron223]

Those of you who already own an STA-2, I've been considering buying one for accurately measuring residential total CFM. Would you consider it sufficient and accurate at doing so? Thanks.