I have a refrigerator and I am not sure if it is performing correctly. I also have some junk peltier mini coolers and such that would be interesting to try. So the solution is simple, grab whatever thermometer I have and stick it in there to take some readings.
But oh, not so fast.. I have little faith in the various cheap window thermometers, weather stations and such. If you let them sit indoors in the same room overnight, the indoor and outdoor temperature readings are normally off by anywhere between 1-3 degrees. I put a weather station inside my fridge, which reads 9C, which is way higher than my suspicions are. Even if it may be correct, I have little trust in the device.
So I wonder what options I have and what kind of thermometer I am looking for to get trustworthy readings. On the other hand I am not looking for some "industrial grade calibrated equipment". Just something that can take somewhat reliable and believable readings in perhaps the ~$50 range.
Are multimeters with thermal probes normally okay for such readings? Or are there other affordable thermometers that are intended for taking occasional measurements with a slightly higher QC than those cheap window thermometers?