In the latter half of 2019, the world started experiencing the most significant social disruption of the 21^st century. People from every corner of the world were affected by an unknown virus, and the United Nations declared it a pandemic. Initially there was no cure for the virus, but after around a year of hard work and dedication, few companies could get hold of the vaccine. Even though it was not enough, everyone who caught the virus had to self-quarantine for 14 days or more. The first phase was essentially deadly; governments worldwide decided to close various public and private institutes to stop the virus from spreading.

But it was a massive disaster for the economies around the world, and closing all the marketplaces and important institutes was not a solution. One of the significant symptoms of this disease was high body temperature, so at every public place a temperature check was made mandatory before letting people in. But doing the same with a standard thermometer was not safe as it involved physical intimacy within proximity. Also, it would take around a minute or more to gauge the right temperature. That is when people started using an infrared thermometer.

How to use an Infrared Thermometer?

Infrared thermometers are majorly non-contaminated, non-invasive and tend to have a zero contact mode of operation. To use an infrared thermometer correctly, one must know how it works. During the pre pandemic phase, these thermometers were only used by medical professionals. Other than humans, they can also work on various other subjects. A non-contact infrared thermometer measures the temperature of an object or a person through infrared waves without coming into contact with it. It is not like a traditional thermometer, so it does not require a physical contact, and most people use it either on the forehead or on their wrist. Steps to start using the same are:

1. Starting the Device: The switch-on method is different for various thermometers, but mostly either there is a trigger button or an on/ off switch. Read the manual carefully to know this
2. Choose between Celsius and Fahrenheit: All infrared thermometers have two options to choose from. You can either select the temperature in Celsius or Fahrenheit accordingly
3. Select the object: The third step for choosing the subject. There are various modes to choose from. Some of these infrared thermometers have an HD LED screen to see everything clearly; it also has an option where the thermometer stores multiple readings at a time.
4. Press the trigger:The final step is to press the trigger button and hold it for a few seconds, and it displays the temperature on screen

How to choose the one most suitable to your needs? 

Multiple companies manufacture infrared thermometers, so choosing a thermometer can be tricky. The most significant difference in an IR thermometer is its lens. There are three significant types of thermometers that are currently popular:

1. One with no lens: It is the cheapest alternative that is available, and works just fine. If you are buying one for domestic use, this is your best buy. But it might be very accurate if the distance is longer
2. Fresnel lens: This is one of the most popularly used IR thermometers. In the food industry, most people use this type of lens. But the problem is that sometimes during the high temperatures the results are not accurate, so it is not as much used for scientific research.
3. Mica Lens:IR thermometers with mica lenses are the most expensive ones as compared to other variants. But the temperature monitoring is highly accurate, which makes it ideal to be used for research purposes.

Infrared thermometers are very helpful, and most of them work with chargeable batteries which makes it ideal to be used for longer period of times for large number of subjects. If you are buying a non-contact infrared thermometer online you can include some additional batteries in your order with a charging device, which can help the operators to use it for maximum working hours.