What are the best temperature sensors for Arduino that you can buy at the best price? 2022 list

Right now, Arduino is one of the most relevant platforms in terms of development of electronics, mechanics, robotics, home automation and many more environments, by fans of the maker world. Since, it provides free software and hardware to its users, regardless of their level of knowledge. Thus, it facilitates learning and allows them to build optimal projects.

In this sense, basically Arduino is characterized by being highly versatileso it is an ideal element for implement ideas of any kind, where the only limitation is your imagination. With which, you will be able to leave your relatives, friends or any person speechless, given that it offers the possibility of create clever systems, equipment or mechanisms.

Now, fortunately, Arduino has the ability to extend its functionalities, thanks to all the components it supports. Through them, the most novice users can learn to use the plates in a professional way, especially with sensors. Among these sensors, the most common of all, are the temperature sensors and therefore, we will detail them below.

What is a temperature sensor and what is it used for in an Arduino project?

Although it is true, the temperature is a magnitude that usually associated with notions of heat. Well, it refers to a measure of the heat or thermal energy of the particles in a substance, for example. Whereby, is related to the internal energy of a thermodynamic systembesides, of course, is scalable and measurable.

Thus, as it refers to one of the most important physical magnitudes to measure, created and designed different types of temperature sensors. Taking into account that sensors are those objects capable of detect physical and chemical magnitudes known as “instrumentation variables”.

Now, specifically, a temperature sensor is defined as a device that converts temperature changes into electronic signals which will then be processed by electronic or electronic equipment. So, in Arduino, These sensors are components that have the ability to collect the temperature and/or humidity from the outside to proceed, transform it into a digital or electrical signal and send it to an Arduino board.

Therefore, in an Arduino-based project, the temperature sensors serve to measure air temperature or surface temperature of liquids and solids, with the aim of obtaining essential data for the operation of said project. Appreciating that, to deliver this specific function, there are two main varieties of temperature sensors.

These are the following:

• contact temperature sensors: As its name indicates, they manage to compute said physical magnitude by making contact. This, by means of thermocouples and thermistors included in them in order to create immediacy with the object to be measured.
• non-contact temperature sensors: Are those that focus on measuring the thermal radiation emitted by a specific heat source to determine its temperature. In other words, unlike the previous ones, these detect the temperature from a distance.

List of the best temperature sensors to use with Arduino from scratch

As its name indicates, by default, temperature sensors are responsible for converting the measured temperature into a digital or electronic signal to send it to an electronic board that can be an Arduino boardin numerous projects.

Thanks to this, today, there are different models of these sensors that can be used freely with Arduino right from the start, regardless of the type of project to be developed. For its part, just as there are very cheap alternatives, there are also more expensive temperature sensors and the difference between them, based on the benefits they deliver.

Therefore, to differentiate one from another, users can focus on aspects such as: the sensitivity, the response time, the maximum and minimum temperature they accept, the offset, etc.. Now, having clarified all of the above, it is time for you to know some of the best temperature sensors used by the Arduino Communitygiven its popularity, efficiency and excellent characteristics.

Next, the list with each one of them in detail:

Arduino DHT22 Temperature Sensor

This consists of a digital temperature sensor showing the ability to collect specific temperature and apart from that, also detects ambient humidity effectively. In the case of the temperatures that it manages to measure, we emphasize that, generally, range from -40°C to 80°C. In addition to this, it is a sensor that is responsible for sending the results obtained to the Arduino board through a 16-bit digital signal.

Additionally, it can measure humidity between 0 to 100% with precision from 2% to 5%. Regarding their frequency of sampling, we specify that, specifically, they are two samples per second that it offers (2 Hz). Thus, it is characterized by being an absolute precision sensor that manages to perform the simultaneous measurement of magnitudes such as temperature and humidity. Regarding its price, in general, is between 5 and 6 euros per unit.

Arduino LM35 Temperature Sensor

Another of the most famous sensors when it comes to build arduino projects where it is necessary to compute the ambient temperature. Thanks to its cheapness, it is one of the most used by people who are fond of the maker world, given that you can find a pack of 10 LM35 temperature sensors for only 7 euros. Among other characteristics, we highlight that it manages to admit the temperature between 2 °C and 150 °C.

For its part, it is also distinguished by being a sensor that has an analog output and, directly, it manages to do the calibration in degrees Celsius. On the other hand, it is an integrated sensor with its own control circuit that supplies a voltage output proportional to temperature and, therefore, it is linear. Thus, generally increases the value at a rate of 10mV for each degree centigrade.

Regarding its accuracy at room temperature, has been found to be 0.5 °C specifically. Among other details, this is one of the most widely used temperature sensors in the world of electronics, since it provides remarkable ease of use. Nevertheless, fails to emit negative temperatures.

Temperature sensor MLX90614ESF

Unlike many other temperature sensors that plug into the Arduino, it has an infrared light used to measure temperature efficiently. For this, basically, it requires a 90° field of viewhas a resolution of 0.02°C and it has high precision when it comes to displaying results. which are transmitted through a 10-bit signal to Arduino boards.

In this sense, it should be noted that the aforementioned signal is sent digitally based on I2C protocol and even sometimes uses the PWM protocol. For its part, it offers a factory calibration with a wide range of temperatures that are: -40 + 125ºC (for sensor temperature) and -70 + 380ºC (for object temperature).

In addition, its connection with Arduino, it is quite simple. In view of that, you only have to power the module from Arduino through GND and 5V, as well as connect the pin SDA Y SCL of Arduino with the corresponding pins of the sensor. Regarding its cost, we highlight that, can usually be purchased for 13 euros in electronics stores.

Arduino TC74 Temperature Sensor

For only 5 euros per unit, Arduino hobbyists can purchase this model of temperature sensor to adjust it to their projects. Which is characterized by being an element that transfers the signal in digital mode starting from 8 bits and, in addition, it manages to communicate with the Arduino boards based on I12C protocol.

Now, around the range of temperatures that it can collect or, to the temperature with which it operates, we delimit that, fluctuates between -40 °C and 125 °C, specifically. Among other details, it is worth noting that this temperature sensor handles a working voltage of 2.7÷5.5Vits tolerance is 0.5°C and its assembly it is of type SMD.

Sensor Thermocouple Type-k

In this case, it refers to a totally professional sensor that can capture the existing temperatures in a range between -200 °C and 1,350 °C roughly. Which means that it supports high temperatures and thanks to this, I differ from the models of temperature sensors for amateurs. The reason why, It is specially designed for professional Arduino projects (casting devices, boilers, etc.).

However, despite the fact that it is one of the most advanced temperature sensors that can be used with Arduino, the truth is that its composition is very simple. Since, simply, it has two metal cables welded to a converter that is the element in charge of transmit the signal to the plates.

On the other hand, its standard accuracy is +/- 2.2C or +/- .75%while its special error bounds point to +/- 1.1C or 0.4%. Regarding the price of this sensor in the market, you can find different costs ranging from 7 euros up to 28 eurosabout.

TMP36 temperature sensor

It consists of an analog sensor that provides an analog voltage proportional to the ambient temperature. For this, it does not need any external calibration and thus delivers accuracies typical of 1°C to +25°C and ±2°C in a temperature range of −40°C to +125°C. In addition to this, it can be fed between 2.7 and 5.5 Vdc and usually its output voltage is 10mV for each degree of temperature.

Now, in terms of its operation, we highlight that, inside it has a diode. which, as the temperature increases, also increases the voltage at a rate that can be known, by means of said diode. Therefore, if the voltage change can be amplified accurately, it will be easy. produce an analog signal which will be directly proportional to the measured temperature.

The Best Arduino Projects With Temperature Sensors You Should Know About

By making use of temperature sensors, Arduino creators and hobbyists have achieved build projects of great interest in the DIY culture and at a professional level. That is why, it is worth knowing some of the best Arduino projects based on these sensors.

Therefore, here we will detail 5 of them:

A display that shows the temperature

As its name indicates, it is a project based on present the temperature in real time by means of a small display. In order to create it, you need to use a water temperature sensoras well as an Arduino board, an LCD display, a 10K resistor and 4 male-female jumpers.

In this sense, the first step to follow is to connect the temperature sensor with the mentioned resistor (at 5V). After that, you have to connect the LCD display with an I2C serial module, using the 4 male-female jumpers to link it with the Arduino board. In addition to this, it is relevant to enter the corresponding code in the Arduino IDE for this device to work properly.

digital thermometer

Without a doubt, it is one of the most popular projects when it comes to an Arduino board in conjunction with a temperature sensor. This basically refers to build a useful thermometer that displays temperature digitally. Generally, to create it, you use a DHT11 or DHT22 sensora 16×2 LCD display, a 10K potentiometer, two 1K resistors, and two 330 resistors.

To start building this novel project, users have to connect the chosen temperature sensor with the Arduino board to use, as well as link the LCD screen with said board. Taking into account that, the mentioned screen It has a microcontroller that is responsible for its operation. so that people can view information based on temperature, graphically.

Smart temperature sensor

This project is very interesting, since its objective is to make a device through which it is easier to execute actions that react to changes in temperature. in order to control the setting effective. Which means that it consists of an automatic setting system with which it will be possible manage and monitor multiple electronics with ease (be it heating, air conditioning, fans, etc.).

This is achieved thanks to a temperature sensor that allows to classify three specific states (cold, ambient and hot). In order to indicate each of these states, the intelligent temperature sensor will be based on the preference parameters of each user. This means that, for example, they can set the cold at 20 °C, the room temperature at 25 °C and the heat at 30 °C; according to the taste of each person.

Thus, under these parameters, the system will turn on the air conditioning or heating at one of those temperatures, as defined. In this case, specifically, use one LM35 temperature sensor. In addition to this, they require the following materials to build the new project: an Arduino board, an RGB LED, a servo motor, a relay module, a 2.2k ohm resistor, a DC motor or a computer fan, a 16×2 display, a passive buzzer and three 2.2k ohm resistors.

temperature measuring car

It is an idea that comes from a tank car (called CarBee) capable of measuring temperature, humidity and distances in real timein order to show the results through a mobile application thanks to the fact that the device can be controlled via Bluetooth. In this case, you should use a DHT11 temperature sensoras well as a humidity sensor and an ultrasound sensor.

Apart from that, it is recommended to use an Arduino UNO board, a servomotor, a protoboard and two motor-reducers. In addition to this, the project also needs an L293D H-bridge, a bluetooth module, a 9V battery and a battery pin for it, an LED, a switch and many jumpers, both male-female and male-male. Also, it is essential install the sensor library using the Arduino IDE and download the app to use on your smartphone.

Plant temperature meter

It corresponds to a project that aims to build a clever meter to monitor the status of the plants and their needs, constantly. In that sense, this meter will be able to calculate temperature, humidity and light around a plant simultaneously. This, with the aim of showing users the state of the plant and what they condition to improve its state in order to extend its life.

Now, in order to implement this idea provided by fans of the Arduino Communityit is essential to use a temperature sensor with cables and amplifier included. In the same way, a humidity sensor and a light sensor are required, an Arduino board that supports the input of said sensors, a USB cable and several connector cables. It will have to install the Arduino IDE on Linux to be able to program and compile the operation of this plant monitoring system.