Product Link: Click HERE
When I purchased it: October 17, 2022
Review Date: November 28, 2022
Would I recommend it?: Yes, for indoor use
Why I purchased it:
I purchased two of these actually, the second a week after the first. The first one went in my shed where I’m attempting to overwinter a pair of Ghost pepper plants, I installed it so that I could monitor how low the temperature in the shed gets overnight since I don’t particularly want the pepper plants freezing. Pepper plants can’t handle that and will just die so that’s really something I’d like to avoid. The second one is outside on our lānais under a sheltered overhang to track the temperature outside (yes, a lānais in Ohio so that we can enjoy our incredibly stupid weather shifts while exposed to them; It’s about as useful as outdoor malls of which we have several here and they are universally awful in the winter). After seeing how low the temperatures were getting in the shed at night I opted to do a few things: A: Insulate the shed, 2: install a radiator style heater in the shed, D: figure out some way to get a wifi signal out to the shed so that I don’t have to walk all the way out there just to check the temperature.
A few days later I realized a few things, namely that the shed doesn’t need heated when the temperature swings back into the 60’s during the day and that these particular thermometers don’t support wifi connections. If I had bothered to plan this out beforehand I wouldn’t now own three thermometers manufactured by Govee but I’m getting ahead of myself here. I’m so good at this that it hurts, my wallet that is.
My Review:
This review is really a two parter since the mobile app is required to view historical data captured by the thermometers and is shared between all Govee devices which includes a whole pile of things like lights and whatnot. I only have thermometers (currently) for the record, and the fact that I needed to include ‘currently’ there in parenthesis means I should probably be dating these reviews. I’ll start doing that with this one I guess.
Anyways, the app is fine if a bit slow to pick up the data via Bluetooth (wifi is much faster for this). Aside from the slowness the app works well and allows you to rename your thermometers, which sure is useful when you own three of them.
As for the unit itself: the Bluetooth range is nothing exceptional but meets my needs, working from twenty feet away without issues when there were no obstructions, working from ten feet away with a closed metal garage door in between my phone and the thermometer. That was at least far enough that I could pull the data from the inside of the shed without opening the door when it was twenty degrees outside, so I’m happy with that range. Perhaps worth noting: the stated Bluetooth range is 80 meters without obstructions, if that’s physically possible it’s in an 80 meter long faraday cage that is completely empty, I don’t think even half that range is realistic in a real world scenario. That night the shed dropped to 27 degrees in the interior which might have killed my pepper plants but there’s nothing I can do about that now but sit and wait. The unit isn’t particularly small which may matter to some folks. The screen is easy to read from every angle that I’ve tried, though I wasn’t testing this specifically so there may be limitations to reading the screen when viewing from extreme angles or from upside or something. Battery life has been good so far, showing no reduction in battery life bars after a solid month of use which included a week of below freezing temperatures for one of the units. These are capable of a better temperature range than the wifi enabled screenless version that I also purchased, I figure if the temperature drops below 20 degrees in the shed it’s a lost cause anyways so I’m not worried about it. One thing to note though, while these enjoy a fairly wide range of temperature sensitivity (good down to -4 degrees Fahrenheit) they are absolutely not waterproof, so don’t leave them exposed to rain. Also worth noting, when I bought them they were between $15 to $20 USD so for the money the value is definitely there.
Pros:
* Good value for the low cost
* Great temperature range
* App stores months of historical data
* Good battery performance
Cons:
* Not waterproof, which is a pretty big negative since it means this can’t be used in a low tunnel or a moist hoop house, and using it outside at all is questionable unless you can shelter it
Rating:
4/5