moisture-meters

The Importance of Moisture Meters and the Different Available Types

Any facility that stores products which naturally contain a certain level of moisture in their composition can benefit from a moisture meter. Wood, sheetrock, concrete, and paper are just a few of the many different materials that contain moisture, and if not regularly checked, the moisture can cause major problems such as inventory product loss, flooring failures, and professional liability issues. In order to prevent this, you should consider investing in a moisture meter.

Moisture meters are pieces of environmental monitoring equipment that give you the ability to measure and monitor the moisture levels of the environment in which you store your inventory so that you can ensure it is at the appropriate moisture level. However, in order to do so, you need to have the right type of meter. When looking through environmental monitoring equipment stores, you’ll come across a few different types of moisture meters. Here are the most common ones.

moisture-meters

Wood Meters

There are two basic types of wood moisture meters – pin-style and pinless. Pin style meters usually feature metal probes that penetrate below the wood surface to measure the internal moisture content of the wood. They do that with the help of a resistance principal which measures the flow of electricity between the two metal probes. However, the results you get from this testing do not represent the entire piece of wood, so you’ll have to do several readings along the length and width of the board with repeated penetration. Pinless wood moisture meters, on the other hand, are non-destructive, and they use a sensor pad that utilizes high-frequency radio wave signal technology to scan large wood areas for their moisture content.

Garden Moisture Meters

Garden moisture meters are used for measuring the soil’s conditions which is important for maintaining healthy growing conditions for the plants, regardless of whether they are outdoors or indoors. The ideal moisture conditions, temperature, fertility, sunlight conditions, and PH levels can be monitored using a garden moisture meter. Specialized meters can be used to measure the moisture in seeds or stored grains to prevent fungi growth, sprouting, insect infestations and more.

Paper Moisture Meters

Paper moisture meters are mainly used in storage, shipping, and production facilities as they monitor the moisture levels in paper and other fibrous wood-based products in order to ensure that stock isn’t damaged by excess moisture. Similar to wood and inspection meters, these meters are available in pinless and pin-style forms. Some meters can be attached to product-specific external probes to monitor the moisture content in bundles and large bales.