A temperature probe or thermal probe is a device that, by mechanical or electrical means, transmits the temperature of the emitter from one place (emitter) to another (receiver).

It is used in thermal installations, both in buildings (heating, air conditioning) and in industry, but also in the kitchen.

Its function is different from that of a thermostat: it acts when the temperature of the emitter reaches a certain point (set temperature), opening or closing a contact; That means that the thermostat is, in itself, the receiver. On the contrary, the probe is just a transmitter: it measures the temperature of the emitter, and transmits it so that the receiver acts as appropriate. It should also not be confused with a thermometer, a device that is limited to measuring the temperature and reflecting it on a reader, without any further action.

A mechanical thermal probe consists of a bulb containing a gas, which expands in contact with a hot body; Through a capillary tube, the increase in volume is transmitted to another bulb, in which an elastic membrane produces pressure on the element that must control the temperature.

In this case, there are two types:

In thermal installations

In thermal installations it is used in several ways:

In kitchen

The traditional system in cooking has been to use a special thermometer, with the bulb located on a spit that is stuck into the piece to be roasted (especially when the piece is very large) and you have to monitor it to know when the heat from the oven has reached the interior area of ​​the piece, which means that it is already at its cooking point. Currently, electric probes are manufactured that function so that they warn when the required roasting temperature has been reached (different depending on the piece). When the probe is integrated between the oven mechanisms (in very expensive ovens), they can turn it off.