Digital Moisture Meter

We had our crawlspace encapsulated a few years ago. It is a very large crawlspace, going from a couple of feet high to eighteen feet high as we are built on the side of a hill. There is a dehumidifier that the company checks yearly to make sure it is working properly. They power it down, change a filter, and power it back up. Our only trouble is when we have a power surge and it goes off. We then have to go under the house to turn it back on. Since it is encapsulated, it is dry and clean and no animals can enter it. Thank goodness!! Prior to having it done, our framing was nearly 90% moisture. Since having it done, it normally ranges around 40-50%, the ideal range. If it goes below 35%, I have to call them so they can check on it. I have a monitor in my foyer to keep up with the humidity levels.Prior to getting the VOLCANOES CLUB Moisture Meter, I had to depend entirely upon the monitor to know the humidity level in the crawlspace. Now, with this meter, we are able to further monitor it and maintain the proper humidity levels so the framing doesn't dry out or become too moist. Of course, we also use the meter to find any problems in the house, such as plumbing leaks. My favorite use, though, is measuring the levels of our firewood!! Our wood "man" is pretty honest and assures me that our wood is seasoned. My son, who builds and tends to the fires in our wood stove says it is, too. If we have doubts about any of the wood, we are now able to measure it and know for sure if it is dry enough to get the most heat from it. We purchase six to eight ricks each winter, so that is a lot of wood. We want to get our money's worth out of the wood, so we are using the meter on it, too.So far, all the measurements seem very accurate. They are falling in line with the monitor in the foyer and within the parameters of what our firewood should be. For the reasonable price of this meter, I am very happy with it. I would purchase it again if this one failed after the warranted five years. For these reasons, I do recommend this product.

On a single piece of curly black walnut cut last July and in a controlled env. to "air dry" since it was VERY inconsistent. I appreciate that you should average several reading, but a swing from well under 9% to 13% seems, to me, to be a bit much.However, on seasoned wood (in the same environment for > 5 years and kiln-dried to start) it was far more consistent on a single piece, end-to-end.So overall I think it's an OK reader, but I think on wet wood it's a little flaky.That said - my old meter (a Delmhorst J-Lite) was many times more expensive than this unit and only slightly less fiddly - so I still think it's a good value.

This moisture sensor is very handy. I've had a few leaks in my house that I've fixed myself. If you've done the same you know how hard it is to tell if the wall is just cold, or if it's damp. Well, it just rained a few days ago, and I used this to check all of my previous repairs. All of the drywall measurements read as zero moisture, except for one spot (pictured) that read 5.8%. Ah ha! That spot must still be leaking a bit! Even though the moisture is very low, all my drywall measured zero everywhere else in the house.So, for being so useful, and not particularly expensive, it's getting 5 stars. Here are some of the interesting features of this device.Pros:1) Its super easy to use. I thought you might have to "poke" the sensor probes into the material and make holes, but you don't. You just touch them to the surface and get a reading.2) The reading is stable and repeatable. I don't know about the overall accuracy, but the repeatability is there. Multiple readings in the same spot all read pretty much the same.3) It comes with multip calibrations (look up tables, I assume) for different wood types. Pretty much every wood type imaginable is listed on one of the 7 calibration tables. It has a separate calibration table for "building materials", which I assume means drywall (or maybe brick?).4) It comes with batteries and a nylon case with a belt loop.5) Again, not sure about absolute accuracy (maybe it's perfect, but I just can't test this myself), but it does a great job of repeatable measurements of relative differences between different woods.6) It has a manual check feature built into the cap, so you can make sure the sensor is working with in acceptable tolerance range. This is explained in the instructions, and worked fine for me. Most sensor tools don't give you any way to tell if the sensor is working properly, so a bonus star for this!7) It also has a "hold" feature, to continue displaying the measurement after you remove the sensor, and an auto-off feature to save battery.Cons:1) When the reading is zero, it does NOT say it's zero. It just doesn't display anything! So, it's hard to know if you're really reading zero, or if you just don't have good enough contact with the surface you're trying to measure. I'm taking off that bonus star I gave because of this. It's a bit annoying and confusing at first, and makes you second guess if you have good contact or not.2) Although it has a ton of different wood types identified for specific calibration tables, it doesn't ever say what "building materials" are. I wouldn't assume it would measure wet brick the same way as wet drywall. . . but there is only one "building materials" calibration to cover anything that's not wood. Not sure how much to trust the accuracy on this setting, but again, if you're using it for relative measurements, it shouldn't be a problem.3) Some reviewers have mentioned the "cheap" feel of the plastic. I actually don't think it's a problem. It's very comparable in feel and build quality to other instruments in this price range (e.g. stud finders, multimeters, etc.). At this price point, it's just fine.All in all, I really like this sensor. I've wondered about potential leak spots in my walls for years, and now this sensor is able to give me the answer. And, it's so easy to use. You don't even press a button to measure (except to change calibrations). Just put it on the surface and the measurement is automatic.Final Rating: 5 stars. The pros far outweigh the cons, and it's very easy to use.