The electronics that makes a digital thermometer work is not very complex. Basically a voltage stabilizer to maintain constant battery voltage as the power is slowly used up and voltage drops. There is a temperature compensation circuit to automatically adjust operating lineal response whether your room temperature is very low or very high. The sensor, typically a thermocouple, which provides the measurement, is read against an internal reference to give you the readout. The entire package is inexpensive electronics (less than $10.00) which gives you response time in milliseconds. Why some thermometer reads faster than the other? The response time is highly dependent on how small they can make the thermocouple sensor /probe. The smaller it is the shorter the response time. The problem of making it too small is breakage and difficulty in manufacturing. They need to have the metal casing to be very strong so that when you push the probe into the meat it will not break too easily. When you push the probe into food, the metal probe travels thru different temperature zones, typically from high (212F) to low, and the metal will carry the heat from high temperature to low temperature and heats up the food in the low temperature zone. It will take time for the temperature to reach equilibrium, depends on the weight (mass) of the probe. dcarch

Thanks! To save someone a trip - $74, and the new model ($96) is water resistant. Here is a link that might be useful: thermoworks

I think all the furniture feels like it is pushed out to the walls. I would take the bookcase in the LR that is to the right of the couch, and put that on the wall that is behind the couch now. Then you will be able to open up a standing space in front of that, by moving the couch forward into the living room space. Take the console table and lamps from behind the couch and put that on the wall where the bookcase was, with the mirror from over the fireplace above it. The mirror there will help bounce light from the windows into the room, as well as bouncing the light from the lamps. Now, push the couch further forward, so that the front edge of the couch is at least as far forward as the divider between the center and side window of the bow. Turn the rug parallel to the couch, keep the coffeetable. Take the two chairs and use them both with the table between them, but rotate them so that the chair on the right of the pair is where the end table is now, then the end table to the left of that, and the other chair to the left of that - it will be sitting with its back to the bow window. This should create a cohesive grouping of your furniture, fill the wall space behind the couch but allow the couch to logically move forward, and let the table and lamps be seen that are currently behind the couch and invisible. Take the red artwork that was above the console table and use it up on the wall above the mantel instead of the mirror. Move the tall candlesticks from the hearth to the mantel toward the left end, with the taller one to the outside, and then stand the red plate to the right of that, but so a bit of the plate overlaps the middle height candlestick. Take the two hurricane candlesticks and use them on the dining table. I would release the tiebacks on the drapery. They would look more contemporary and cleaner that way - they are really not full enough to tie back and create the nice draping effect you want for that.

If by "dealt directly" you mean ordered from Thermoworks directly, yes, I have. Since I've never had a problem with any of the tools I've bought from them, I've never had a reason to talk to their customer service. Even if a few of the Thermapens are "refurbished," they still carry the full warranty. For the price, I'd buy one, if I needed one. I've already given them as gifts to everyone I know who might have a use for a Thermapen. Back during turkey cooking season, someone was lamenting the fact that they didn't have an instant read thermometer to check the temp of the turkey. They were reluctant to purchase a Thermapen at full price. I was hopeful they might see this post and plan ahead for the next turkey cooking event.