It's almost always pretty warm, here in South Florida.  But we like to know the exact temperature, both indoors and outdoors, at any given moment.  In addition, it's nice to know if the temperature is on its way up or down, or if it's holding steady. 

That's why we love our Oregon Scientific Indoor/Outdoor Thermometer with Dual Alarm, model RAR188A-BK.  While we hardly ever use the alarms, it's nice to know they're available to us.  But, mostly, we just like knowing the temperature indoors and outdoors.

Oregon Scientific makes many types of indoor/outdoor thermometers, with a wide array of features.  But they all work in basically the same way.  There are two components: a small, plastic transmitter which you place outdoors.  And a receiver with a multi-section display screen, that goes indoors.

The outdoor transmitter takes two AAA batteries, and comes with a stand, as well as a hole for wall mounting.  The object is to place the transmitter outdoors, not in direct sunlight, and within 100 feet of the indoor receiver. 

The receiver takes two AA batteries, and can also stand on its own or be hung on a wall.  The multiple sections display various types of information.  In this model, the top screen shows the outdoor temperature (with a single decimal place) as well as a trend (a linear graph indicating which direction the temperature is moving).  The second screen shows the indoor temperature and trend.  The third screen shows the time.  And the fourth screen is for the calendar, and alarm indicators.

There are buttons on the front of the receiver, and on the back.  With the manual in hand, there's nothing difficult or complicated about setting up the unit.  For instance, to set the date and clock, press the "mode" button until the clock's screen blinks.  Then proceed to set hour, minute, year, month, and day, using the up/down buttons.   You can even choose a language for the day of the week display (English, German, French, Italian, and Spanish).  When you're done, pressing "mode" again will save your changes.  Setting the dual alarms is just as simple.  Finally, choose how you want to see the temperatures, with the F/C button.  Simple, right?

Once your settings are in place, sit back and enjoy what the unit can do!  My husband and I probably glance at the unit 5 times a day, noting the indoor and outdoor temperatures, as well as the trend.  We like to know what's happening outside, and which direction the temperature's going.  It helps us decide whether we want to put on the air conditioning, or open the windows.  And whether to wear a sweater, or a t-shirt.  Unfortunately, this unit doesn't display the relative humidity, but other models do.  If I were to buy a new unit, I'd buy one with that feature.

There's also a "memory" button.  Pressing it will display the maximum and minimum temperatures for both indoors and outdoors since the last time you removed the batteries, or reset the unit by pressing the "reset" button.  

In a well-lit room, the screens are extremely easy to read with large, clear numbers and letters.  There's no backlight, however, so it's fairly useless in low-light conditions.  But at least the buttons are well-marked, and easy to read.  Overall, this is a terrific device that works very well.  The only change I would make is to add a backlight.   At around $25 this unit is very useful to us, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.


Update from July 2010: We decided we couldn't live without a backlight, or the humidty any longer.

Acu-Rite Weather Station 02001

Recommended: Yes