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Thermometer Orientation

You might try temperature sensors. Radio Shack offered a volt meter with a thermometer probe.

PE
 
The accuracy of electronic meters varies vastly. I only know of one affordable meter that can cope with fluid stem meters. But a major advantage of electronic meters is that they are not clumsy (compared to classic lab thermometers) and that there is no risk of breaking a glass tube.
 
Lab grade thermometers have an immersion line inscribed on the glass. This is usually about 2" from the bulb. It indicates how far the thermometer should be immersed.
 
  • AgX
  • Deleted
  • Reason: Response to deleted post.
Gerald C Koch said:
Lab grade thermometers have an immersion line inscribed on the glass. This is usually about 2" from the bulb. It indicates how far the thermometer should be immersed.
Click to expand...

Maybe that is the case in th USA. Looking at the offer of a major german manufacturer, the indicators for immersion debth vary strongly, if there are indicators at all. The majority of their 0.5° and 0.1°ones have to be immersed completely, but one only learns that by looking into their catalog.
 
doesn't matter as long as you can look straight at the scale.
 
The issue of how much to immerse the stem aside, the OP's question of orientation remains. All the stem thermometers I know are designed for vertical and in feew cases for 45° inclination.

However the gravitational force on the stem is by far less than the thermic expansion force on the bulb, so orientation does should not matter.

Though it would be a fine Sunday afternoon endeavour to proof that...
 
Given what a column a few inches high of even mercury, never mind alcohol weighs, I wouldn't expect vertical vs. upside down to have a noticeable effect on the reading in a lab type thermometer -- perhaps one degree, more likely less, in the range we use (between 20 and 38 C).
 
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