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Temperature Sensors

Thermistors, RTDs, thermocouples and digital ICs — how each measures temperature.

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SensorRangeAccuracyNotes
NTC thermistor−50 to 150 °C±0.5–1 °Ccheap, non-linear, very sensitive
RTD (Pt100/Pt1000)−200 to 600 °C±0.1–0.3 °Cvery stable, linear, needs excitation
Thermocouple (type K)−200 to 1250 °C±1–2 °C~41 µV/°C, needs cold-junction compensation (MAX31855)
LM35 / TMP36−40 to 150 °C±0.5–2 °Canalog, 10 mV/°C
DS18B20, BME280−55 to 125 °C±0.5 °Cdigital (1-Wire, I2C)

NTC thermistors follow the Beta equation:

1T=1T0+1Bln⁡RR0\frac{1}{T} = \frac{1}{T_0} + \frac{1}{B}\ln\frac{R}{R_0}

with TT in kelvin, R0R_0 the resistance at T0T_0 = 298.15 K (25 °C).

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