The need for low-cost temperature logging devices in the cold-chain industry has led to the development of silicon-based instruments that do not need calibration. Traditional temperature monitoring devices (using thermistors or thermocouples) must be calibrated during final production and assembly and recalibrated over the lifetime of the product in order to maintain accuracy.

Besides adding to the cost to manufacture these types of instruments, they also add to the complexity of maintaining your cold-chain standard operating procedures by including periodic quality and calibration checks. Let’s examine some of the differences in more detail.

Thermistors
Thermistors are composed of several chemical elements compressed into a ceramic or polymer. These sensors are used in many temperature monitoring devices. They exhibit a higher rate of measurement drift as compared to silicon-based temperature sensors. For a thermistor, drift occurs over time from its initial state, resulting in a loss of accuracy. Continual recalibration is required over the life of the product.

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