**** Preface**** After about a year of satisfying performance, I hired some window washing help to do my outside cleaning and forgot to tell them to watch out for the thermometer... Needless to say, it got knocked off by a big brush and destroyed. I ordered another and put it in the same place, but this one didn't stick very well and (it turned out) didn't report sensible or accurate readings. Sometimes it would be right on the money and other times it would be ten degrees off. I couldn't calibrate it because it was inconsistent. I think there must have been something in the works that was rubbing or something because it wouldn't go very far below 60º. I rate the first unit I had at 5 stars and the second at 1 star, so the average is 3. No I won't gamble on another one and I'm sorry if my original review caused some people to buy some bad ones. I will leave the original review in place, however, because it has lots of good info about outdoor thermometer placement and other issues. Original Review: 1. Ships in one of the impossible to open, sealed plastic boxes, which seemed inappropriate for such a fragile piece of gear, but I guess it protects the unit "until people try opening it by ripping, stabbing or whatever". I did manage to remove it in one piece and the temp shown was 69º just like in the picture. I didn't worry about that because that's the temp I keep my house in winter, so it could have been accurate. 2. Windexed the upper corner of a living room window (outside) and made sure it was clean and dry. Peeled off the unit from the container and carefully placed it so it was not crooked, smoothed out the bubbles, went inside and smiled because it looked great... it's actually bigger than you would expect. I waited an hour and it still read 69º, so I wondered if I got one of the worthless units so many complained about... so I went to the computer and checked Weather Underground, which told me it was indeed 69º outside. Later that night the computer said it was 60 outside, so I checked the new thermometer and guess what! 60º is what it read! 3. My main worries are whether it will stay there over time, and how I can wash the outside of the window without ruining it. I did not have to calibrate with the white knob on the back, but it looks easy enough if yours is a little off. I like that it has temp in both C and F, since my wife is a foreigner and still learning about our stupid F scale. I think USA is the last holdout on that archaic measuring system. PLACEMENT is very important for accuracy. Put it in a place where direct sun never hits it, but that the air around it ventilates it well. Do not put it on a large pane of glass that gets hot with the sun... that could be many of the reviewers' problem. Also it's good to be sure the rain is not likely to hit it, because the "works" are protected by a plastic box that has holes in it for air movement. I put mine at the top corner of the window as close under the protective eve of the house as possible, and on a side where the morning and evening sun don't shine on that window. Maybe you don't have such a window to place it in, best to think of that before ordering it and complaining. All in all, I could not be more pleased with the nice thermometer I got for just a few dollars. I had one of the big mechanical wall thermometers that fell just a week after buying it, also had wired and wireless digital units that only lasted a short time or were just a pain to make work... I'm a happy customer! No wires or batteries, cheap enough to replace each year and still come out ahead of the digital cost... great product so far. UPDATE after one month: Don't worry, all is still good, looks great and still always right on the money. The thought hit me just now that I'm telling people to put the thing in the top corner of their window so the sun is less likely to hit it and cause erroneous readings, and that I'm probably one of the few people who does not have curtains that block that area of the window... good luck on your decision of where to put it :) I just don't have curtains because I have a nice view out of those particular windows and it's away from the sunshine. 7 MONTH UPDATE: I was spraying the windows today in preparation to wash them and suddenly realized I was spraying (pressure stream) right onto the Thermometer. After cursing my stupidity, I went inside to check and it still seemed OK, and later in the day it was still reading accurately. Maybe I was over-protective... so that's a good thing. Still recommended.
