Test Equipment and Measurement Instrument Blog

Temperatures are rising, and as they do, humidity levels rise right alongside them. Humidity can wreak havoc with a lot of things: wood flooring, certain electronics, and even hairstyles. But did you know that humidity can affect your moisture meter as well?

Rest easy: you don’t have to put your moisture meter away for the entire summer. You can still use it year-round and not worry once about inaccurate readings. However, there are steps you should take to be sure that you will have a functioning, high-quality moisture meter for years to come.

Whether you are installing brand-new drywall or checking the existing drywall in a structure that has been compromised by moisture, you want to be sure you are accurate and thorough in how you take readings.

When drywall gets wet, or has absorbed too much moisture, it loses its structural integrity and becomes soft and weak - not adjectives that anyone wants associated with their walls. Another risk with too much moisture is mold. Moldy walls or moldy drywall is not only unsightly, but dangerous.

The main goal of using a moisture meter is to gather information with precision and accuracy. If things start to go awry, it can cause major issues when you depend on obtaining reliable, instantaneous results.

As far away as Japan and Bangladesh, our Riceter has had a major impact on the agricultural world since its creation in 1961. It has taken farming from an art to a science, providing usable data that removes many of the once immeasurable challenges of farming.

If you are serious about woodworking, you know the importance of properly-dried wood. In order to be usable for a construction project, wood must be kiln or air-dried to a moisture level of 19%. But wood that is intended for indoor use— that is, wood intended to be used for woodworking— must have a moisture content level that is less than half that amount, at only 9%.

A moisture meter is only as good as its readings. If your readings are inaccurate, it can create poor final results, and lots of headaches for you. So how can you be sure that you’ve taken an accurate reading? What can you do to safeguard yourself from an incorrect reading, and the challenges that follow?

If you’ve purchased a Kett moisture meter, you know they are built to last - in fact, there are some of our meters out in the field today that are fully operational and running smoothly after several decades of use, a fact of which we are incredibly proud.

When Kett developed the Riceter over 70 years ago, it was created for farmers in the fields and rice paddies of Japan, empowering them with a portable device that could ensure the quality of their crops. It revolutionized the way moisture could be measured in rice and grains, providing a more predictable, stable way to successfully harvest rice and other grain crops.

Call us biased, but we think there’s something undeniably thrilling about our near infrared (NIR) moisture meters. Don’t believe us? The game-changing capabilities of our NIR meters will have an impact on your company that will have you feeling just as enthusiastic as our team here at Kett does about them.

Using a moisture meter removes so much guesswork and approximation from daily tasks. With accurate readings and reliable tools like the ones we offer, it’s easy to have more uniform results in everything from grain storage to papermaking to woodworking, and even food packaging and beauty products manufacturing.