What Thermo-Hygrometers Can Do

Wood takes on and gives off moisture as the relative humidity (RH) around it changes, so it’s wise to keep checking the moisture content (MC) of wood flooring. It’s also important to measure RH during installation and afterward. That way, everyone involved can keep an eye on the flooring as it reaches its equilibrium moisture content (EMC), the point where it’s in balance with its environment.

There are many quality control tools available to homeowners and contractors. Wagner Meters makes wood moisture meters for wood species from all over the world. With the right tools, you can measure the MC of the wood subfloor and the wood flooring, and the RH of the room, as the floor reaches its target MC. That target depends on where you are. For interior wood, the USDA Wood Handbook puts the average at about 8% for most of the US, lower in the dry Southwest and higher in damp southern coastal areas. Moisture meters measure the wood, and thermo-hygrometers measure the air, both its temperature and its RH.

What Thermo-Hygrometers Can Do

Thermo-hygrometers are best suited for measuring temperature and RH in a room, especially rooms where those conditions need to be closely controlled. Some are mounted to monitor conditions continuously, for example in spaces with heat-producing equipment such as computer servers or boilers. Besides tracking the conditions a wood floor is exposed to, a thermo-hygrometer can help make sure working conditions are safe and comfortable for the people in the room.

Spot checks of the flooring itself are just as important. Wagner Meters makes a range of wood moisture meters for specific applications and for general contracting. Every wood species responds to changes in RH, so wood flooring needs to be checked during and after installation as conditions change. Spot checks after installation give builders and owners added confidence.

Thermo-hygrometers can be used short term or long term. Wagner Meters offers the TH-200 Pen-Style Thermo-Hygrometer for checking conditions during wood flooring installations. It measures temperature, relative humidity, and dew point, and it can hold readings and show minimum values. The pen-style design is easy to carry, and the meter can be set on a table or counter to check conditions in a room.

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What Thermo-Hygrometers Can’t Do

Thermo-hygrometers can’t fix existing MC problems in wood flooring. MC problems can arise if the flooring wasn’t dried to the right MC for where it’s being installed, if installers paid little attention to the flooring’s MC before and during installation, if the room’s RH wasn’t monitored before and during installation, or if the RH changes after installation.

A pen-style thermo-hygrometer also measures conditions only where you take the reading. It can’t tell you the RH throughout an entire building, but you can use it to check each room. Since indoor RH changes with the seasons, a thermo-hygrometer will show those changes in a room’s temperature and RH. It won’t tell you how those changes are affecting the wood flooring itself, which is why it works best alongside a wood moisture meter.

Thermo-hygrometers are a worthwhile tool for wood flooring because they help you make better quality control decisions. Use them as tools, not as fixes for poorly installed wood flooring.

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Ron Smith

As Sales Manager for Wagner Meters, Ron has more than 35 years of experience with instrumentation and measurement systems in different industries.  In previous positions, he has served as Regional Sales Manager, Product and Projects Manager, and Sales Manager for manufacturers involved in measurement instrumentation.

Last updated on October 9th, 2026