9 Arduino Compatible Temperature Sensors for Your Electronics Projects

Reading the temperature with the Arduino is a very useful task. There are a wide variety of temperature sensors with different features that you can use in your projects. In this article, we’ve put together a compilation of 9 affordable temperature sensors compatible with the Arduino and other development boards (like ESP32 or ESP8266).

9 Arduino Compatible Temperature Sensors for Your Electronics Projects

1. DHT11

DHT11 Temperature and Humidity Sensor

The DHT11 is a digital temperature sensor that measures temperature and relative humidity.

These sensors contain a chip that does analog to digital conversion and spit out a digital signal with the temperature and humidity. This makes them very easy to use with any microcontroller, including the Arduino.

The following table shows the most relevant specifications of the DHT11 temperature sensor.

DHT11
Communication protocolone-wire
Power supply range3 to 5.5 V
Temperature range0 to 50 ºC +/-2 ºC
Humidity range20 to 90% +/-5%
Sampling period1 second
Arduino librariesAdafruit DHT Library
Adafruit Unified Sensor Library
Where to buy?Check prices

We have a dedicated guide on how to use this sensor with the Arduino:

2. DHT22

DHT22 Temperature and Humidity Sensor

The DHT22 temperature sensor is very similar to the DHT11. It also measures temperature and humidity and the pinout is the same. It is slightly more expensive, but it is more accurate and it has a wider temperature and humidity measurement range.

The following table shows the most relevant specifications of the DHT22 temperature sensor.

DHT22
Communication protocolone-wire
Power supply range3 to 6 V
Temperature range -40 to 80 ºC +/-0.5ºC
Humidity range0 to 100% +/-2%
Sampling period2 seconds
Arduino librariesAdafruit DHT Library
Adafruit Unified Sensor Library
Where to buy?Check prices

Learn how to use the DHT22 temperature sensor with the Arduino with the following tutorial:

3. LM35DZ, LM335, LM34

LM35DZ LM35 Temperature Sensor

The LM35DZ is a linear temperature sensor that comes directly calibrated in Celsius. The analog output is directly proportional to the temperature in Celsius: 10 mV per degrees Celsius rise in temperature. 

This sensor is very similar with the LM335 (calibrated in Kelvin) and with the LM34 (calibrated in Fahrenheit).

The following table shows the most relevant specifications of the LM35 temperature sensor.

LM35DZ
Communication protocolanalog ouput
Power supply range4 to 30 V
Temperature range-55 to 150ºC
Accuracy+/-0.5ºC (at 25ºC)
Interface with ArduinoanalogRead()
Where to buy?Check prices
LM35
LM335
LM34

Learn how to use the LM35DZ, LM335 or LM34 temperature sensors with the Arduino:

4. BMP180

BMP180 barometric pressure sensor

Although the BMP180 is a barometric pressure sensor, it also measures temperature. This is very useful to include in any weather station project.

The following table shows the most relevant specifications of the BMP180 sensor when it comes to temperature reading.

BMP180
Communication protocolI2C
Power supply range1.8 to 3.6V (for the chip) 3.3 to 5V for the module
Temperature range0 to 65ºC
Accuracy+/-0.5ºC (at 25ºC)
Interface with ArduinoAdafruit BME085
Adafruit Unified Sensor Library
Where to buy?Check prices

Check the following tutorial to learn how to use the BMP180 sensor with the Arduino to measure pressure, temperature and estimate altitude:

5. TMP36

TMP36 Analog Temperature Sensor

The TMP36 is an analog temperature sensor. It outputs an analog value that is proportional to the ambient temperature. It is very similar to the LM35 temperature sensor.

Check the TMP36 most relevant specifications on the following table.

TMP36
Communication protocolanalog output
Power supply range2.7 V to 5.5 V
Temperature range-40°C to +125°C
Accuracy+/-1ºC (at 25ºC)
Interface with ArduinoanalogRead()
Where to buy? view on eBay

6. LM75

LM75 Temperature Sensor

The LM75 sensor is another useful temperature sensor. It works via I2C communication, which means that it communicates with the Arduino using the SDA and SCL pins. You can find one of these sensors for approximately $2 (view on eBay).

Take a look at the following table for a summary of the LM75 sensor specifications.

LM75
Communication protocolI2C
Power supply range3.0 to 5.5V
Temperature range-55 to 125ºC
Accuracy+/-2.0ºC (at -55 to 125ºC range))
Interface with ArduinoI2C Library for LM75
Where to buy?view on eBay

7. BME280

BME280 is a barometric sensor that measures temperature and humidity

The BME280 is a barometric sensor that also measures temperature and humidity. It can communicate via I2C or SPI communication protocol and the BME280 module can be powered either with 3.3 or 5V.

The following table shows a summary of the BME280 sensor specifications when it comes to the temperature sensor.

Take a look at the following table for a summary of the LM75 sensor specifications.

BME280
Communication protocolI2C or SPI
Power supply range1.7 to 3.6V (for the chip) 3.3 to 5V for the board
Temperature range-40 to 85ºC
Accuracy+/-0.5ºC (at 25ºC)
Interface with ArduinoAdafruit BME280 library
Adafruit Unified Sensor Library
Where to buy?Check prices

Learn how to use the BME280 with the Arduino to get temperature, humidity and pressure readings:

8. DS18B20

DS18B20 one-wire digital temperature sensor

The DS18B20 temperature sensor is a one-wire digital temperature sensor. This means that it just requires one data line (and GND) to communicate with the Arduino.

Each DS18B20 temperature sensor has a unique 64-bit serial code. This allows you to wire multiple sensors to the same data wire. So, you can get temperature from multiple sensors using just one Arduino digital pin.

The following table shows the most relevant specifications of the DS18B20 temperature sensor:

DS18B20
Communication protocolone-wire
Power supply range3.0 to 5.5V
Operating temperature range-55ºC to +125ºC
Accuracy +/-0.5 ºC (between the range -10ºC to 85ºC)
Arduino librariesDallasTemperature
OneWire
Where to buy?Check price on Maker Advisor

Learn how to use the DS18B20 temperature sensor with the Arduino:

9. Waterproof DS18B20

DS18B20 waterproof one-wire digital temperature sensor

The DS18B20 is also available in waterproof version (read the DS18B20 guide). The wires are protected with PVC which is ideal if you need to measure the temperature of liquids, or if the sensor needs to be exposed to water.

The wiring and specifications are the same as for the normal DS18B20.

Where to buy? Compare the waterproof DS18B20 temperature sensor prices on Maker Advisor.

Wrapping Up

We hope you’ve found this guide useful. We also have guides for other Arduino sensors and modules that you may like:

You may also like our Arduino resources:

Thanks for reading.

P.S. We also recommend reading: 



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35 thoughts on “9 Arduino Compatible Temperature Sensors for Your Electronics Projects”

  1. Hi Rui,
    thank you for this list of temperature sensors.

    Don’t take me wrong, but after reading this page the reader still doesn’t know which sensor to use.

    It would be very helpful if you could add a comparative table, with main characteristics (operating voltage, communication process, etc), and the strong/weak points.

    Like this your readers would have a pretty overview of which sensors suits the best for the project they are preparing.

    This is not a critic, but a suggestion 😉
    Roger

    Reply
  2. hi rui
    thanks a lot for your website
    the most annoying problem is that these sensors are not reliable, i.e. you can not use them in a project and let it work for at least 6 months!
    Am I not right?

    Reply
  3. Hi Rui, I think that DS1621 can be placed in to your list of temperature sensors. This mc not only temperature sensor, it also can be programmable thermostat and support addressing (up to 8 chips on I2C bus). I.e. we only need to set bounds and this mc will keep user defined temperature automatically.

    Reply
  4. Hi Rui,

    I would like to measure temperature on two spots on a diesel engine, coolant (±90°C) with a NCT or LM35 and exhaust gas (±650°C) with a Max667 and K-Type thermocouple connected to a Arduino UNO and display. Any suggestions and links please.

    Regards
    Danie

    Reply
  5. ¿No has probado el AD590? Tiene salida por corriente, 1uA/K para Vcc entre 4 y 30V.
    Perfecto para hacer sonda remota. La serie de sensores de Analog Devices está muy bien.

    Reply
  6. Hii,

    Which one of the above temperature sensor is possible to use for detecting and monitoring breathing as well as more accurate !

    Reply
  7. I greatly appreciate the idea that all temperature sensors were placed on this list. However, what do you guys think would best fit the requirement of high accuracy, low power consumption and long lifetime? I was worried that abdolhamed mentioned that these devices won’t be as good after 6 months or less perhaps. I’ll be using one temperature sensor with a MQ-02 gas and smoke sensor for our wireless sensor network based-fire alarm system project for our thesis. Thank you! 😀

    Reply
  8. I am looking to use a sensor in a project where the sensor will be on the bottom of a wooden object. Which sensor, if any, would be able to have the weight of the wood on top of it? Thank you!

    Reply
    • Hi Liza.
      I’ve never used one, but I think what you need is a load sensor like this one: sparkfun.com/products/10245
      Regards,
      Sara

      Reply
  9. Every project I’ve seen is always about low temperature sensors and never about how to utilize Type K hermocouples and RTDs utilizing the MAX31865 and MAX31855 amplifier boards. An OLED display would also be a great addition to such a project together with WIFI to a home network

    Reply
  10. I would love to build an outdoor temperature probe cabled to an indoor Arduino-based digital readout. Are any of these digital protocols capable of running over long distances? My temperature sensor would be about 10 meters away from the Arduino.

    Reply
  11. I have two waterproof ds1820 sensors running over cat 6 cable. The Arduino is inside and the cable runs into the greenhouse about 5 metres of cable then carries on to a place on the fence at the end of the garden that is always in the shade to get an accurate shade temp reading. This is approx a further 9-10 metres.
    I upload my readings to Cayenne cloud based server with apps to view readings every 3 minutes.
    This has been running stable readings for over 6 months now.
    I did find that joints need a good solder connection and all screened. I doubled up two of the eight available wires for each line. (Ground,data,power)
    I originally used 5volt pin on Arduino and I did find I got some failed to reads now and again usually during very cold nights. The readings also oscillated a few points.
    After experimenting after reading some comments about RF interference etc. I found that it worked better on the 3.3 volt pin. The readings are much smoother and an odd failed to read a month which I filter out.

    Reply

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