I had many of the accurite ones from walmart. had them side by side and got different readings from each one. I agree, use a temp gun. incubating eggs isn't done at only one temp. it's nice to have your incubator setup with the same temps from top to bottom. if you can't get this, as long as you're temps fall into a range that you feel good with, they will all hatch. the ones that are a little cooler might take a day or 2 longer. be careful with the fan. you might be ok with it now. but in august if temps get hotter outside, and the air temp outside your incubator rises. the inside temps may go higher than what you want with the cause being the fan generating heat. happen to me, but my fan is on a dimmer and my fan could be slowed down using the dimmer making less heat. my probe is center of my incubator, not on the heat tape. I feel I can get better control of my temps this way. I read my air temps not tape temps. good luck don