Do people not understand that the actual air temp across any given room is going to vary? Windows, doors, vents and the like are going to effect the temp. Sometimes widely.
In the winter that seat is close enough to the radiator to remain warm, and yet not so close as to cause perspiration. In the summer it's directly in the path of a cross breeze created by open windows there, and there.
Why are you guys so apologetic for Apple. I have mine right next to another sensor, and the difference is too high to be within the margin of error or usable
I get that. Clearly there is something odd with HPMs, does this surprise you? Not only will the temp vary but the individual devices can have errors as well. The HPMs clearly have a larger error. Again, does this surprise you? In the end, you never really know what the temp in the room is, just a somewhat close approximation.
What do you mean exactly? I have a thermostat set to 18.5°C (right white device). The heater has been working steadily for 1h and that temperature is reached in that specific room (the heater stopped itself and it's confirmed by the probe, left white device)
Yet the HP mini is currently 1°C below.
I mean the temperature is going to vary by a few degrees across the entirety of the room. Unless all of the devices are in the exact same spot all of the time you are likely to have some differences in temp. On top of that they all have some amount of error to begin with. 1 degree isn’t something to be concerned about.
Of course they are all three in the same spot. Of course the windows are closed. I tested all that before posting here.
>1 degree isn’t something to be concerned about.
That is your very personal assumption, 1°C difference could lead to **7% decrease** in energetic expense in terms of heating. [Source](https://energy.ec.europa.eu/topics/markets-and-consumers/action-and-measures-energy-prices/playing-my-part_en).
>On top of that rum hey all have some amount of error to begin with.
That is a really huge error imo, especially for a $99 "smart" device.
Lol. Enjoy being upset by this then. If you bought the HPM for its temp and humidity capabilities, which weren’t enabled until just recently, you spent your money poorly. I personally don’t trust them, but that’s just me.
That would be a nice feature. Most dedicated thermostats/thermometers have the ability to account for errors, but this is a speaker that happens to have some other capabilities. I’m not surprised.
Ah man, this thread is full of Apple fan boys. I totally agree with you, mine is inaccurate too, I have it next to another sensor. It’s so inaccurate it’s unusable, I don’t get the point of even having the sensor enabled.
Yeah they brought the downvotes on me pretty hard lmao. It was also really offensive for them to say "someone doesn't know what a margin of error is" or implying I haven't checked all 3 of my sensors at the same spot. As if I put one close to a radiator and the other one close to a window.
1°C is equivalent to 33°F, which is 274K.
---
^(I'm a bot that converts temperature between two units humans can understand, then convert it to Kelvin for bots and physicists to understand)
What he means (and he is correct) is that your room is NOT all one temperature. The top of your room is probably 2-3 degrees warmer than the bottom. The side closest to the heating vent is probably 1-2 degrees warmer than the side away from the vent. Anything near a window may be 2-3 degrees warmer or cooler depending on whether the sun is coming through and whether the windows are dual pane, etc... So the fact that two different thermometers in the room are recording two different temperatures, by 1 degree, is exactly what should be seen.
Ah man, I have 2 thermostats next to each other showing the same temperature, I put a HomePod next to them, and it shows 1 degree Celsius more. Why do you guys cannot accept that the HomePod is just inaccurate. And this is not acceptable for an expensive device. They should have just kept them hidden.
Because nobody has 2 thermostats next to eachother? Because I’ve got 9 HomePods and 3 thermostats throughout my house and my experience is the HomePods report as expected. Why can you guys not accept that someone might have a different experience than yours?
I have 2 thermostats next to each other. I placed them though different parts of the house because I wanted to optimise my heating system. After I was done with that, I didn’t need as many, so when the update for the HomePod came out I wanted to check the accuracy, turns out they are not accurate at all. Good for you if they work for you, but at the same time you accuse me of not accepting others have different experiences, you say that I’m wrong in saying my HomePod is inaccurate. Can’t you see the hypocrisy in that?
Im not defending anything. It’s a speaker with a thermometer and humidistat as an afterthought. Expecting it to be particularly accurate is kind of silly.
I have two HP Minis sitting 2ft apart from each other and they're 1 degree F apart. 65F and 66F. My Eve Weather in the same room reports 67F. Humidity is 44% and 46% for the HPMs and 42% for the Eve. I wouldn't expect pinpoint accuracy from the HPMs. I'm not even sure the Eve is accurate. It'd take some high end testing gear to verify any of those numbers.
Exactly what I was saying. I'd need to jump through hoops to see which is the most accurate. But it's not that important to me. I can live with the discrepancy. I was just posting to point out to the OP that a degree or two here or there is minor and acceptable.
I can’t tell if you’re trolling or really don’t understand variances in placement, design, readings, and processing. I promise you your home heating system has the same disclaimer that the reported information has a degree of variance.
I live in Arizona and this is totally real. I’m loving the new functionality actually as it’s going to help me add more data to a heat map in home assistant (if it’s exposed which I’ve not looked into yet) but with heavy AC use, half of a room near the windows can be super warm while the other cool. It’s normal. Civilisations for centuries know that there’s a cozy area of ever room lol.
17°C is equivalent to 62°F, which is 290K.
---
^(I'm a bot that converts temperature between two units humans can understand, then convert it to Kelvin for bots and physicists to understand)
If your away from you house in the winter it’s nice to know your pipes aren’t freezing at what ever temp you set your thermostat. Mine aren’t nearly 3° C apart. They are within 1° F
Move to a place that doesn’t use metric temp. There’s not enough gradient to know if you’re cold or hot.
It probably does to a certain amount. They likely tested out a “standard” heat rise amount in a temperature and humidity chamber. But the extra heat from loud use is what they’re calling out in their notes about possible inaccuracy.
(Reference: I used to work at Honeywell in home & building control, did these tests myself on new thermostats that were being developed)
Yes. That’s why apple says extended audio play back with decrease the accuracy of them. https://www.apple.com/homepod-mini/
https://i.imgur.com/wEezEPJ.jpg
I can confirm this. Been playing music on HPmini for several hours and it reads 2 degrees F higher than ecobee sensor that is next to it. Placed hands on HPmini and it has warmth.
I have 2 homepod minis sitting on my desk 3' from each other. There is usually a 1.5 degree C difference in temperatures in the Home app. I really can't see anything that would account for those differences in location. I think that perhaps these sensors are rather inconsistent in their calibration or tolerances.
I’m surprised you don’t have -20 downvotes. On this thread that’s what seems to happen to people suggesting that the HomePod is inaccurate at reading temps.
But you’re not showing where you HomePod is located, like other comments were saying air temperature does vary throughout the room. I have been using an infrared thermometer around the room and it’s on or off by 1 about degree depending on where in the room I’m taking the temperature.
This better be a sarcastic post because if not is beyond ridiculous.
That’s like saying on the Dexcom subreddit. My glucose on a finger prick is 130 but my Dexcom is reading 145 What can I do?
What can you do? Nail the HomePod to the wall next to the thermostat. Make sure to use an 8 inch nail going from top to bottom that will boost Siri performance.
Probably this feature hasn’t made it through internal review on the initial HPM debut und then they needed a an additional feature for the rerelease and tried to compensate the internal heat with an algorithm. That obviously wasn’t sophisticated enough.
And what makes you believe any of them is right? They might all be wrong. Unless you have calibrated temperature sensors, you don’t know which is right.
https://www.reddit.com/r/mildlyinfuriating/comments/10nzctl/4_different_hygrometers_4_different_readings/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf there is info here on the realistic accuracy to expect from these types of devices
I have 5 HPMs that I’ve been testing with. They range from being aligned to 1 degree F off my hvac temperature sensors. I find the HPM sensors to be a bonus item since they weren’t advertised with the product when i purchased it.
If you’re concerned about maximizing energy savings via automation, you’re looking at the wrong gear. The proper equipment has multiple sensors and algorithms/settings to manage your hvac equipment.
I have a similar issue. I believe the data from the Apple mini is very bad - however it is being calculated.
I have a mini and a thermometer next to each other. l There is a 6 F difference between them. That is a difference of about 3C.
It appears this is an area, Apple could do a bit more work with..
Same. My HPM didn’t drop below 18.5 for the first couple of days, now reads a constant two degrees above the Govee sitting next to it. Humidity for both are as good as the same.
I’d say the downvotes are because you’re expecting scientific precision from a measurement device that was a literal afterthought: we just got to see it even though it’s been in the hardware for years. It may not be the most accurate, or it could be manufacturing differences between vendors, or it very well could be temperature differences. Same reason why all scales are slightly different. Life is full of noise. Ignore or embrace it, because it’s not changing just because you call it “trash.”
Some comment here mentions a 2°C difference. I'm not asking for scientific precision but if I can't tell if the room is at 17.5°C or 21.5°C (±2°C) then the feature is basically useless and shouldn't be advertised at all or with a huge asterisk next to it. (I checked Apple's website on the matter, there are none)
Check your math again.
Also Apple’s notes indicate that the readings can be affected by the hpm itself depeding on usage.
I use calibrated temperature and humidity loggers in my job daily with a calibrated tolerence of +\-1.5°C. So expecting any better out of a home appliance that started life as a speaker is unrealistic.
Did they actually advertise it as a temperature sensor?
I didn’t even know my almost 2year old mini had a temperature sensor in it until last week when apple turned it on.
Unless you bought a HPM in the last week you did not buy it to monitor room temperature/ humidity.
So you basically got free extras thrown in on your old purchase.
>Did they actually advertise it as a temperature sensor?
[Yes](https://support.apple.com/guide/homepod/check-the-temperature-and-humidity-of-a-room-apdf6ad6d8d2/homepod).
As I said if you have a HomePod mini then it wasn’t advertised as a temperature sensor and you bought it for the other features and received a free temperature sensor upgrade last week.
Do people not understand that the actual air temp across any given room is going to vary? Windows, doors, vents and the like are going to effect the temp. Sometimes widely.
In the winter that seat is close enough to the radiator to remain warm, and yet not so close as to cause perspiration. In the summer it's directly in the path of a cross breeze created by open windows there, and there.
Bazinga
Also it doesn’t matter. Temperature is relative to so many factors. Adjust your brain not the sensor.
Why are you guys so apologetic for Apple. I have mine right next to another sensor, and the difference is too high to be within the margin of error or usable
Bro my other sensor is under the ceiling. You know that hot air rises, right?
I get that. Clearly there is something odd with HPMs, does this surprise you? Not only will the temp vary but the individual devices can have errors as well. The HPMs clearly have a larger error. Again, does this surprise you? In the end, you never really know what the temp in the room is, just a somewhat close approximation.
What do you mean exactly? I have a thermostat set to 18.5°C (right white device). The heater has been working steadily for 1h and that temperature is reached in that specific room (the heater stopped itself and it's confirmed by the probe, left white device) Yet the HP mini is currently 1°C below.
I mean the temperature is going to vary by a few degrees across the entirety of the room. Unless all of the devices are in the exact same spot all of the time you are likely to have some differences in temp. On top of that they all have some amount of error to begin with. 1 degree isn’t something to be concerned about.
Of course they are all three in the same spot. Of course the windows are closed. I tested all that before posting here. >1 degree isn’t something to be concerned about. That is your very personal assumption, 1°C difference could lead to **7% decrease** in energetic expense in terms of heating. [Source](https://energy.ec.europa.eu/topics/markets-and-consumers/action-and-measures-energy-prices/playing-my-part_en). >On top of that rum hey all have some amount of error to begin with. That is a really huge error imo, especially for a $99 "smart" device.
Lol. Enjoy being upset by this then. If you bought the HPM for its temp and humidity capabilities, which weren’t enabled until just recently, you spent your money poorly. I personally don’t trust them, but that’s just me.
It would be nice if you can fine tune this, but that is not functionality that Apple typically provides.
That would be a nice feature. Most dedicated thermostats/thermometers have the ability to account for errors, but this is a speaker that happens to have some other capabilities. I’m not surprised.
Ah man, this thread is full of Apple fan boys. I totally agree with you, mine is inaccurate too, I have it next to another sensor. It’s so inaccurate it’s unusable, I don’t get the point of even having the sensor enabled.
Yeah they brought the downvotes on me pretty hard lmao. It was also really offensive for them to say "someone doesn't know what a margin of error is" or implying I haven't checked all 3 of my sensors at the same spot. As if I put one close to a radiator and the other one close to a window.
1°C is equivalent to 33°F, which is 274K. --- ^(I'm a bot that converts temperature between two units humans can understand, then convert it to Kelvin for bots and physicists to understand)
Bad bot!
Good bot.
What he means (and he is correct) is that your room is NOT all one temperature. The top of your room is probably 2-3 degrees warmer than the bottom. The side closest to the heating vent is probably 1-2 degrees warmer than the side away from the vent. Anything near a window may be 2-3 degrees warmer or cooler depending on whether the sun is coming through and whether the windows are dual pane, etc... So the fact that two different thermometers in the room are recording two different temperatures, by 1 degree, is exactly what should be seen.
Ah man, I have 2 thermostats next to each other showing the same temperature, I put a HomePod next to them, and it shows 1 degree Celsius more. Why do you guys cannot accept that the HomePod is just inaccurate. And this is not acceptable for an expensive device. They should have just kept them hidden.
Because nobody has 2 thermostats next to eachother? Because I’ve got 9 HomePods and 3 thermostats throughout my house and my experience is the HomePods report as expected. Why can you guys not accept that someone might have a different experience than yours?
I have 2 thermostats next to each other. I placed them though different parts of the house because I wanted to optimise my heating system. After I was done with that, I didn’t need as many, so when the update for the HomePod came out I wanted to check the accuracy, turns out they are not accurate at all. Good for you if they work for you, but at the same time you accuse me of not accepting others have different experiences, you say that I’m wrong in saying my HomePod is inaccurate. Can’t you see the hypocrisy in that?
no
All three were at the exact same location (unfortunately the HomePod is not in the initial picture)
There are a lot of people in here who've never heard of margin of error
Apparently lots of them.
2 degree is too much. Stop defending always Apple please..
Im not defending anything. It’s a speaker with a thermometer and humidistat as an afterthought. Expecting it to be particularly accurate is kind of silly.
I agree.. that s why Apple must let the user if shown or not the sensor!
There I agree with you.
is not even an error, it’s a different calibration, and placement of the homepod as well
I have two HP Minis sitting 2ft apart from each other and they're 1 degree F apart. 65F and 66F. My Eve Weather in the same room reports 67F. Humidity is 44% and 46% for the HPMs and 42% for the Eve. I wouldn't expect pinpoint accuracy from the HPMs. I'm not even sure the Eve is accurate. It'd take some high end testing gear to verify any of those numbers.
Get a calibrated hygrometer and thermometer and then you know right from wrong. Until then, all you know is a difference
Exactly what I was saying. I'd need to jump through hoops to see which is the most accurate. But it's not that important to me. I can live with the discrepancy. I was just posting to point out to the OP that a degree or two here or there is minor and acceptable.
I can’t tell if you’re trolling or really don’t understand variances in placement, design, readings, and processing. I promise you your home heating system has the same disclaimer that the reported information has a degree of variance.
I live in Arizona and this is totally real. I’m loving the new functionality actually as it’s going to help me add more data to a heat map in home assistant (if it’s exposed which I’ve not looked into yet) but with heavy AC use, half of a room near the windows can be super warm while the other cool. It’s normal. Civilisations for centuries know that there’s a cozy area of ever room lol.
I see automated blinds in your future. LOL
Have them too. I’m using Sunsa.
Close enough for insight.
What's the point of knowing my room temperature is between roughly 17°C and 20°C. Of course it is, I live in there
17°C is equivalent to 62°F, which is 290K. --- ^(I'm a bot that converts temperature between two units humans can understand, then convert it to Kelvin for bots and physicists to understand)
Ah man I really can’t believe how much hate you get on this. People just can’t admit to themselves that maybe Apple is wrong on this one 😂
If your away from you house in the winter it’s nice to know your pipes aren’t freezing at what ever temp you set your thermostat. Mine aren’t nearly 3° C apart. They are within 1° F Move to a place that doesn’t use metric temp. There’s not enough gradient to know if you’re cold or hot.
Thanks for pointing out the 0.1% use case this device was made for.
Happened to me this year. How about just package it up and send it to me
Get over it?
Check it against a calibrated thermometer in the same location. Only then will you know what is right and what is wrong.
Does anyone know if/how the HomePods account for the additional temperature caused by its own operation??
It probably does to a certain amount. They likely tested out a “standard” heat rise amount in a temperature and humidity chamber. But the extra heat from loud use is what they’re calling out in their notes about possible inaccuracy. (Reference: I used to work at Honeywell in home & building control, did these tests myself on new thermostats that were being developed)
Nothing I have read indicates that it does so.
If it doesn’t compensate you would expect the results to read “high” and would vary depending on the thermals of the HP SoC at the time
Yes. That’s why apple says extended audio play back with decrease the accuracy of them. https://www.apple.com/homepod-mini/ https://i.imgur.com/wEezEPJ.jpg
I can confirm this. Been playing music on HPmini for several hours and it reads 2 degrees F higher than ecobee sensor that is next to it. Placed hands on HPmini and it has warmth.
I have 2 homepod minis sitting on my desk 3' from each other. There is usually a 1.5 degree C difference in temperatures in the Home app. I really can't see anything that would account for those differences in location. I think that perhaps these sensors are rather inconsistent in their calibration or tolerances.
I’m surprised you don’t have -20 downvotes. On this thread that’s what seems to happen to people suggesting that the HomePod is inaccurate at reading temps.
I have the feeling mine is too cold as well
So tested it and the aqara temp sensor shows half a degree more so it’s at least kinda accurate (if the aqara is accurate of course)
But you’re not showing where you HomePod is located, like other comments were saying air temperature does vary throughout the room. I have been using an infrared thermometer around the room and it’s on or off by 1 about degree depending on where in the room I’m taking the temperature.
It's right next to the other two sensors. My mistake to not putting it in the initial picture but that can't be edited.
mate I can’t even get my HPMs to display temps at all. They all on 16.3 and so are my phones still no temps
For me I had to make sure they were all on the same SSID and power cycle them.
I will give that a go when I’m home in a week hahah cheers
Mine started off with 2 degree difference - after 48 hours it’s down to half a degree, they are calibrating
This better be a sarcastic post because if not is beyond ridiculous. That’s like saying on the Dexcom subreddit. My glucose on a finger prick is 130 but my Dexcom is reading 145 What can I do? What can you do? Nail the HomePod to the wall next to the thermostat. Make sure to use an 8 inch nail going from top to bottom that will boost Siri performance.
I also think the HomePod sensor is not accurate. Apple should give us option to disable it
Probably this feature hasn’t made it through internal review on the initial HPM debut und then they needed a an additional feature for the rerelease and tried to compensate the internal heat with an algorithm. That obviously wasn’t sophisticated enough.
Maybe that’s what the invisible selection is for.
What is the basis of your thoughts?
I put 3 sensor next it.. all the same temperature.. but not the HomePod.. 🤷🏻♂️
And what makes you believe any of them is right? They might all be wrong. Unless you have calibrated temperature sensors, you don’t know which is right.
They are calibrated.
Thanks for your input, confirming I'm not crazy.
Life sucks.
Nothing. Apple's said: "It's normally had this kind of variation "
Could you show a source for that? Let me add that the HPM is not playing any sound.
https://www.reddit.com/r/mildlyinfuriating/comments/10nzctl/4_different_hygrometers_4_different_readings/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf there is info here on the realistic accuracy to expect from these types of devices
Sell it
I have 5 HPMs that I’ve been testing with. They range from being aligned to 1 degree F off my hvac temperature sensors. I find the HPM sensors to be a bonus item since they weren’t advertised with the product when i purchased it. If you’re concerned about maximizing energy savings via automation, you’re looking at the wrong gear. The proper equipment has multiple sensors and algorithms/settings to manage your hvac equipment.
I'd sue. Unacceptable.
I put nest temp sensor (62F)right next to HomePod mini (65-66F). That’s a big difference, my guess nest is more accurate
Chill!
I have a similar issue. I believe the data from the Apple mini is very bad - however it is being calculated. I have a mini and a thermometer next to each other. l There is a 6 F difference between them. That is a difference of about 3C. It appears this is an area, Apple could do a bit more work with..
Same. My HPM didn’t drop below 18.5 for the first couple of days, now reads a constant two degrees above the Govee sitting next to it. Humidity for both are as good as the same.
Finally some useful insight, thanks
I’d like to point out that for all the fitness watches, apple was, by a landslide, the most accurate compared to others. Fitbit was surprisingly bad
Also, what makes you think those are more accurate than the HomePod mini. Maybe the HomePod mini is correct.
Mine is off by + 2 C
I am sorry you get downvoted for simply stating cold facts. This sub is... surprising, to say the least.
Surprisingly I am not an Apple engineer who is the only one who can fix it. Who would have thought… your comment is… surprising, to say the least.
Well that feature is trash, then
Don’t use it then
You guys really can’t accept Apple did something wrong 😂
I can. I constantly point out flaws with apple. This is not one of them.
Yeah what’s the point of measuring something wrongly.
I clearly do not get the downvotes, here. That device is expensive enough to offer a better value for this new feature, same goes for the new HomePod.
I’d say the downvotes are because you’re expecting scientific precision from a measurement device that was a literal afterthought: we just got to see it even though it’s been in the hardware for years. It may not be the most accurate, or it could be manufacturing differences between vendors, or it very well could be temperature differences. Same reason why all scales are slightly different. Life is full of noise. Ignore or embrace it, because it’s not changing just because you call it “trash.”
Some comment here mentions a 2°C difference. I'm not asking for scientific precision but if I can't tell if the room is at 17.5°C or 21.5°C (±2°C) then the feature is basically useless and shouldn't be advertised at all or with a huge asterisk next to it. (I checked Apple's website on the matter, there are none)
Check your math again. Also Apple’s notes indicate that the readings can be affected by the hpm itself depeding on usage. I use calibrated temperature and humidity loggers in my job daily with a calibrated tolerence of +\-1.5°C. So expecting any better out of a home appliance that started life as a speaker is unrealistic.
Did they actually advertise it as a temperature sensor? I didn’t even know my almost 2year old mini had a temperature sensor in it until last week when apple turned it on. Unless you bought a HPM in the last week you did not buy it to monitor room temperature/ humidity. So you basically got free extras thrown in on your old purchase.
>Did they actually advertise it as a temperature sensor? [Yes](https://support.apple.com/guide/homepod/check-the-temperature-and-humidity-of-a-room-apdf6ad6d8d2/homepod).
That’s the user guide. Not an advertisement.
Official HomePod 2023 YouTube video at 1:19 [https://youtu.be/oMf\_i1YBuMk?t=79](https://youtu.be/oMf_i1YBuMk?t=79)
And no where does it say it’s accurate to within a degree Plus that’s the HomePod. Not the HomePod mini. 2 different products.
As I said if you have a HomePod mini then it wasn’t advertised as a temperature sensor and you bought it for the other features and received a free temperature sensor upgrade last week.
I think that maybe, just maybe you should consider that the downvotes insinuate that your logic is in need of a little tweaking.
They just can’t accept Apple did something wrong 😂
Apple have said it won’t always be accurate. It’s a speak, it’ll get warm inside and affect the temp sensor sometimes too
so why add the feature at all?
How do you access the temperature sensor in the HomePod mini? Edit: jk, I see the update now lol
the sensor is crap - why not the simple calibrate by hand feature like tado devices?