Moisture Meters

Moisture meters are important instruments and come in a range of different kinds. Whether it be to measure the moisture content of wood if you are cutting down trees to sell as firewood or building materials or moisture probes for measuring the moisture content of soil or compost pile to allow you to analyze whether you need to add more or less water.

Water is so important for carrying nutrients into plants and facilitating the composting process. Too much or too little can cause great problems which is why measuring with these meters can allow you to get your water content just right.

Most moisture meters work as water is a good conductor. When a material such as wood contains water, it allows the moisture meter to put a small voltage into material being tested. The voltage is conducted into the piece of wood through two very sharp pins. These pins are set a specific distance apart from each other and when the test button is pushed the meter can read the resistance between these two pins. The resistance across the material  is then transferred to an indicator.  The moisture meter contains an internal circuitry much like an ohmmeter that reads the conductivity between the two pins. This resistance is then converted into moisture content as a percentage.