November 26, 2021

The Garmin Tempe temperature sensor

Update -- as of late 2025, Garmin has discontinued the Tempe. It was a nice little ANT+ protocol temperature sensor that worked from a coin battery and that I carried clipped to my pack. It weighed perhaps 10 grams and kept track of 24 hour min and max temperatures, which I found very useful. I still have mine and will try to avoid losing it.

Maybe this is a blessing in disguise? You can shop for a bluetooth sensor, pair it with your phone and with the right app get temperature graphs as will as min and max data. You won't have the temp data displayed on your garmin watch or GPS device though. One option is called the "Ruuvi" and sells for $50 on Amazon. Get one of these for $13 if you want to go that route:

I bought one of these in November of 2021 and paired it with my Instinct watch. This yields a positively miserable user experience, but it works with some severe limitations you need to understand.

Subsequently I paired it with my Garmin 66i GPS unit and it works beautifully with that device. It is all about the software in the device that talks to the Tempe.

The device has a surprisingly long range. I am receiving data right now with the data in another room about 60 feet away. There is certainly no problem hanging the device on a pack or outside of a tent.

The Tempe itself records the 24 hour maximum and minimum temperature. This is very nice because if you have it paired with your handheld GPS and have the GPS turned off during the night, you can turn it on in the morning and it will display the overnigh low temperature from the Tempe. This is wonderful and a piece of data I am always eager to have.

Have any comments? Questions? Drop me a line!

Tom's home page / tom@mmto.org