Breathalysers

Alcohol Meter - Quick and Effective Test of Alcohol in the Blood

Here on this page, you will find our selection of alcohol meters, which can quickly and effectively test the amount of alcohol in the blood.

It can be a really good idea to acquire an alcohol meter if you want to ensure that you or others you know are not driving with too much alcohol in the blood.

Spirit and blood alcohol driving is often unintentional and can happen to even the best, as you may not process alcohol in the same way as your brother or sister, and therefore, after an hour, you may have burned off a beer without any trace in the blood, while your sister or brother may have only burned off half of the alcohol amount.

Therefore, an alcohol meter can quickly and effectively be used to find out whether you or others are capable of driving a car safely.

Even though you may have only had a very little alcohol and don't feel drunk, you can still have a blood alcohol level that means you may have problems with the authorities if you get stopped.

If you're unsure about what to look for to find the right alcohol meter for your needs, read on below, where we have gathered some useful information about alcohol meters.

5 Things You Should Know About Alcohol Meters

There are many different models of alcohol meters, and it can therefore be difficult to find the right one for your particular needs.

However, there are some things you can keep an eye on when looking for an alcohol meter, and we have gathered some of these below.

#1 - Advantages and Disadvantages of an Alcohol Meter

There are both advantages and disadvantages to using an alcohol meter, and although it can be hard to find the disadvantages, they are still present.

The advantage of using an alcohol meter is that you can get a sense of whether you are able to drive safely or if you should just wait an hour before getting behind the wheel.

The alcohol meter can thus contribute not only to your own safety but also to the safety in traffic for your fellow road users and their loved ones.

Alcohol can be somewhat unpredictable because not everyone gets drunk at the same rate, and in fact, some people can drink quite a lot of alcohol before they become visibly affected.

But just because you don't feel drunk or affected doesn't mean you are capable of driving a car or bike in a safe and responsible manner.

You could still risk blowing into the police's alcohol meter and thus risk a penalty for driving a vehicle under the influence of alcohol.

By having an alcohol meter and using it, you can get an indication of whether you can operate a vehicle safely.

The disadvantages are that alcohol meters can have very large differences in the precision of the measurements, and although the models are generally quite reliable, you cannot always trust them 100%, and therefore you should always leave the car at home if in doubt.

For the same reason, you should familiarize yourself thoroughly with the alcohol meter before it has to stand its first test, so that you take the measurement correctly and thus get the most precise result.

#2 - Precision of the Alcohol Meter

When choosing an alcohol meter, you should prioritize precision and reliability over all other factors, as this can be what saves your life or the lives of others in the worst-case scenario.

The precision is measured based on how precise the measurement is, i.e., how much uncertainty there is in the measurement, and this is often expressed as a ± calculation.

For example, the alcohol meters used by the police have an accuracy of about ± 0.03 up to ±0.05 per mille.

This means that if you blow into the alcohol meter and get 1 per mille, there can be an uncertainty of about ±0.05 per mille, meaning that your actual alcohol content can be either 1.05 per mille or 0.95 per mille, indicating that the alcohol meter is extremely precise.

Many cheaper and smaller alcohol meters only have a precision of about ±0.8 up to 1 per mille, which can make a significant difference regarding whether you should drive your car.

Let's say you blow into the alcohol meter and get 0.3 per mille, which means you are allowed to drive your car in Denmark; if you are unaware of the uncertainty in the alcohol meter, you might safely drive home.

But in fact, the uncertainty of the alcohol meter could mean that you actually have an alcohol content of 1.1, which is a rather serious difference.

Therefore, you should always choose an alcohol meter with the highest accuracy possible, which in practice means the number for accuracy should be as low as possible, so preferably 0.03 rather than 0.3.

#3 - Measuring Range of the Alcohol Meter

The measuring range of the alcohol meter has significance for how high or low an alcohol content it can measure.

As an ordinary private person, you will rarely need an alcohol meter with an upper limit of more than 4 per mille, but the lower limit should be as low as possible.

If the lower limit, for instance, is 0.8 per mille, you cannot measure whether you actually have a legal alcohol level according to Danish law, and you might therefore risk getting a result that says you have 0 per mille when you actually have 0.6 per mille, simply because the alcohol meter cannot measure below 0.8 per mille.

Therefore, such an alcohol meter is not very reliable, and even though the example is exaggerated, there are models where you might not consider that the alcohol level could be above the permitted level, even though you are shown a zero alcohol level.

Therefore, choose an alcohol meter with a lower measurement limit that is as low as possible, preferably 0.1 or below, as it will be considerably more precise than the one in the example.

#4 - Calibration of Alcohol Meters

Some models of alcohol meters require calibration at fixed intervals, and as a private person, this can be quite a demanding process.

However, there are also models that can maintain precision for a certain number of uses, after which you can then buy a new one.

If you use your alcohol meter often, it may be an advantage to choose an alcohol meter that only needs to be calibrated occasionally, rather than having to replace it regularly; this can be a cheaper solution in the long run, even though calibration alcohol meters are often more expensive than the replaceable ones.

Alcohol meters can also be obtained with replaceable measuring cells, which means that you can replace the measuring cell yourself when it’s time, instead of having to replace the entire alcohol meter.

#5 - Size of the Alcohol Meter

The larger an alcohol meter is, the more cumbersome it is to carry, but that said, most alcohol meter models are relatively small and handy.

However, there are models that are compact enough to fit in your pocket, while others are slightly larger but often more precise.

A good alternative could be a medium size that you can perhaps keep in the car's glove compartment, making it easily accessible for you and easy to use before you put the key in the car’s ignition.

Smaller alcohol meters may be somewhat imprecise and are more often exposed to bumps and knocks, which can negatively affect the precision of the alcohol meter’s measuring cell.

All alcohol meters, regardless of price category, are sensitive electronics and should be protected from blows, shocks, drops, and other sudden impacts; therefore, it is best to store the unit where it is protected, but still easily accessible, so a pocket is rarely a good solution.