As you may know, there are many unique hobbies, crafts, and other special applications that require the utilization of a digital scale.

Unfortunately, the biggest mistake that most digital scale buyers make is they simply do NOT know which digital scale features they need for their application.

In order to make your digital scale selection FAST & Successful, we have provided you with the following “Digital Scale Checklist”. Simply use this check list to determine which scale features you need for your special application.

1. Design
2. Size
3. TARE Feature
4. Capacity vs. Accuracy
5. AC/DC – Battery and/or 110V
6. Spill Protection
7. Weighing Units (lb, oz, kg, g)
8. Removable Platform
9. Manufacturers’ Warranty
10. Price

DESIGN
Precision scales are available in a variety of designs (i.e. styles and colors). However, for most applications, you should consider style and color a LOWER priority.

SIZE
One of the higher priorities you should note is the scale’s dimensions. As you know, a pocket scale and a high capacity scale will be very different in size. You simply need to select a scale size that meets your unique application.

Your scale’s platform size is also an important feature and should be based on the size of the items to be weighed. However, as you will read in the next section you may be able to increase the size your digital scale’s platforms by using the Tare Feature.

TARE FEATURE
Most digital scales have a valuable feature called TARE. This feature simply removes the weight of any item placed on the platform. You can use this feature to increase the size of the platform and/or place items in a container, and then obtain the exact weight of the items.

Platform Example: If you need to weigh an item that will not stay on your scale’s platform, you can increase the platform size by placing a flat item – such as a piece of plywood – that is larger than the platform and pushing the TARE button. This will remove the weight of the plywood and you will now have a larger weighing platform.

Container Example: Place your container (i.e. box, bowl, cup, etc.) on the scale’s platform that will hold the item(s), then push the TARE button. Your scale’s display will reset to 0 by subtracting the weight of the container. Then simply place the item(s) in the container and your scale will display the actual weight of the item(s) in the container.

If you need to weigh additional items in the same container, you can simply keep pressing the Tare button to reset the scale’s display to zero and then add the next item.

CAPACITY vs. ACCURACY
Before you purchase any scale, you will need to answer the following two (2) questions:

1. What is the maximum amount that you will ever need to weigh (i.e. 100g, 5lb, or 200lb)?
2. What is the minimum increment (i.e. smallest amount) you will measure (i.e. 1g or 0.5oz, 2oz, etc.)?

Once you have determined this information, you will simply need to select a scale that meets your capacity and accuracy requirements.

BATTERY and/or 110V POWER
Digital scales are powered by either battery or 110V Power, some units offer both options. The battery operated scales will be more portable. However, the 110V scale will eliminate the use of batteries.

You will find that most digital scales will operate via battery power. Since digital scales only use a small amount of power and most units have auto shut off, the batteries will keep going and going and going.

SPILL PROTECTION
Will your scale be weighing liquid, powder, or wet substances? If so, we recommend that you purchase a unit with a sealed LCD display and user buttons. This simple spill protection will prevent the substances from leaking into the electronics and voiding the manufacturer’s warranties.

SUGGESTION: If you are looking to save a few dollars, you can also use a clear plastic bag or a sheet of clear plastic to cover the entire scale and prevent damage – however – doing this will probably make reading the display and pushing the buttons more difficult.

WEIGHING Units (lb, oz, kg, g)
Many scales offer both weighing units – pounds/ounces and kilogram/grams. However, you need to make sure that the scale has the weighing units you need.

REMOVABLE PLATFORM
Some scales offer a removable Stainless Steel or glass platform, which allows for FAST & EASY clean-up. If you plan to weigh items that will cause a mess if spilled, then you may wish to consider a scale with a removable platform.

MANUFACTURERS’ WARRANTY
You will discover most manufacturers offer at least a one (1) year warranty. In addition, you will find some who offer 2-5 year warranties.

SPECIAL NOTICE: We highly recommend you AVOID any scale manufacturer that offers a so-called “lifetime warranty”. We have discovered that most of these companies require a substantial fee for processing your warranty claims.

As you know, common sense says… “If it sounds too good to be true – it probably is”.

you are watching what you eat, then it makes perfect sense to use a digital scale to monitor the amount of food you consume. Keeping track of the portion size of your food items will enable you to design a diet program that will be successful.

In addition, many diet cookbooks are utilizing a scale to measure each ingredient to ensure precise measurements and to produce accurate results – guaranteed!

Here a couple of examples:

EXAMPLE #1: Shave four medium sized carrots vs. 200 grams of carrot shavings

How “long and wide” are medium carrots?

EXAMPLE #2: 3 rounded T. vs. 75 grams

Did you know that the abbreviation for tablespoon is T. in some cookbooks and tbsp. in other books? Would you have added 3 rounded teaspoons for the abbreviation T.? How much is in a “rounded” teaspoon anyways?

As you can see, not only will you achieve substantially more accurate recipes using the weight of each ingredient, you will also eliminate any confusion during measurement.

If you are searching for a diet scale that provides additional information on the exact nutritional levels of the food you eat, such as carbohydrates, calories, fat, sodium, etc., than you should click here to read the information regarding Nutritional Scales.

In order to make your diet scale selection FAST & Successful – we have provided you with the following “Diet Scale Checklist”:

1) Design
2) Digital or Manual
3) Capacity vs. Accuracy
4) AC/DC – Battery and/or 110V
5) Spill Protection
6) Weighing Units (lb, oz, kg, g)
7) TARE Feature
Removable Platform
9) Manufacturers’ Warranty
10) Price

DESIGN & SIZE
Diet scales are available in a wide variety of styles, colors, and sizes to match your décor. Most diet scales are fairly small; however, they will vary a little in size. In addition, some more unique designs may have limited features/functions. Since scales are not a major kitchen appliance, you will discover that most designs are fairly simple and functional.

DIGITAL or MANUAL
Since digital scales are extremely accurate and low cost, you will discover that most diet scales are digital. If accuracy is not important and STYLE is, you may find some manual scales will have unique design characteristics (i.e. balance, hanging, and spring scales). Of course, we highly recommend you purchase a digital diet scale for higher accuracy and better results!

CAPACITY vs. ACCURACY
Before you purchase any scale, you will need to answer the following two (2) questions:

a) What is the maximum amount that you will ever need to weigh (i.e. 2lb, 5lb, or 10lb)?
b) What is the minimum increment (i.e. smallest amount) you will measure (i.e. 1g or 0.5oz.)?

Once you have determined this information, you will simply need to select a scale that meets your capacity and accuracy requirements.

BATTERY and/or 110V POWER
Digital scales are powered by either battery or 110V Power and some units offer both options. The battery operated scales will be more portable. However, the 110V scales will eliminate the use of batteries.

Since digital diet scales are usually small, you will find that most diet scales will operate via battery power. Since digital scales only use a small amount of power and most units have auto shut off, the batteries will keep going and going…

SPILL PROTECTION
Unfortunately, in the diet your scale will probably become the victim of a liquid or powder spill. If you decide to purchase a digital scale, we recommend that you purchase a unit with a sealed LCD display and user buttons. This spill protection will prevent the scale from short circuiting and voiding most manufactures warranties. Please note your diet scale does not need to be waterproof.

WEIGHING UNITS (lb, oz, kg, g)
Many diet scales offer both weighing units – pounds/ounces and kilogram/grams. However, you need to make sure that the scale has the weighing units you need.

TARE FEATURE
The tare feature allows you to measure the exact weight of a product in a container. This is a valuable feature if you need to weigh a liquid or powder ingredient. This feature is ONLY available on electronic digital diet scales.

Here is an example of how to use the TARE feature:

Example: Place the “container” that will hold the ingredient on the scale’s platform, then push the Tare button. Your scale’s display will reset to 0 by subtracting the weight of the container. Now, simply place the ingredient in the container and your scale will display its actual weight.

If you need to add more ingredients, just keep pressing the Tare button to clear the scale’s display and then add the next ingredient.

REMOVEABLE PLATFORM
If you have ever spilled something when cooking, you may wish to purchase a scale with a removable platform. Some scales offer a removable Stainless Steel or glass platform, which also allows the user to place food items directly on the platform. Not only is it sanitary, but it allows for FAST & EASY clean-up.

MANUFACTURER’S WARRANTY
You will discover most manufacturers offer at least a one (1) year warranty. In addition – you will find some who offer 2-5 year warranties.

SPECIAL NOTICE: We highly recommend you AVOID any scale manufacturer that offers a so-called “lifetime warranty”. We have discovered that most of these companies require a substantial fee for processing your warranty claims.

As you know, common sense says… “If it sounds too good to be true – it probably is”.

PRICE
Use your checklist to determine what diet scale features are most important to YOU. The price of your kitchen scale will be directly related to the features you select. The GOOD NEWS is that you will find that most consumer diet scales will be priced under $99 (USD).

Now that you have completed your “Diet Scale Checklist”, you will be able to avoid making any mistakes when selecting the BEST scale for your special application!

The BIGGEST mistake digital counting scale buyers make is selecting a scale solely based on a scale’s capacity.

Example: Jim & Jane distribute electronic components. They want to count twelve (12) separate inventory bin locations. Each bin location contains 500-1200 units.

Jim and Jane determined that each component’s unit weight ranges from 0.5 – 7.0 grams (0.001 – 0.015 pounds). In addition, the “total weight” of each inventory bin for these items ranges from 23-27 kilograms (50-60 pounds).

In order to save time counting their entire inventory, Jim & Jane select a 66lb-30K capacity digital counting scale. Since the heaviest “total weight” of any of their inventory bins was 27K (60lb.), they would only need to weigh/count each inventory item once.

After receiving their scale, they counted their inventory. However, they soon discovered that the inventory count for the lighter items was not 100% accurate. They assumed that their parts counting scale was defective.

Unfortunately, the scale was NOT defective, but rather Jim & Jane selected the wrong counting scale based on their need for an accurate count.

Selecting a digital counting scale solely based on its capacity will generally result in a lower count accuracy. This is because with most digital scales, there is a DIRECT relationship between CAPACITY and ACCURACY.

“The higher the capacity – the lower the accuracy”

OR

“The higher the accuracy – the lower the capacity”

Example: A 60 pound capacity scale might be accurate to 1/100 ounce, but a 6 pound scale will be accurate to 1/1000 ounce. As you can see, the 60 pound scale has 10 TIMES the capacity of the 6 pounds scale. However, the 6 pound scale is 10 TIMES more accurate.

Of course there are a few exceptions to this rule. However, you will usually pay a substantially higher price to obtain a scale that offers both “high capacity and high accuracy”.

Please note that if you are going to weigh a variety of items with different unit weights and you decide to select a counting scale based more on capacity than accuracy, then you must understand that your accuracy will be lower on the lighter items.

This is why – if possible – we highly recommend you select a counting scale based on its accuracy. The scale’s accuracy should be based on the “average unit weight” of your item(s).

If you are unsure of the uniformity of each item’s unit weight – then you should perform a sample test. Checking an item’s unit weight for uniformity is very important to ensure the highest accuracy count possible.

To perform a sample test, simply select a random number (at least 5+) of units, weigh each unit, and record the exact weight of each sample unit. Be sure to check the unit weight of each sample by using a highly accurate digital scale – such as a 0.1 gram scale.

If you discover that the weight of each unit varies slightly, then you must determine the AVERAGE unit weight (i.e. the total weight of all items divided by the number of units weighed).

Based on your sample test results per unit, you should purchase a scale with a “minimum accuracy” that is equal to or greater than the AVERAGE unit weight of one (1) item. This will ensure you will achieve the highest counting accuracy.

Example: If your test sample was 10 widgets – which weighed between 0.9g to 1.1g and the average overall weight was 1.0g – then you would purchase a scale with a minimum accuracy of one (1) gram.

Please note that you will never achieve a 100% perfect count if your item’s unit weight varies slightly from unit to unit. However, since using a counting scale will save you a substantial amount of time versus hand counting, a negligible counting error is generally acceptable.

In addition, depending on a counting scale’s features such as the number of preset counting keys, AC/DC power options, accuracy, capacity, etc., you may also discover a wider range of prices.

Although certain features may offer some unique benefits, selecting the correct scale that will provide you with an accurate count should be your top priority!