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Hal's Porch Owl Thermometer
Hal's Porch Owl Thermometer
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Hal's Porch Owl Thermometer
Hand-Cut in an Old Smokehouse in Coshocton County, Ohio
Hal Sutter, seventy-four, is the son and grandson of tinsmiths who made the thermometers a whole town trusted, and he has spent 36 seasons writing down what every owl he built actually read. His father made the signs on the feed-store wall. Hal builds the one that belongs outside your kitchen window.
154 left · final run · no restockleft
All those years I thought it was about the dial. The dial isn't the job. Where it hangs is the job. Put the best thermometer in the world in the sun and it'll lie to you.
What arrives at your door
Why this one gets trusted, and the pretty one in the flower bed doesn't
A thermometer outside your window has two jobs: be right, and get looked at. The plain white dial is right and ends up behind the shed. The painted cardinal is lovely and reads 120 on an 85-degree day. This one is built to do both. "Nobody was selling both. So I built both."
In full sun, any thermometer reads 10 to 15 degrees high, often more. That is why official stations keep theirs in the shade. A hook on the back lets her hang on a porch post, a shady fence or the north wall, where she reads within a couple of degrees of the real air.
A 4.3-inch cream face with big, bold black numbers inside a 6.4-inch dial. It is easy to read from the porch or patio, or through the kitchen window when she hangs on the fence just outside. "If you have to walk out to it with your glasses on, it's the wrong thermometer."
Inside is a bimetal coil, the same trick a clockmaker used in 1759 to keep a ship's clock true at sea. There is no battery to die on the first cold night, and no solar panel, app, Wi-Fi or signal to lose. "The only thing that makes her work is the weather."
Step the foot bar all the way down and she stays put in the bed. In a windy spot, or when the ground is frozen, slide the stake off and hang her instead. "Half in the ground is how things blow over."
Copper feathers and a turquoise wing, shaped by hand to look as if she has hung there for years, so a little weather only adds character. "The plastic ones fade. She's meant to look like she's been out there since your grandmother's day."
"Almost nobody realizes where the number on their phone comes from. Most of it traces back to airport sensors, often twenty miles or more away, mounted five feet over open grass, in the shade, well away from any pavement, and then spread across a forecast square more than a mile wide. Two official stations in the same town can disagree by five to seven degrees, and a low spot in a yard can run fifteen degrees colder. So every season I tell our gardeners the same thing: keep a thermometer where your plants actually live, and keep it out of direct sun. A thermometer in the flower bed in full sun isn't measuring the air. It's measuring itself. Hang one in the shade near the house and you'll know when to bring the pots in, when to cover the beds and when the seedlings can go out, from your own yard rather than an airport."
Margaret Ellison, Master Gardener
Ohio Valley Garden Circle
Perfect for
Quality you can check yourself
- Hand-cut copper and turquoise: feathers shaped by hand, finished to weather. It's not painted plastic that fades to blue after two summers.
- A face you can actually read: bold black numbers on a 4.3-inch cream face, not thin print on a busy picture.
- Nothing to charge: no battery, no solar panel, no app, no Wi-Fi. Turn her over and look, because there is nothing there to die.
- A hook as well as a stake: made to hang in the shade, not only to stand in the sunniest bed in the yard.
- Final run, built by hand: every owl is cut and finished by Hal himself in Coshocton County. Once the smokehouse shelves are clear, there is no restock and no successor.
Season
Money-Back Guarantee, No Deadline
Nothing about a garden happens quickly, so the guarantee is not tied to a clock. Hang her up and live with her. If the owl is not everything you hoped, whether it's the copper, the dial, the finish or the weight of the thing, send it back for a full refund. One email is all it takes, and US shipping is free.
A note on handmade variation and honest readings: Every owl is cut, shaped and finished by hand, so the patina, the hammer marks and the exact shade of copper and turquoise vary from one to the next. That is the mark of real handwork, not a fault. On readings: every outdoor thermometer reads high in direct sun, this one included. For a true air temperature, hang her in the shade: on a porch post, a shady fence or the north side of the house, ideally four to six feet up and away from brick, pavement, the air-conditioner and the dryer vent. Give her about three hours to settle after you first put her out. She shows the air temperature where she hangs, not the soil temperature and not the "feels like" figure. The numbers read comfortably from a porch or patio; nobody can read a dial this size from across a yard, and we won't pretend otherwise. When the ground freezes or the wind picks up, slide the stake off and hang her. To clean, wipe the dial with a soft damp cloth only, never with solvents.
Product details
| Material | Hand-cut metal body with copper feathers and turquoise wing, weathered by-hand finish |
| Finish | Copper and turquoise patina, made to look aged from day one; no two exactly alike |
| Set contents | 1 owl thermometer · garden stake with foot bar · hanging hook with screw · Porch Card |
| Dimensions | Approx. 41 in tall on the stake × 10 in wide (105 × 26 cm) |
| Dial | 6.4 in (16 cm) dial with a 4.3 in (11 cm) cream face and bold black numerals |
| Scale | −40 to 140 °F, with −40 to 60 °C on the inner ring |
| Mechanism | Bimetal coil: no batteries, no solar, no app, no Wi-Fi |
| Mounting | Stake it in a bed (step the foot bar flush) or slide the stake off and hang it on a post, fence or wall |
| Weight | Approx. 2 lb (0.9 kg) |
| Reading distance | Easy to read from a porch or patio, or through a window close by |
| Best spot | In the shade: porch post, shady fence or north wall, about 4–6 ft up, away from brick, pavement and A/C units |
| Care | Almost none. Wipe the dial with a damp cloth; hang her in winter when the ground is frozen |
| Made | Hand-built by Hal Sutter in Coshocton County, Ohio |
| Availability | Final run: 154 only, no restock · 4.9 ★ from 890 reviews |
The Final Series
The Final Series
Some things are made by one pair of hands, for decades, and then never again.
The Final Series is the last work of craftspeople who are putting down their tools. No factory, no successor, no second batch. Just the final pieces from their workshops, each one shaped by a lifetime of getting it right.
When they're gone, they're gone.
Free US Shipping
Free US Shipping
Free shipping across the United States
- Delivery time: 3–5 business days
- Each calendar is carefully packed and ships from the US
- Printed from original oil paintings on thick, writable paper
- 30-day money-back guarantee — just email support@backroad-goods.com
Frequently Asked Questions
Got a question? Here’s how to reach us.
Got a question? Here’s how to reach us.
Email us anytime at support@backroad-goods.com. We answer Monday–Friday 9am–5pm and Saturday 10am–3pm (ET) — whether it’s about your order, a gift, or just to say hello.
Can I return it if it’s not for me?
Can I return it if it’s not for me?
Of course. 30-day money-back guarantee. Hang it in your kitchen, and if it simply isn’t right for you, email support@backroad-goods.com within 30 days for a full refund. No questions asked.