When you hear “home scale,” the first thing that comes to mind is the bathroom scale. It is the typical weighing scale that you use when you want to monitor your weight. In some cases, a home scale may also mean the kitchen scale.
Professional scales, on the other hand, are usually associated with commercial use. This includes bakeries and butcher stores to weigh the products they sell. Generally, the scale includes an LCD screen where the weight and the computed price is shown.
How do home scales and professional scales differ?
Let’s see what they are:
1. The Use of the Scale
One of the many factors to consider is the use of the scale. Typically, home scales are used personally, while professional scales are used to cater to customer needs.
Home scales like a simple bathroom scale helps keep your body weight at bay. A kitchen scale helps ensure that you get the right food proportions for a healthier living.
Professional scales used commercially are designed not just to weigh items or products but also to generate their price. A butcher shop or meat specialty store may need a digital scale that will yield the weight, cost and other details about the product the customer is buying.
Let’s say, your customer wants to buy some meat, so, you cut pieces of meat and place them on the platform of the scale. The screen will then show both the weight and the price. In some cases, it will also show the type of meat like sirloin steak, butcher’s tip, rib fillet and so much more.
Similarly, bakeries or pastry shops need a scale that can monitor the weight and stock details of their ingredients. Professional scales help them monitor the availability of their ingredients and make sure that they have the right proportions in their recipes.
2. Capacity
Generally, the capacity of weighing scales is limited to its daily average use. Most bathroom scales can accommodate up to 60 kg while regular kitchen scales can measure up to 5,000g.
Professional scales have larger capacities than household scales. They can usually weigh up to 120 kg or even more, especially those used in butcher shops to weigh bigger chunks and cuts of meat.
Scales used in bakeries also have bigger capacities than your regular home kitchen scales. When you are cooking at home, you need small portions of ingredients to accommodate family meals.
Comparatively, scales used in bakeries and other hospitality establishments need to accommodate bigger amounts of ingredients to cater to the demands of their business. While you only need a cup of flour at home, bakeries need 10 to 20 times more.
3. Accuracy
Accuracy and precision are important factors in weighing scales. Whether household or professional weighing scales, it is important that they provide accurate weight readings. The point of accuracy now depends on whether you are using digital or mechanical weighing scales.
Digital weighing scales offer better accuracy and precision as the weight of the object is readily seen on its LCD. Mechanical or analog scales may have varying results depending on the point of view of the reader.
Accuracy is essential for commercial applications, especially for bakeries and other food shops. Ingredients and food proportions play an important role in their business, so they require the utmost precision professional scales provide.
4. Size and Style
Weighing scales also have different sizes and designs depending on their use. Household scales and those used in retail shops or hospitality establishments are usually compact. The designs are simple which makes them user friendly and easy to clean.
Generally, commercial and industrial weighing scales are larger, so they can accommodate big packaging and bulky products. Most butcher shops use scales such as platform and floor scales. These professional scales are best for large, probably whole, animal products. They are also used for big and wholesale orders of meat.
5. Advanced Features
Advanced features are mostly seen in digital weighing scales. Whether household or professional scales, some are equipped with Bluetooth connectivity. This enables you to easily transfer data from your weighing scale to your computer system. This way, data can be readily accessible and convenient to use.
Many professional scales used in butcher shops, bakeries and other retail businesses can be connected to point-of-sale or POS systems. More advanced scales even have thermal printers. Sellers can readily provide their customers with the receipt of their purchase consisting of the weight, price and other particulars of the sale.
6. Cost
The cost for household scales, whether bathroom or kitchen weighing scales are more affordable compared to professional scales. Generally, they are simple compact devices that cater to conventional weighing needs.
Comparatively, professional weighing scales are used by different levels of businesses and industries. They provide many advanced features that are typically not present in household scales, hence, may also cost more.
The cost for other devices attached to professional scales also adds to their prices. The more advanced the devices attached to the weighing scale, the higher it costs.
These differences can help you factor out the features that you are looking for on a scale. Whether it is a home scale or a professional scale, it sure can help you manage your weight measuring needs.
Contact Meltrons Australia today for the professional scale that suits your needs!