I am building a custom enclosure for a 3D printer. I need to read the ambient temperatures from within the chamber to control the speed of a convecting fan. I was planning on using an array of NTC based thermistors but I am not sure if a RTD based sensor would be better instead. I am familiar with NTC thermistors, they are cheap and easy to use, but I usually see them in applications where direct contact is used. RTD based sensors (correct me if I'm wrong) seem like they are more accurate and better for ambient readings, but also more expensive.
Also with the NTC thermistor, I'm worried mounting it the enclosure will skew the results since the leads would conduct heat off the acrylic material.
Would it be better to use say, 4 NTC based thermistors installed at various heights and calculate the average temperature between them? or just use a single high quality RTD sensor mounted on the top of the enclosure instead?
