Pulse rate monitor accuracy?

[Dela]

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone knew how accurate the calorie count is for pulse rate monitors?

I ask because at my class tonight, a woman there had a pulse rate monitor, I would say she weighs around 10 pounds less than me, and her burn came in around 800 calories for the 60 minute class, I have the GoWear fit, and no matter how hard I push, how much I sweat, I have never exceeded 470 calories.

So another question, if these pulse rate monitors are accurate, can two people, at relatively similar weights, exerting similar effort in the same class, have such a huge difference in calorie burn?

 

[ddj]

My spin bike has a computer that counts calories using my polar hr monitor. Ironically, my polar and the bike computer calculate my calories differently. Both readings are coming from the same hr monitor, but the bike always shows a much higher calorie count. The higher the count, the greater the disparity becomes. They have the same age and weight info, but my hr monitor has my gender and height, and the bike computer does not. That's the only thing I can come up with to explain the difference.

I have no idea what these two units use to calculate calorie burn, but they obviously aren't using the same info since they are both supposedly calculating my effort.

I don't know the answer to your questions, but I wanted to show you how two different pieces of equipment can be so different. It makes me think I can't trust the readings at all.