The aim of this work is to present a low-cost alternative for distance measurement in high-temperature applications by studying the effect of temperature on the HC-SR04 distance sensor. An experimental apparatus has been built with a temperature sensor to allow the acquisition of measurements of different distances between the HC-SR04 and a bulkhead at different temperatures (between $30^o$C and $100^o$C). From the experiments, an error analysis was carried out by comparison with the reference scale, where an increase in the measurement error was observed with temperature and also with the distance measured. In the worst case, the average error was $3.17$cm, outside the precision of $0.5$cm specified by the manufacturer of the HC-SRO4. A calibration and correction of the distance provided by the sensor was therefore carried out. The results showed that the measurement error was reduced to $\pm0.16$cm. Finally, we conclude on the importance of considering carrying out a \textit{a priori} calibration of the ultrasonic sensor in order to minimize the effects of temperature on measurements in processes with high variability or non-standard values for this quantity.
