What is Thermography and how does it impact a Home Inspection?
Thermography : a technique for detecting and measuring variations in the heat emitted by an object and transforming them into visible signals that can be recorded photographically. Thermography can be an extremely powerful tool for performing home inspections. Just like any tool, it has to be used properly by a trained individual. An inspector that is not properly trained can easily be fooled by misreading the data, especially with regards to an object with a high reflectivity. |
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It can save time and find things not easily found by any other means.
Contrary to popular belief, it CAN NOT see through walls, it merely displays surface temperatures as an image that we can see and decipher.
Most of the time, in Florida, it is used to find evidence of moisture intrusion. When water gets on a building material, the area quickly becomes cooler than the surrounding material through the process of evaporative cooling.
In the image above, a leak at an improperly flashed roof plumbing vent was allowing water to travel down the truss and terminate at the wall below. There was no visual indication. The leak was able to be repaired before any damage was done. This leak would not have been found during an inspection without the use of Hi Res Thermographics.
Contrary to popular belief, it CAN NOT see through walls, it merely displays surface temperatures as an image that we can see and decipher.
Most of the time, in Florida, it is used to find evidence of moisture intrusion. When water gets on a building material, the area quickly becomes cooler than the surrounding material through the process of evaporative cooling.
In the image above, a leak at an improperly flashed roof plumbing vent was allowing water to travel down the truss and terminate at the wall below. There was no visual indication. The leak was able to be repaired before any damage was done. This leak would not have been found during an inspection without the use of Hi Res Thermographics.
We have also found overheating electrical circuits that had no other visual indications.
In this image, a Federal Pacific Electric (FPE) panel had a significantly overheated circuit that did not trip the breaker.
This circuit was in extreme danger of causing a fire. Also it. most likely, would not have been found without the IR inspection as there was no visible melting or charring at the wire insulation.
The homeowner was informed of the potential danger and the circuit was turned off until repairs could be made by a licensed electrician.
In this image, a Federal Pacific Electric (FPE) panel had a significantly overheated circuit that did not trip the breaker.
This circuit was in extreme danger of causing a fire. Also it. most likely, would not have been found without the IR inspection as there was no visible melting or charring at the wire insulation.
The homeowner was informed of the potential danger and the circuit was turned off until repairs could be made by a licensed electrician.
It's not a stand alone tool, however. Other tools and means are carried out to understand why the camera is showing a difference in temperature. Many factors can cause temperature variations and those all need to be taken into consideration. These include type of material in the image, location, rate of change of temperature, and even the time of day and the temperature outside vs. inside (low or high Delta-T). So they have their limitations to be sure. The camera is used to find an anomaly and other means/tools are used to come up with a finding. I can quickly scan an entire structure and show missing insulation (see image to left), moisture intrusion, electrical issues, mechanical issues and a whole host of other things. Fresh paint over damp drywall doesn't even begin to hide the issue. The camera will show this area in seconds if the conditions allow. It is an amazing piece of hardware and I would not want to do any inspection without one.
