One of the biggest limits of a home inspection is what an inspector cannot see. Thermal Imaging (Infrared) is a useful tool is helping to understand hidden conditions. What is thermal imaging? Think about those military videos of the enemy skulking around at night, but the good guys see him as a red shimmering shape. Well, that’s thermal imaging at work! It creates a visual image based on temperature. Warm things are normally shown as red, and cooler areas as blue. Why is this useful during a home inspection? Three things: energy, water, and overheating electrical components.
- Energy. Using thermal imaging we can identify areas of energy loss. A few examples: in winter, we can see cool areas around windows and doors indicating energy loss. In summer, we can see hot spots in the top floor ceiling suggesting missing insulation. There are dozens of applications to energy loss.
- Water. Generally speaking, wet or damp areas are cooler than surrounding materials. Using thermal imaging, we can sometimes identify early signs of water leaking or wet areas that we would have no way of finding.
- Electrical. One of the biggest dangers of electrical wiring is when components overheat. Utilizing thermal images, we can evaluate the temperature of outlets, wires and breakers and sometimes identify critical safety issues.
But please keep this in mind. While thermal imaging is a great tool to help understand certain conditions, ultimately it is just a tool. If not used and interpreted correctly, it can lead to a false understanding of conditions. Also, it is not a guarantee that all energy, water and electrical conditions will be found. It does not look through walls, it only shows surface temperatures. Hot wires in wall may not show on the surface. A wet foundation area may not yet affect the basement walls. All said, it has been invaluable in identifying serious conditions and saving clients thousands of dollars.
