If you’ve watched a few updates, you might think that infrared (IR) cameras can see through walls to impossible defects. Although this is not the case, the IR camera is still a useful tool for your home inspection.
history
To understand how infrared cameras work, you must first learn a little about the history of infrared (IR). William Herschel first discovered IR back in the 1800s. He used a prism to break the light on the table. While he was measuring the temperatures of different colors, he realized that the temperature on the thermometer sitting behind red light was higher than the one inside the light. After further study, he concluded that infrared energy exceeds the red spectrum. After more than 200 years, we now learned about it and created cameras capable of detecting this energy and creating a thermal image based on this information.
Restrictions
Simply put, IR is the energy emitted by objects based on their temperature. The higher the temperature, the more energy is released. Everything in the world emits this energy; however, some things emit better than others. To make it more complex, there are objects in the world that act as reflectors. In this case, camera restrictions may come into play. First, cameras cannot “see through” objects, but rather detect the surface temperature of objects. Wall frame elements that can be seen with the camera because they heat or cool differently than insulation are a good example. If the insulation and research have the same temperature, then they are not visible. Similarly, the camera cannot see the water inside the wall; however, it can detect temperature differences caused by the evaporation of this water. The camera also cannot see objects, such as windows, or show the true temperature of shiny metals or other reflective objects. This is due to the fact that they have a very low emittance and reflect the energy of the environment rather than emit it.
Another important limitation of the IR camera is the environmental conditions during the inspection. Ideal conditions for an IR camera would be a day without wind, without sun, an outdoor temperature of 10 ° C above or below the internal temperature, and when it rained several days before the inspection. As you can see, ideal conditions are almost impossible to achieve.
Benefits
Therefore, you may ask yourself: “If IR cannot be used to see through walls and have environmental restrictions, what is good for my house?”. Although the IR camera is limited, it can improve the likelihood of detecting flaws that would not have been found otherwise. This will help the inspector with hard-to-reach areas such as raised ceilings or attic spaces. It can show moisture leaks or infiltration when there are no stains on the walls. Other disadvantages that a thermal chamber can detect include (but are not limited to):
- Water leakage in the foundation
- Rain leak
- Moisture intrusion
- Insufficient or missing insulation
- Air leaks
- Duct Leaks
- Electrical problems
