Thermal Imaging Scans are the best way for your home inspector to find issues in the house that you are buying. Don’t buy a new or old house without your home inspector doing a Thermal imaging scan.
Is your Home Inspector using Thermal Imaging on your home inspection if not Find one that is?
How it works:
In the most basic of terms infrared is seeing the heat or temperature differences of the surface. You can see were someone has walked barefoot with a thermal imaging camera that is how sensitive thermal imaging cameras are. The infrared spectrum is not visible by our eyes however with an infrared camera; we can see the heat that objects give off or leave behind.
Can Infrared Thermal Imaging see through the walls like an X-ray?
No however it can see moister and temperature differences in the wall like no insulation or hot or cold pipes that are touching the sheetrock or changing the temperature of the sheetrock and lots of times the studs are visible because of the temperature differences in the wood and sheetrock.
How is Infrared Thermal Imaging useful or important for your home inspector?
It allows the home inspector to see things that are not visible with eyes alone and scanning larger areas faster for a more complete home inspection on your new home.
Moisture Intrusion, Leaks, Condensation
Moisture will in most cases be colder making the wet spots show up as a darker color easily seen with the thermal camera. Through a thermal camera I have seen water penetration from a flowerbed draining to the house and leaking in around the baseboards wetting the carpet. We have also found cabinets that were wet from a small leak in the plumbing behind the cabinet unit in a new home inspection.
Electrical Issues
Overheating wires, switches, breakers and outlets stand out with the thermal camera as a lighter color. Often I find dimmer switches that are over loaded making them very warm and could be a fire hazard in some insatiateness.
Insulation Anomalies
With the right temperature differences from inside to outside an infrared camera can see isolation issues and be spotted very easily. I seen sheetrock temperatures as hot as the attic temperature, these areas act like a heater in the house when you have the A/C on and an air conditioner in the winter reducing the efficiency of your house. These areas will not save you a ton of money but reducing every little area helps to reduce the total bill.
Improperly Connected HVAC Duct work
This is one of the most common things that I find in a home inspection and is relatively easy to fix and can be a big savings on your electric or gas bill all year around. Air blowing in the attic just makes the unit run longer to cool or heat your house.
Why is our inspection price not the lowest in the area?
At True Quality Home Inspections we spend the time that it takes to inspect your house properly regardless of the time that it takes to do it. We are Dedicated to giving you all the information that we can obtain on the house that you are buying so you can make the house the best it can be.
Why don’t all inspectors have thermal cameras?
The equipment is very expensive, difficult or time consuming to learn to think differently. Because they have not seen what Thermal Imaging can do on a Home Inspection! I would not do a Home Inspection without my Thermal Imaging camera!