What is Thermal Imaging Used for?
Have you heard a professional home inspector talk about “thermal imaging” but are still somewhat unsure about what that really means? Then you have come to the right place. At Shield Home Watch we get asked this question often, so let’s talk about what this means and how it can be beneficial to a whole home inspection.
What are Thermal Imaging Cameras?
The naked eye sees visible light in the electromagnetic field, a thermal imaging camera can see other “energy” that is either warmer or colder in nature, not visible to the human eye or standard cameras.
You might be more familiar with thermal cameras from movies or the news, where surveillance images are shown in contrast or negative visuals to show you people’s movement in low light, or smoke-filled spaces.
A few examples of home inspection thermal cameras can be found at FLIR.
What do Thermal Images Reveal?
Since these cameras are used to detect temperature and not just “visual” elements, they can capture both significant and insignificant temperature variants. This can reveal things like escaping heat or unwanted cold air getting into a home. This is incredibly helpful for inspectors because these cameras can give homebuyers a look beyond what we can see as inspectors.
If there are water leaks, missing insulation, moisture, overloaded circuit boxes, hot electrical connections or even mechanical equipment that seems to be running too hot; we can detect it with these images. Another feature to these cameras, they can detect pests and insects that could be doing damage to the home typically taking place behind walls or spaces that are visually hard to see into.
Why You Should Consider A Thermal Imaging Inspection
It might already be more clear as to why you may want to consider one of these inspections, but let’s take it a step further. Thermal images give you a look into a home that inspections have never been able to reveal in the past. This means you can see previous damage that may not have been attended to and ask the owner to remedy those before you complete the purchase. Thermal images can also give you some insight into the future of the home. While they certainly can’t predict problems, they can reveal issues that wouldn’t have been able to be detected in a standard home inspection.
For example, If there is faulty electrical work reading “hot” in hard to see areas or behind drywall, an inspector would not be able to alert you to this as they don’t cut holes in the walls during inspections. This kind of knowledge gives homebuyers more purchasing power confidence, more so than they have ever had in the past.
Shield Home Watch provides professional home services to all of Manatee County (Bradenton, Lakewood Ranch, Anna Marie Island, etc.). We are a family owned and operated local business and lived in the area for over 5 years. Our complete range of home services includes Home Watch, Housekeeping, Concierge Services, Key Holiding Services, and Rental Property Management. To learn more about Shield Home Watch or to schedule a free Whole Home Survey or service call, please call us at (941) 735-4405. If you would like to book an appointment 24 hours a day please visit our booking site.