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Viper677
Certified Home Inspector
join:2012-03-22
Toronto

Viper677 to alkizmo

Member

to alkizmo

Re: Another a/c issue.

said by alkizmo:

said by Viper677:

Get an infrared inspection done to check for insulation voids.

Can you rent those thermal cameras for 50$-60$ for a day or a couple of hours?

My biggest worry when I installed R55 insulation in my attic was having voids.

Next winter I want to check my ceilings for heat loss.

As far as I know you can rent a decent camera for about $100 - $125 per day. I dont think they let you have it for a couple of hours.

Now, I would also recommend you to hire someone to do the scan for you instead of just renting it. A thermal camera is not a point and shoot device and you need to have some experience to interrupt the anomalies.

Also, in order to get the best/right results you need to have a d-t of about 10C between inside and outside.

The best time to get someone to scan the house is in winter.

Most of the people who rent these cameras (that I know of) are the people who are professionals and already have a job lined up. So they rent the camera, get the job done and return the camera. They do it so they dont have to own a camera.
scross
join:2002-09-13
USA

scross

Member

said by Viper677:

said by alkizmo:

said by Viper677:

Get an infrared inspection done to check for insulation voids.

Can you rent those thermal cameras for 50$-60$ for a day or a couple of hours?

My biggest worry when I installed R55 insulation in my attic was having voids.

Next winter I want to check my ceilings for heat loss.

As far as I know you can rent a decent camera for about $100 - $125 per day. I dont think they let you have it for a couple of hours.

Now, I would also recommend you to hire someone to do the scan for you instead of just renting it. A thermal camera is not a point and shoot device and you need to have some experience to interrupt the anomalies.

Also, in order to get the best/right results you need to have a d-t of about 10C between inside and outside.

The best time to get someone to scan the house is in winter.

Most of the people who rent these cameras (that I know of) are the people who are professionals and already have a job lined up. So they rent the camera, get the job done and return the camera. They do it so they dont have to own a camera.

I have an inexpensive laser infrared thermometer which I used to scan my ceilings and outer walls. That's how I've located most of my known problem areas, which register much warmer than other areas when the sun is blazing down. An infrared camera would have been faster, but these aren't cheap.

Come to think of it, many modern digital cameras and video cameras have a night/infrared mode, which might work pretty well, too. No fancy colors, probably, but you don't really need them. I have a couple of these, so I may have to do some experimentation. This will probably be best done just after sundown, with all the lights out.
iknow
Premium Member
join:2012-03-25

iknow

Premium Member

said by scross:

Come to think of it, many modern digital cameras and video cameras have a night/infrared mode, which might work pretty well, too. No fancy colors, probably, but you don't really need them. I have a couple of these, so I may have to do some experimentation. This will probably be best done just after sundown, with all the lights out.

what i've heard is they have infrared blockers in the cameras now to stop the "infrared naked" pictures. to fix that, you have to disassemble the camera, and remove the filter, and replace it with plain glass of the same size, though. it's possible a camera that advertises it has infrared capability is still made though.(probably expensive).
scross
join:2002-09-13
USA

scross

Member

said by iknow:

said by scross:

Come to think of it, many modern digital cameras and video cameras have a night/infrared mode, which might work pretty well, too. No fancy colors, probably, but you don't really need them. I have a couple of these, so I may have to do some experimentation. This will probably be best done just after sundown, with all the lights out.

what i've heard is they have infrared blockers in the cameras now to stop the "infrared naked" pictures. to fix that, you have to disassemble the camera, and remove the filter, and replace it with plain glass of the same size, though. it's possible a camera that advertises it has infrared capability is still made though.(probably expensive).

I have a camera that has night mode and a built-in IR lamp, so it should work pretty well. I doubt that it has any such filter, especially given that it's at least 10 years old now.