Out of sight, out of mind is a common enough phrase, but it’s really not one you should think about when examining your home.
The fact is, despite how normal your home might look, there might be things behind walls, ceilings and floors that are causing an adverse effect to your house. Everything from water damage to heat escaping from hidden cracks can cause an uncomfortable living environment, and this is exactly why having your home surveyed by a trained expert with a thermal imaging camera is an extremely good idea.
Take a look at the following video, which shows a few common problems that were found in the home using a thermal camera:
As can be seen, the thermal camera can be used to see what the human eye cannot. By using infrared light instead of normal light, the thermal camera is able to detect strange heat anomalies present within the property and flag these up on the thermal image. Humans can't actually see infrared light, which is why these kind of problems often go unnoticed and could, potentially, cause accidents if left untreated.
Let's take a look at a few of these problems in more detail:
Using Thermal Cameras To Detect Wiring & Circuitry Faults
Although most of the wiring we see in our homes is mainly collections of cables that plug into all kinds of different appliances, most homes have a significant amount of wiring within them that's hidden behind walls, in circuit boxes, under floors or even under ceilings.
If you watched the video above, you'll have seen a few instances where the thermal imaging camera was able to detect that wiring and circuitry was giving off too much heat, which is usually an indication of a problem. If left untreated, these kind of wiring faults could have extremely dangerous effects ranging from common blackouts to actually causing electrical fires within a property.
Don't panic though! Most wiring installations, if they've been completed by an accredited electrician, should work correctly. It's particularly important for this kind of examination to be carried out by people such as landlords who will be renting properties out to tenants, as it the landlord's legal obligation to ensure that fixed wiring throughout the property is safe for use by the tenant and anyone else in the property.
For the common home owner, having a thermal imaging survey completed also gives you the peace of mind to know that the wiring within your property is working correctly, while businesses (particularly those working with heavy duty machinery that constantly rely on electricity) should also have these surveys carried out regularly to flag up any problems within the environment that might need addressing before they become a problem.
Detecting Water and Moisture Damage
While it's a common myth that thermal imaging cameras can actually see behind walls to see what's going on, what they're really seeing is when temperatures behind a wall are actually different from those in the immediate area.
Water is one such property that causes a change in temperature. As liquid is inherently colder than the house around it, any water damage that's present in walls, floors and ceilings can usually be seen by a thermal imaging camera, as the water has caused some form of damp to seep into the material, If left untreated these kinds of damp can breed mould (really not nice) and cause all kinds of nasty problems within the home such as weakening structures and affecting insulation.
Water damage is often directly tied to the insulation of the house; if the house isn't properly protected against the outside elements such as rain and snow, these can seep in through the brickwork and cause moisture damage in all kinds of hidden places such as lofts, basements and basically everywhere else in the property.
In addition, other things can quite easily cause water damage. A leaky pipe that you don't know about dripping water slowly behind the scenes can cause problems, as can accidentally sloshing water over the back of the bath into little gaps. Water likes to get around, and by carrying out thermal surveys any kind of water damage can clearly be seen and action can be taken.
You only have to view the video above to see how much water can affect a property - the leak from the bath shows that water is seeping through the ceiling at an alarming rate, weakening the structural integrity of both the floor of the bathroom and the ceiling underneath. The last thing you want is a bathtub landing on your sofa, so flagging up these problems is a good idea before most of your bathroom lands on your head.
Using Thermal Cameras To Check Insulation
By using a thermal camera both outside and inside a property, a trained surveyor can detect exactly where your home is losing heat, and advise you on the necessary steps you need to take to make your home both more insulated and more energy efficient.
During an every survey the thermographer (as they are known) will check through the entirety of your property for areas where heat is escaping. If you've ever sat freezing your backside off in an extremely chilly winter as you're assaulted with drafts from countless hidden areas, you'll know how annoying it is. Just imagine a winter where you can relax in your shorts and tanktops, rather than wearing the entire contents of your wardrobe, including that questionable bobble hat you bought but only wore for about three months before coming to your senses.
Images of people decked out in sixteen jumpers aside, it is important to consider the insulation of your home as well from an energy saving standpoint, as the more heat you're pumping into your property, the more is escaping. This means you'll then be pumping in yet more heat, and it'll escape, before you pump in more heat...you get the idea with that. The point is, when your property isn't correctly insulated, you could end up spending a fortune on actually making your property warm, simply because all of the heat is escaping through all those hidden cracks and drafts that are such a nuisance.
With the thermal imaging survey carried out, you can then plug up any problems with a variety of different insulation options. This means that your property keeps heat inside much more effectively rather than letting it escape, which means you'll use a lot less heat, meaning substantial savings can be generated on both your energy bills and the impact your home is having on the environment!
