The Razir thermal infrared camera is a very useful device, I got mine at $9500, with all of the full software, it also came with a couple of other reporting and imaging software called fusion IR and ez report. The infrared camera itself is the smallest i have seen in the market, I like the features and the fact it has 4 batteries, the image quality is really nice and it had the digital zoom capability with the thermal and the digital cameras built in. Definately the best camera i’ve seen for under $10,000. I really liked the capability of the digital zoom and having the luxury to outfit longer range lenses for any future scans. There is a alarming feature which indicated when a certain temperature has risen or fallen from your input. The camera is so sensitive, we actaully see pipes behind the wall, mold, water damage, missing isulation and air infiltration. The camera was purchased for doing roofing surveys along with electrical and mechanical infrared thermography inspections, but having it for commercial and residential is an added perk. We did get the Telephoto lens after the initial purchase of the camera which has very long range zoom. We use it for electrical power pole, transmission line inspections. The lens was an additional $2000. The camera paid for itself within 2 1/2 months.
How do you market these different inspections and who are you clients other than home buyers. I am interested in getting started in this field and any direction you can give me is appreciated. Thanks
Our main business is doing infrared thermography PDM (electrical and mechanical inspections), We do roofing as well. Recently a client had asked us to do a comprehensive infrared roof scan and to finish it off with a whole facility energy audit. The camera worked great for all of our applications. We charge $950 per day (8 hours) for facility scanning & provide the reports via CDROM and hardcopy/email, We average 2 facility scans per week. I am mostly impressed with the razir’s size and weight, we have been using a thermovision 470 infrared cameras and thermovision 550 cameras in the past, while they served thier purpose, they are quite bulky. We are planning on expanding our infrared services division for the residential energy audit field.
By the way, the NACHI website is very informative.
I took a level 1 infrared thermography training course from a certified independant firm (and not the camera manufacturers). This is a 4 day course, runs around $1500 and covers all of the main applications for infrared thermography like electrical, mechanical, roofing and building/energy audits. They helped in putting togather a marketing strategy. Generally these inspections bring in $600 to $1500 per day. A good infrared reporting software package really helps too, just in case your customers asks for a more detailed thermogram.