Hidden moisture and one picture of missing insulation.
My IR camera? B-Cam… Never leave home without it.
John, sure would be of great help if there were some explanation of what I am looking at!
Thanks.
Marcel 
Thermal Images
oh my :twisted: he made me do it!
Here are the same images that would be seen with the naked eye.
This could be the next NACHITV training video. Interesting!
Randy
Thanks John, and by no means should this have to be a training thingy, but now I see what you took a picture of and would it be possible to know what the area of concerns are? The dark blue or the white and yellow?
Looks like an x-ray machine photo. ha. ha.
Marcel 
In picture 2, the darker areas running down the wall, on the upper left,
are moisture problems. The very dark spot on the lower right is also moisture.
None of this could be seen with the naked eye.
This house was cooled with AC that day… so images that show some
bright areas would indicate something warm… like missing insulation
causing the wall to heat up. See picture 3.
Thanks John, a few more courses from you and I might be able to call myself a moisture x-ray Technician. ha. ha.
Marcel 
I’m not sure you’re grasping the concept Marcel. It’s not like an X-ray, where you see “through” an object.
These are images of the surface temps. The density and/or reflectivity (among many other things) of the material will have an effect on the surface temps.
Thanks Jeff;
So, if I understand right, dark blue would be the colder areas and the whiteish and yellow would be the hot spots.
Now, how do you know the dark blue is caused by moisture and light color is not caused by high attic heat and not inadequate insulation as some have said?
Sorry for the dumb questions. Just can’nt keep up with this technology.
Out of curiousity, how much above the regular Inspection cost can you charge for this thing, and what will be the payback time?
Is this service requested by the Clients?
Marcel 
Good questions. It takes some experience and verification to answer
these possibilities. There are some cases where the images can look like
one thing and be another. Always test with more than one tool.
Once you are trained, it is not hard to understand the variables.
I got the Bcam from Professionalequipment.com with a
15% NACHI discount… for $4800.00
I paid for it with a credit card and then transferred
other debt to a new 0% credit card offer… so effectively
purchased the Bcam with a no interest loan for 1 year.
I raised my prices $50 and now let it pay for itself.
Since clients see that I have a superior edge over my
competition, I get more calls from people who are
willing to pay more.
Raise your prices, make more, work less.
Thanks John, I like your train of thoughts on the subject.
Well, mabe in a few more years, I might consider buying one. To busy building right now.
Maybe I could convince my GC employer to buy me one and use it on the job. ha. ha.
Marcel 
From the Nachi Mall link to Professional Equipment -
"NACHI member get across the board discounts from Professional Equipment. Simply identify yourself as a NACHI member and you will get 5% off all orders under $300 and 10% off of all orders over $300.
Visit Professional Equipment at www.professionalequipment.com
*Discount does not apply to previous purchases or FLIR cameras and cannot be combined with any other discount.
For more information about this offer email info@professionalequipment.com
For more offers like this one visit www.InspectorMALL.com"
Did you negotiate 15% on your own?
Is there any interest in a CMI sponsored “group buy” From FLIR?
PE.com gave me a 15% discount for the Bcam because it was during
a special window that was available to NACHI members at the time
of the last convention.
I suggest you email them and see what they say, to you personally.
It does not hurt to ask. And then ask when will be their next
sale.
FLIR has a pretty rigid price structure. I doubt if we could get
a enough people to make them blink.
Keep checking around and call FLIR… I heard rumor that the
price of the Bcam may go down again… just a rumor from
one of the IR instructors I talked to.
Thanks John…
Tremendous help… lots to think about. :shock:
Moisture does not always appear as “dark spots.”
These are from today. . .
That moisture is however ‘warmer’ than the surrounding Sheetrock and covering.
It it had been ‘cooler’ it would have been dark…
It’s the observation of the anomaly and verification by an independent inspection of the area that says it’s ‘moisture’… I’m slow but learning. :mrgreen:
Yep.
Ok, so the FLIR camera shows surface temps. Do you then use your trusty old moisture meter to see if actual moisture is present as opposed to maybe a central air duct leak which is just discharging cooler air into the inaccessible area?
For example, we find ac evaporater and or plenum leaks with cold air being discharged into the FAU enclosure. However no moiture is present even though the enclosure is extremely cool.
Thanks for the information,
Very interesting…
John, are you shooting every room in the home? Every exterior wall? If so, and if you then have to analyze a large number of IR photos it almost sounds like a separate inspection. How much time does it add to your inspections?