Thermal Imaging?

[glen]

Do any consumer digital cameras have the ability to capture thermal image?
I want to check my house for insulation leaks.
Flir makes video cameras which do this, but they cost around $3,000.
One option is renting one, but even that is expensive, $300 per 3day period.
Even if it were fairly low quality, a consumer camera would be nice because I could check for leaks, then fix them, then check the house again to see if the fix worked.

 

[Gillbot]

do you need temperature measurement?

"Good" FLIR cameras are much more than $3000. Also, what is your location? There are some companies that offer this as a service for minimal rates.

 

[Dubb]

I have a family member that has one for work. damn cool, I think it was $25K when he got it. you can take a picture of your hand and see the bones, apparently the bones are cooler than the bloody meat. Years ago I took some pics of my computer guts with it.

Reliably checking for leaks means hooking up a fan and putting the whole house at a different pressure than the outside, then walking around with the camera. Most metro areas will have "green building" firms that will do this fairly reasonably.

 

[Gillbot]

I have a family member that has one for work. damn cool, I think it was $25K when he got it. you can take a picture of your hand and see the bones, apparently the bones are cooler than the bloody meat. Years ago I took some pics of my computer guts with it.

Reliably checking for leaks means hooking up a fan and putting the whole house at a different pressure than the outside, then walking around with the camera. Most metro areas will have "green building" firms that will do this fairly reasonably.

It's unlikely you are seeing the "bones", just the temperature differential in that area. It isn't an Xray machine nor can it see through most things like they portray in the movies.

 

[Dubb]

I didn't say that it was an x-ray, though I probably could have been clearer.

Obviously these things only measure surface temperature, but warmer/cooler things immediately behind surfaces (like bones behind skin) will register a temperature difference on the surface. The detail and definition was pretty precise, so while you're not seeing the bones unobstructed, it's about akin to saying you couldn't see something because it's behind a sheet of translucent paper.

 

[glen]

So, no one seems to know of a common and inexpensive digital camera that can do anything liek this?

 

[Six]

There's no such thing as inexpensive when it comes to thermal imaging. Your best bet is to buy one off ebay and then resell it. Be sure to get one with a sensitivity of 0.07 degree, higher resolution than 120x120, and that displays color.

This bulky one might work...ISG K-90 Talisman on ebay for $1000. I think it's just black and white though.

Don't be surprise if the images aren't as "revealing" as in the brochures. Those images in the brochures are shot in extremely ideal conditions.

 

[Gillbot]

There's no such thing as inexpensive when it comes to thermal imaging. Your best bet is to buy one off ebay and then resell it. Be sure to get one with a sensitivity of 0.07 degree, higher resolution than 120x120, and that displays color.

This bulky one might work...ISG K-90 Talisman on ebay for $1000. I think it's just black and white though.

Don't be surprise if the images aren't as "revealing" as in the brochures. Those images in the brochures are shot in extremely ideal conditions.

Color is not needed.

In all reality, resolution and sensitivity are important but overall, if you are looking for something cheap you probably can't be too picky anyway.

Look for a local rep to do it. What area are you in?

 

[Knavish]

Thermal cameras never come cheap because they're not made with silicon chips like normal consumer digital cameras (or pro SLRs for that matter). The really nice thermal cameras even require liquid nitrogen (or similar exotic) cooling.

 

[corkyg]

I used to demo a prototype thermal CCD camera at trade shows - it had a Dewar flask to be filled with liquid nitrogen. That was also my job. Nasty stuff! Anyway, it was so sensitive we could image footprints made by wild geese on grass. At the trade shows, we used a totally dark room and could see the thermal images of people in the room, i.e., their bodies under clothing. Gillbot is right - color was not used. Golly - that was back circa 1988-89.

 

[Dubb]

one other thing I thought of - thermal reflections. Lots of different materials will reflect a signature that is readable by the camera - glass, metals, even dense shiny wood.

It's a little odd to take a picture of something and see your detailed thermal self in a matte screen or metal door.

....which is what's happening on those "ghost hunters" shows where they go in with thermal cameras -the "signatures" they see are just their own reflections off some rusty metal object in the room.

 

[Gillbot]

Thermal cameras never come cheap because they're not made with silicon chips like normal consumer digital cameras (or pro SLRs for that matter). The really nice thermal cameras even require liquid nitrogen (or similar exotic) cooling.

They haven't used liquid nitrogen cooling for MANY years. Most now are thermo-electric cooled.

one other thing I thought of - thermal reflections. Lots of different materials will reflect a signature that is readable by the camera - glass, metals, even dense shiny wood.

It's a little odd to take a picture of something and see your detailed thermal self in a matte screen or metal door.

....which is what's happening on those "ghost hunters" shows where they go in with thermal cameras -the "signatures" they see are just their own reflections off some rusty metal object in the room.

Yeah, those ghost hunter shows make me laugh!