Heating, Ventilation, and Air-Conditioning (HVAC) systems thermal imaging can detect
- Poor construction
- Air leaks
- Poor air quality
- Heat/cooling loss
- Water leaks
- Loose ductwork
- Misaligned ductwork
- AC condensate leaks
- Other heating and cooling issue
Air leaks
Temperature differences can also point you to problems with insulation, weatherization, and duct work. When ducts and insulation aren’t installed properly they can leak, allowing cold air to seep in or warm air to escape the building. In the summertime, these leaks allow chilled air to escape.
The result is always the same: higher energy costs. Poorly installed insulation and building cracks are additional sources of air leaks. The cracks are quite often found around windows, doors, and vents; insulation gaps can happen anywhere in a structure. The drafts these problems create cause noticeable temperature differences, especially when warm air seeps into a cool room through window seals that aren’t air-tight. In some cases, precise temperature and air pressure control is needed in order to visualize air leaks with thermal imaging cameras.
Water Leaks
Thermography inspection can quickly guide you to the source of water leaks from an HVAC system. The process of evaporation has a cooling effect on wet ceilings, walls, and floors, so the AC condensate leak will appear cold in relation to the rest of the room.
A thermal imaging camera cannot “see” moisture in walls, but it can detect subtle temperature differences and patterns that reveal the existence of water. Moisture is one of the most difficult issues to detect in a building – the signs are subtle and easy to miss until water starts dripping from the ceiling.
Cold Store
Thermographic imaging can be used to to inspect and monitor cold storage facilities. Using infrared it is easy to see where insulation panels are suffering from an integrity issue, where air ingress is allowed in or where a heated door seal is failing. The extreme temperature differentials between internal and external ambient allow for standout thermograms depicting issues such as those mentioned. Due to the power needed to generate these temperatures, faults such as these are significant as even the smallest of problems can have a dramatic effect on energy usage.
