View the thread, titled "Thermal imaging camera" which is posted in UK Plumbers Forums on UK Plumbers Forums.
In the past, I've only used FLIR thermographic cameras, they give good pictures but are (a) bulky, size of a big SLR camera and (b) expensive, i.e thousands not hundreds of pounds. You'd need to be using one a lot for the extra income generated to offset the capital cost. You can hire them for a day/week but that ain't cheap either.
These days you can get a small thermal imaging sensor to plug into your smart phone for about 10% of the cost of the above. These are much smaller, which can be a big advantage, but the image quality is not going to be as good. If you want to dip your toe in the water, I'd suggest getting one of these (FLIR do one) and see how much use you get out of it and whether paying (a lot) more for higher resolution and sensitivity seems justified.
If all you have is the thermal image, it's not easy to interpret what you are looking at later, e.g. if you have to provide a report. The cameras I used allowed you to superimpose the thermal map on top of a visible light image, which made figuring out what was being shown a lot easier, pretty much like the ones in this post:
As that discussion illustrates, having the image is one thing, deciding what they mean is another.
I've always found them quite fun to play with so I doubt you'd regret getting an inexpensive sensor-only one to go with your phone. You can always flog it on eBay if I'm wrong.
These days you can get a small thermal imaging sensor to plug into your smart phone for about 10% of the cost of the above. These are much smaller, which can be a big advantage, but the image quality is not going to be as good. If you want to dip your toe in the water, I'd suggest getting one of these (FLIR do one) and see how much use you get out of it and whether paying (a lot) more for higher resolution and sensitivity seems justified.
If all you have is the thermal image, it's not easy to interpret what you are looking at later, e.g. if you have to provide a report. The cameras I used allowed you to superimpose the thermal map on top of a visible light image, which made figuring out what was being shown a lot easier, pretty much like the ones in this post:
Is this a leak. Thermal image camera - UK Plumbers Forums | Plumbing Advice; Plumbers Talk Forum
Old cottage was renovated 5 years ago, all new pipes underscreeded floor. This year started getting damp on the walls internally however it's an old stone cottage built of the ground over 100 years ago and half built block in the 1980s. A new french drain been installed all around the...
www.plumberstalk.net
As that discussion illustrates, having the image is one thing, deciding what they mean is another.
I've always found them quite fun to play with so I doubt you'd regret getting an inexpensive sensor-only one to go with your phone. You can always flog it on eBay if I'm wrong.
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Thank you very much for your response. Really appreciate it. I have had a look around and it seems you can get hand held ones for a few hundred pounds. I appreciated that they won't be as good as the the ones in the thousands. I may just have to take the plunge and see. I just wanted to see if anyone else had go a "cheaper" one and found it to be okay for what they wanted.In the past, I've only used FLIR thermographic cameras, they give good pictures but are (a) bulky, size of a big SLR camera and (b) expensive, i.e thousands not hundreds of pounds. You'd need to be using one a lot for the extra income generated to offset the capital cost. You can hire them for a day/week but that ain't cheap either.
These days you can get a small thermal imaging sensor to plug into your smart phone for about 10% of the cost of the above. These are much smaller, which can be a big advantage, but the image quality is not going to be as good. If you want to dip your toe in the water, I'd suggest getting one of these (FLIR do one) and see how much use you get out of it and whether paying (a lot) more for higher resolution and sensitivity seems justified.
If all you have is the thermal image, it's not easy to interpret what you are looking at later, e.g. if you have to provide a report. The cameras I used allowed you to superimpose the thermal map on top of a visible light image, which made figuring out what was being shown a lot easier, pretty much like the ones in this post:
Is this a leak. Thermal image camera - UK Plumbers Forums | Plumbing Advice; Plumbers Talk Forum
Old cottage was renovated 5 years ago, all new pipes underscreeded floor. This year started getting damp on the walls internally however it's an old stone cottage built of the ground over 100 years ago and half built block in the 1980s. A new french drain been installed all around the...www.plumberstalk.net
As that discussion illustrates, having the image is one thing, deciding what they mean is another.
I've always found them quite fun to play with so I doubt you'd regret getting an inexpensive sensor-only one to go with your phone. You can always flog it on eBay if I'm wrong.
I've got a high res FLIR camera that's so expensive I'm scared to take it to site but I also have small, cheap and cheerful Seek Reveal Pro thermal camera which I bought about 5 years ago, keep on my vehicle and I use it 99% of the time. I use it mostly in HVAC applications but it works well for most things and I've not got any complaints about its performance or accuracy, it also can superimpose a thermal image on top of an actual image and generate a basic pdf report. For day to day use it's great and it sits nicely between the ultra compact cameras that plug into your phones USB which can be lacking in features and the expensive professional thermal cameras that cost an arm and a leg. My local wholesaler has the Seek Reveal Pro listed at ZAR9558.00 which is about 415 of your UK Quids but I'm in Africa and we often pay a premium so shop around for prices and even later models which may have better specs.
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