I was wondering what type of equipment anyone might use inside the home for thermal imaging. Is it a good idea to get an Air Quality meter to test for humidity and temperature to assist with the images being taken? Or will those items not affect a thermal image enough to worry with it.  I am getting Wind meter to help with the outside images, but what about the inside?  Other than a blower door?

Also: moisture meter, relative humidity gauge, some way to measure indoor air temperatures, flashlights, borescope & electric drill, smoke pen and possibly a heat lamp, among others.

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Thermally Yours,

John
ASNT NDT Level III #48166
The Snell Group
www.thesnellgroup.com
www.thermalsolutions.org
800-636-9820

Could an outside meter such as a Kestrel Wind Meter with the correct options work inside as well for temp and humidity?

I use the Kestrel 3000. I measure outdoor and indoor temp. & humidity in several places. If there is a breeze, I also measure the speed. I bought the calibration kit so that I can calibrate it myself.

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Brad Cook
Building Performance Services LLC
BPI Accredited
Warren, Vermont
Level I Thermographer
"Always look at the WHOLE picture"
"The more you look, the more you see"
"You can never take enough pictures"

I agree with Brad that it is important to be able to check the calibration of these sorts of devices. That can be done with a manufacturer's supplied kit, as he has done, or less formally by simply comparing it to other devices or known sources. We just ran into an instance yesterday where what we measured seemed very low compared to what our bodies were experiencing (common sense!), so we checked with a second device and found the first to be WAY off the mark; not surprising given that we'd shipped it all over the world for three years!

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Thermally Yours,

John
ASNT NDT Level III #48166
The Snell Group
www.thesnellgroup.com
www.thermalsolutions.org
800-636-9820

So really there is not much sense to buy an IAQ meter and duplicate the equipment right? If the Kestrel can do the same thing (except a couple of options) it's better to invest the money in other things?  I am looking at the 4100 mainly because it has a few extra helpful tools we could use.  Also, how long before you need to start looking at calibrating this type of equipment? Once a month, quarterly, etc?

Are you talking about IAQ meters that measure temp., RH, O2, CO2, etc.? All you really need to measure is temperature and maybe RH. I measure RH outside and inside, downstairs and up, to see if there may be a moisture problem in the house and whether moistue may be coming from the basement or crawl space. For my purposes, I calibrate most of my instruments annually. I don't have them calibrated to NIST standards, abut if you are doing forensics or documenting for litigation, you should probably calibrate more frequently and to the NIST standards. I have 3 different styles of humidity meters, so I also compare them from time to time. Just be sure to give the meter enough time to stabilize.

Unless you know a lot about HVAC and are going to do a lot of diagnostics, I think that the 4100 is more than you need.

 

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Brad Cook
Building Performance Services LLC
BPI Accredited
Warren, Vermont
Level I Thermographer
"Always look at the WHOLE picture"
"The more you look, the more you see"
"You can never take enough pictures"

Being primarily in the home inspection business I had the same concerns as you. I carry an E80 Extech and also there 3in1. I found that the 3in1

was very close to the more expensive E80 ($780.00). That little $149.95 piece has performed very well so I bought another. As far as moisture meters

go I have a Delmhorst Tech Check. Kind of expensive but very helpful. Also the smoke pen is very helpful. I just ordered a borescope and lok forward to

using it.

 

 

Although not cheap the Testo 435 is the best all around HVAC/air type meter in the world.  It does basically everything.  Anemometer, Manometer, RH, Temp, Dew Point, Wet Bulb, light meter, Co, Co2.  It has wireless ability and datalogging ability.  It also has the ability to do R and U values via its R/U value probe.  For that last application you use the wireless RH/Temp meter then put the R/U value probe on the other side of the surface you want the value for.  It then calculates it.  One thing often overlooked is the accuracy of air type meters.  A good manometer with an accuracy of +/- 1% runs around 1k and an anemeter with the same accuracy goes for approx $600.  By the time everything is said and done the 435 is cheaper than all those other meters combined and is more, or at least as, accurate.

Testo 435

As far as moisture meters, it is tough to get better than the Tramex RWS.  4" of penetration, pinless.  It looks like it is right out of WWII.  Delmhorst is a very good meter as well.  They have great accuracy, just does not have the depth of penetration of the RWS.  Only nuclear testers can penetrate deeper.

Tramex RWS

Boroscopes are a must in my opinion.  Make sure you test run these things before buying one.  Some have some serious screen brightness flaws.  Now a days most take pictures and store them on an SD card (micro), and some have video.  For an average user $250-$350 will get you a good one.  All the big brand names (power tool related companies) private label theirs.  Save yourself 15%-50% by finding the actual manufacture.  Higher end units go up to $9,000, and they still will not check your colon :) 

 

JJ