How do Infrared Cameras work?

Thermography is the use of an infrared imaging and measurement camera to “see” and “measure” thermal energy emitted from an object. When two areas composed of the same or similar materials experience changing ambient temperatures, the area with the higher thermal mass will change slower. The first thing we do is turn on the heater to warm up the house. The dry areas with less thermal mass will warm up quickly. Areas with a higher thermal mass which may include damp areas will warm up slower, and these differences will be obvious when viewed through the Infrared camera.

Please note that an Infrared camera is not a magic tool. It cannot determine if a leak will occur if the area has had time to dry out. For example, if there has been no rain for several months, the Infrared camera will not detect moisture from a roof leak since none is present.

Thermal, or infrared energy, is light that is not visible because its wavelength is too long to be detected by the human eye; it’s the part of the electromagnetic spectrum that we perceive as heat. Unlike visible light, in the infrared world, everything with a temperature above absolute zero emits heat. Even very cold objects, like ice cubes, emit infrared. The higher the object’s temperature, the greater the IR radiation emitted. Infrared allows us to see what our eyes cannot.