Thermal imaging cameras are pretty cool…… let’s admit it most of us have been wanting one since we first watched the predator movies with Arnold Schwarzenegger in them, so coming up with a good business reason to have one is pretty great. All jokes aside I will say I am a strong advocate for adding tools to your belt that will help you better inspect losses and provide more info to your customers. Also with this tool it’s an added plus that it can also save you some time by speeding up the initial moisture mapping process. Imagine scanning all walls with a non-invasive meter on a commercial loss to identify affected areas.
With all that positive being said, the IR camera is probably right up there as one of the top three misunderstood and misused tools in our trade. That is pretty scary since it can suggest that large amounts of square feet are affected to the untrained technician causing major differences in scope of work. I know that sounds like a good thing but trust me it is not. Remember, we are skilled tradespeople and we should never think of ourselves as equipment rental companies only.