The optimal weather conditions for conducting a thermal imaging surveys on a building fabric are as follows:
- Minimum Temperature difference: There should be a temperature difference of more than 10°C across the building fabric at the time of the survey. This difference should be more than 5°C for 24 hours preceding the survey.
- External air temperature: The external air temperature should be within ±3°C during the survey. It should be within ±10°C for the preceding 24 hours.
- No Solar Loading: There must be no direct or residual energy from the sun in the building. Many people conduct surveys an hour or so after sunset, but this is usually flawed due to solar load in the building. Therefore, heat loss surveys should generally be conducted in the early hours of a cold morning, before the sun can fall on the building.
- Low Wind speeds: The wind speed should be less than 10 mph during the survey.
- Precipitation: There should be no precipitation just prior to or during the survey.
- Dry Building surfaces: All building envelope surfaces to be inspected should be dry during the survey.
Please note that these conditions are ideal for a heat loss thermal imaging survey. Different types of surveys may have different requirements. For example, underfloor heating and electrical thermal surveys can be conducted almost any time. It’s always best to consult with us for specific project to ensure your full requirements are met.
Please note that these conditions are ideal for a heat loss thermal imaging survey. Different types of surveys may have different requirements. For example, underfloor heating and electrical thermal surveys can be conducted almost any time. It’s always best to consult with us for specific project to ensure your full requirements are met.
What defects can we identify in building fabrics
Thermal imaging surveys of building fabrics can identify many different types of defects, such as air leakage, thermal bridging and missing insulation to name but a few.
The thermal imaging survey generally reveals the quality of the building envelope in several areas such as:
- The occurrence of unwanted air leakage paths through gaps in the building fabric construction
- Defects in the continuity of thermal insulation within the building envelope construction
- The presence of ’non-repeating thermal bridges’ which occurs at junctions between elements, such as a wall and floor junction and/or or a window and wall reveals etc.
Why Use Us for your Building Fabric Thermal Imaging Survey
We provide a professional thermal imaging inspections, which includes the following premium service:
- Level 3 thermographic certification
- Level 3 qualified building and electrical thermographers
- High resolution and sensitive FLIR cameras
- A detailed and comprehensive thermal imaging survey
If you have any further questions in regard to the above, please don’t hesitate to call Darren on 07775 623464, or email us at info@aptsoundtesting.co.uk
If you would like to know how best to prepare your building for the thermal imaging survey, please download our checklist.