Difficult to Detect Hollow Walls, Leakage, and Air Tightness? Building Detection Solution Using Thermal Cameras

Due to various factors in design, construction, and subsequent use, problems such as hollow external walls, liquid leakage in the wall, and poor airtightness frequently occur in buildings, adversely affecting living quality and causing potential safety issues. Thermal cameras are tools for building maintenance. They can detect the temperature difference on the building surface in a non-contact manner and quickly locate defect locations.

I. Main Applications of Thermal Cameras in Building Detection

1. Hollow External Wall Detection 

Hollowing is a phenomenon of insecure bonding between structural layers in the floors, walls, or suspended ceiling. Hollow external walls will cause temperature differences on the external walls. Thermal cameras can detect and display the temperature difference for engineers to quickly discover quality issues of the external wall and assist them to repair the wall. 

2. Wall Leakage Detection 

Damage to buildings will weaken the thermal insulation and cause problems such as rainwater leakage. Thermal cameras have excellent thermal sensitivity and can clearly display subtle temperature differences, to spot and locate the leakage point.

3. Air Tightness Detection of Buildings 

Poor airtightness of buildings will cause problems such as cold air pumping into the room, heat leakage, and increased load of the heating system. Thermal cameras can be used to check key parts and provide an effective qualitative analysis basis for detection. 

II. Unique Advantages of Thermal Cameras in Building Detection

1. Non-contact and non-destructive detection is supported. Without scaffolds, engineers can measure a large area, achieving high detection efficiency.

2. Dual-spectrum fusion and voice annotation functions (on some models) are supported, facilitating quick identification and fault location.

3. The temperature measurement area can be freely selected, and the data can be automatically collected. Secondary analysis of images is supported to avoid maintenance with no purpose.

4. The high and low-temperature alarms are supported to help engineers with building detection and management. 

III. Recommended Models

M300/M600 Handheld Thermal Camera

• HD resolution of 384×288/640×512 and min. the temperature measurement resolution of 0.035°C, helping discover hidden defects in the building 

• Adjustable -20°C to +150°C and 0°C to +550°C measurement levels, to implement multi-scenario use with one device, improving detection efficiency

• A 3.5" touch screen facilitates drawing of measurement tools such as point, line, and area and straightforwardly displays abnormal temperatures of key areas

• Dual-spectrum fusion and manual focusing serve to identify small targets, helping locate the root of the problem

• Wi-Fi transmission is available by connecting with a mobile APP for analyzing and sharing temperature screens and data anywhere, anytime

• Laser pointer enables rapid and accurate positioning of targets

• Intelligent full-frame high & low-temperature alarm and customizable alarm temperature, make troubleshooting of abnormal points easy

C200/C200PRO Handheld Thermal Camera

• Adjustable -20°C to +150°C and 0°C to +550°C measurement levels and measurement accuracy of ±2°C or ±2%, revealing all subtle temperature exceptions

• 56° FOV and focus-free design, offering a greater field of view and achieving efficient troubleshooting in narrow spaces

• Ultra-long battery life empowering lasting usage

• Intelligent full-frame high & low-temperature alarm and customizable alarm temperature, make troubleshooting of abnormal points easy

• Support PC offline temperature measurement and analysis, meeting the requirements of professional temperature analysis and image optimization

IV. Requirements of Thermal Cameras Applied in Building Detection 

Thermal cameras may be affected by multiple factors such as weather, distance, surface decoration material type and color, and surface evenness. Therefore, pay attention to the following when using thermal cameras for building detection:

• Ensure the consistency of the surface material, and conduct detection under the condition that there is no rain and the outdoor wind speed is low;

• Choose the optimal time for detection by considering the sunshine on the building; Keep the camera less than 30° from the vertical direction to the measured surface; Keep the measurement distance within the nominal range specified in the manual.