The thermal quality of a property is a relevant indicator of the heating costs. Infrared thermography serves to assess this thermal quality.

Thermal radiation

The problem of high thermal losses in older buildings is well known. Poor thermal insulation means high heat losses and thus increased heating costs. Often the evaluation of the building condition is difficult and targeted economic measures of reorganization are not always possible. The majority of the energy consumption is due to heating. Heating requirements can be reduced by purposeful insulation. An infrared thermography helps to assess the quality of the construction elements (e.g., thermal insulation).

Thermography

Infrared thermography is a technology to convert the radiant heat to pictures. Losses at windows, doors, ceilings and walls are visualized by thermographic photographs with infrared cameras to show where heat is lost.

A thermographic camera measures and visualizes the thermal radiation from objects. Temperatures (infrared radiation) are measured from a distance and depicted in different colors. Thermographic images show heat distribution on surfaces. Bright ranges (yellow, red, white) indicate high thermal radiation.

Benefits

Surfaces with high radiation losses are generally revealed via infrared thermography. In addition to leaky spots where warm air escapes, further heat bridges with high energy losses at building connections (ceilings, walls and windows), leaks in water pipelines or heater pipes, and accumulations of mold can be identified.

A major advantage of this energy check is that it is contactless and so does not require any interference with the built substance. Structural or insulation errors can be detected, and targeted renovation measures can be conducted economically. Different ambient temperatures (e.g., office, workshop, storage rooms) mean different thermal losses.

Infrared thermography also helps to set priorities for renovation. For example, higher ambient temperatures mean higher thermal losses if the thermal insulation in the office is worse than in the workshop part. In this case the office should be renovated before the workshop.