Winter has arrived! Have you completed your building's thermal scan yet?

Lots of snow in the mountains and freezing temperatures - looks like winter has arrived. As temperatures continue to drop, how can you be sure you are not losing precious heat because of unseen heat loss? Rather than put another sweater on (and maybe some gloves and a hat!) consider a thermal imaging scan.

A infrared inspection will inspect the quality of insulation inside your building, as well as numerous other areas where heat loss can occur, such as cracks or breaks in building seals. Temperature scans inside and outside – along ceilings, floors, walls, windows, doors, vents and pipes – immediately show problem areas. A thermal imager with a blower door will quickly locate other sources of heat loss, such as insufficient insulation or broken seals, leaking HVAC ductwork or improper construction techniques.

Another quick hint is that wood alone is NOT a good insulator. Replacing inefficient wood doors with insulated fiberglass or metal doors is a good investment. With energy prices out of sight, replacement costs can be recovered quickly.


Interested in learning more? Call me at                         803-328-2889             and let’s talk!

IR Infrared Services provides top quality thermographic service at a competitive price to commercial  users in North Carolina and South Carolina. For more information, visit http://www.irinfraredservices.com/ or follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/infraredscans. We are proud to offer the very best thermography services in North Carolina and South Carolina!

Amazing use of Thermography! Fracking and Released Gases

As I've mentioned in the past, one of the people who works for me is a college student. She's taking an environmental science class, or as she not-so-fondly refers to it "Dirt Class." Last week she was excited to see infrared thermal imaging used in yet another real-world setting.

Turns out her class is looking at fracking. Now, no political statements here - fracking is a way to release natural gas for use as a fuel source. It is supposed to be a clean and environmentally friendly way to release this almost un-exhaustible source of fuel. Basically, highly-pressurized water and chemicals is forcibly injected into the rock layer. The rock fractures and gas is released and captured. Fracking is highly controversial.

All that water and chemical has to go somewhere - and that's where my favorite student made the connection. You see, alot of the water is vented back out as steam which appears quite benign. Only through the use of infrared cameras can you see the chemicals also being released into the atmosphere. Here's a video from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (www.gao.gov), entitled Vented Gas Visible Through Infrared Camera.

Now, I sincerely hope you don't have to call me to check for dangerous gas emissions leaking from your home or business - but isn't it nice to know you could? Remember - what you don't see - CAN hurt you.

Interested in learning more? Call me at                         803-328-2889             and let’s talk!

IR Infrared Services provides top quality thermographic service at a competitive price to commercial  users in North Carolina and South Carolina. For more information, visit http://www.irinfraredservices.com/ or follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/infraredscans. We are proud to offer the very best thermography services in North Carolina and South Carolina!

University Uses Infrared Scans to Locate Steam Pipeline Issues

I recently got a call from a local University who was having problems with their buried steam lines. This system was approximately 50 years old and supplied steam to the residence halls and other University buildings. They were buried approx. 6 feet under the ground and crisscrossed the campus under lawns, roadways, sidewalks and parking lots.

The problem was that the steam lines were leaking and the heat was affecting the area above the lines, killing grass. Visible steam was coming up through numerous manhole covers, even in the middle of a very warm summer day in August in South Carolina!

We scheduled the infrared scan at 5 in the morning to allow us to have a differential temperature in the ground. Even at this hour some of the latent heat remaining in the ground from the sun of the daytime, measured 80 plus degrees F. We then started from one end of the line and progressed to the other end, marking abnormally high temperatures with marking paint.

We determined the general condition of the piping was poorly insulated with surface temperatures of 100 degrees F plus, probably due to methods of insulating at the time and the breakdown of the insulation over time. We additionally discovered areas of extremely high surface temperature in the 150 degree F range and some manhole covers that were close to 200 degrees!

These areas will be dug up and repairs made to the lines and insulation. We also found a steam line that extended out into a parking lot and just ended under a car. It was later determined that this line had gone to a maintenance shop which had been torn down years ago and the line had not been capped.

So what's the moral of this story?

Finding and fixing costly leaks and reducing liability (can you imagine if someone stepped a barefoot on a 200 degree manhole cover? Yikes!) is an important use of infrared scanning technology. By using infrared thermography, this university saved thousands and thousands of dollars in detection costs, and was able to find and fix the exact problem. Now that's a smart school.


Interested in learning more? Call me at                         803-328-2889             and let’s talk!

IR Infrared Services provides top quality thermographic service at a competitive price to commercial  users in North Carolina and South Carolina. For more information, visit http://www.irinfraredservices.com/ or follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/infraredscans. We are proud to offer the very best thermography services in North Carolina and South Carolina!

Help! My Roof is Leaking!

Did you see the recent pictures of the unexpected snow up north? Wow. Of course, after the dig out, a whole new host of issues often occurs. After a bad storm, often roof leaks make their appearance. Unfortunately, the source can be hard to find - and in the middle of a cold winter, you don't want to spend time on wet and rotting insulation, fixing and repairing roof issues, or figuring out why the seals around your chimney aren't holding! So now just might be the time to schedule an infrared roof scan for your building.

Often the place where the leak shows up can be very far away from where the actual roof damage exist. As water enters the roof through the waterproofing layer(s) by tears, cuts, poorly sealed penetrations, failed flashings and caps, the insulation below can become laden with water and trapped in the roof substrate. If left in disrepair, the concrete deck absorbs or traps water, the wood deck rots. The metal deck rusts, and water intrudes into the building’s interior. Often the visible signs (wet walls, for example) are not even close to the actual roof damage, so examining the roof above where the leak occurs often reveals nothing. That's not where the problem is.

Infrared imaging is a proven method for identifying and defining moisture problems in your roof. This way you can correct problem areas without the tremendous expense of replacing the entire roof.


Interested in learning more? Call me at                         803-328-2889             and let’s talk!

IR Infrared Services provides top quality thermographic service at a competitive price to commercial  users in North Carolina and South Carolina. For more information, visit http://www.irinfraredservices.com/ or follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/infraredscans. We are proud to offer the very best thermography services in North Carolina and South Carolina!