Building owners are always looking for ways to reduce their bills, especially when those bills are increasing dramatically. Commercial properties and homeowners alike are all struggling to adapt to the current cost-of-living crisis, resulting in the development of invaluable assessment tools such as thermal imaging cameras.
Thermal imaging reveals the condition and effectiveness of many building areas related to your energy bills. For example, your building's energy usage may be inflated if the thermal envelope, plumbing or electrics are compromised somewhere. Additionally, thermal imaging assists building managers in maintaining safety in their buildings, as damaged or malfunctioning connections can be a fire hazard if left unattended.
Read on to learn why businesses are investing in thermography and saving long-term money thanks to detailed thermal imaging surveys of their electrical systems.
What Are Thermal Imaging Surveys?
Thermography is already widely used in industrial and commercial building assessments as it is an effective tool for monitoring and diagnosing electrical systems. When you schedule a thermal survey, a trained professional with a high-end thermal camera will conduct a detailed observation of one or multiple buildings you own and record specific IR data, which can be analysed to expose areas of your building that can be improved.
IR (Infrared radiation) is a part of the electromagnetic spectrum related to the heat emitted off objects. For example, all objects with a temperature above absolute zero will emit a specific amount of IR, and with the sensors in a thermal imaging camera, this can be observed and measured.
The heat emitted by elements of a building can provide a substantial amount of information to the owner about its condition. For example, apart from assessing the electrics, a Thermographic survey is highly effective for reviewing your building’s thermal envelope by showing the effectiveness of your insulation, an important area to address to reduce your cost of living and therefore reduce your business expenses.
How Does Thermal Imaging Apply to Electrics?
Essentially, our thermal imaging cameras detect the infrared radiation given by working electrics or the lack of it in the case of malfunctioning components.
The absence or abundance of heat from these electrical systems will be analysed to reveal the system's condition. For example, the connections on an electrical panel or system working within standard parameters will consistently emit a steady degree of heat, and a faulty system will not. A failed component or connection will read as much colder as the absence of electrical current eliminates the emitted IR. Alternatively, a component or area might have too much current passing through it, or its protective casing has been compromised, making it read much hotter as it emits more IR than usual.
Thermal imaging cameras use a sensor that can detect and measure temperature and then generate a visual overlay of the observed image to identify the specific location quickly. This allows our technicians to identify the hotspots or temperature anomalies that indicate a problem with the electrical system, such as loose connections or faulty components. By recognising these issues early, maintenance can be performed before more serious problems occur.
Benefits of Electrical Surveys for Businesses
Remember, all thermographic surveys are a non-invasive method for assessing the condition of a building, machinery, or electrics. This means that a trained engineer can conduct a electrical thermographic survey on vital areas such as electrical panels and systems whilst they are being used during your daily operations uninterrupted. Using our range of high-end cameras, it will be immediately apparent which elements of your electrics are running within intended parameters and which need maintenance.
Common areas that will be surveyed are:
These surveys are also effective for monitoring the machinery within your building as well as the structure itself. Thermal imaging is often used to assess the condition of industrial machinery for either wear on parts or internal electronics. This is achieved by interpreting the surface temperatures being emitted by these observed components.
Additionally, thermal imaging is widely used to inspect various renewable energy sources, such as solar panels. So, if your facility has solar panels on the roof for green energy generation, a survey can also reveal their condition and show if any panels have malfunctioning elements.
Regular Electrical Assessments
There are significant benefits to conducting regular surveys of electrical systems, but the most significant is to include them in your regular maintenance checks. Whether your maintenance schedule is one, three, six months, or even annual, including a thermal survey will provide a wealth of data that will inform your preventative maintenance plans in the future.
When our expert team of level two certified engineers use a thermal imaging camera for electrical inspections to observe electrics by detecting this infrared radiation emitted by the equipment, it is an effective method of checking surface wiring for hidden breaks, electrical connection integrity and performing general condition assessments. So whilst an electrical thermographic survey will not immediately fix the discovered issues, it will provide you with invaluable information about precisely what is wrong. This lets you organise precise maintenance at the specific location with fewer disruptions to your daily business.
Thermographic Electric System Surveys From Thermascan
At Thermascan, we have worked with businesses to provide them with detailed thermal imaging anywhere in the UK.
Before starting the assessment, our engineers may visit your business to ensure they are prepared to conduct a detailed assessment and provide you with all the necessary information. Then, depending on the specifics of your location, a risk assessment, method statements, and any other information you need for the electrical survey will be given to you. In addition, you will receive an insurance-compliant, in-depth report of our findings that includes digital and thermal images of key components.
The importance of these surveys is the information they reveal in a non-invasive, convenient way to the building owner, and we are here to provide it for you. If you have any questions about our cameras for hire or our thermal electrics surveys, contact us, and we’ll help.