Temperature reading guns.
- Thread starter iaith
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Is this for a bit of DIY use, or for your work?
The problem with guns is that the spot they measure can vary in size depending on your distance from the object; there can be some calibration issues between where the laser points and the spot; and waving a gun around to try and find cold spots, can be a bit hit and miss.
These problems can all be worked around for a DIY'er, but for a pro, a thermal camera will give (literally) a much better picture.
Thanks for the reply, I hadn't considered a thermal camera, I'll certainly look into it, I'm not sure whether I fall into the professional or diy category as I'm a one man band builder. I normally put my hands on things to check the temperature but it's not very scientific.
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I bought cheap one at an autojumble for temp readings on carbs/manifolds and (like everyone) wandered about measuring everything.
My employer's head honcho came to measure our environment and his was identical to mine that was £25.
I took mine to someone with super accurate scientific gear and mine was fine.
You can't use them for humans (not at that price range)
I lost my original and have never calibrated/compared my replacement but all I do is comparative measurement.
ie is "this" hotter/colder than "that"
My employer's head honcho came to measure our environment and his was identical to mine that was £25.
I took mine to someone with super accurate scientific gear and mine was fine.
You can't use them for humans (not at that price range)
I lost my original and have never calibrated/compared my replacement but all I do is comparative measurement.
ie is "this" hotter/colder than "that"
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D
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I have a cheap Parkside from LiDL. Serms to work OK but it's no FLIR camera. I borrowed a FLIR add on module for my phone (Android) and that was far better - just not sure I want to spend £200+ on one (BTW, talking DIY here)
The make or model won't matter as you are only interested in relative temperature difference, not actual.
In any case, these devices measure emissivity, not temperature and this is affected by the surface material, colour and texture.
In any case, these devices measure emissivity, not temperature and this is affected by the surface material, colour and texture.
No, these devices detect and measure infrared energy and estimate the apparent surface temperature of the object.
Yes, the recorded temperature is effected by the surface - and this is the emissivity.
Most building materials have good emmisivity around about 90% (Brick, plaster, concrete, painted surfaces etc) and so have realistic surface measurements by IR.
Poor emmisivity <60% would lead to poor temperature estimates by IR, i.e. unpainted metal and polished surfaces (e.g. polished aluminium 4%).
....and this is another good reason for using an IR camera, over a gun. You can usually see false reflections of heat on an image, that you wouldn't capture with a gun (not my pic):
Are we spitting helical strips of keratin?
Emissivity is the emiission of energy such as IR, which the device interprets.
No, not splitting hairs.
Emmisivity is the ratio of the energy radiated from a surface, compared to that of a blackbody.
A concrete block has an emmisivity of around 90%. When we heat the block up, its emmisity won't change, but it's temperature will.
The IR camera is not measuring the objects emmisivity.
They work well enough for quick rough measurements of surfaces, hunting down small areas of difference can be a bit trickier but is doable as long as you're systematic but IR cameras are getting cheaper and better all the time.
The emissivity discussion above is only really an issue if you trying to measure shiny metal surfaces, they'll give a false reading that is way off, for measuring tiles, walls etc they're fine.
The emissivity discussion above is only really an issue if you trying to measure shiny metal surfaces, they'll give a false reading that is way off, for measuring tiles, walls etc they're fine.
Emissivity is the ability of the surface material to give off the energy (IR), and that is why surfaces of different materials with different emissivity will (without interpretation) show different temperature readings even if the different materials are actually at the same temperature.
Yes these IR thermometers do read temperature and I worded my initial post poorly. What I should have clarified is that these devices rely on the emissivity of the surface material to get the temperature reading and in the context of this thread, the OP can't just point an IR camera at all the surfaces around the house and rely on those surfaces being the temperature displayed on the device.
We have one of these for personal use but it has a switch for temp. measuring other things around the home & seems easy to use & accurate. https://www.amazon.co.uk/TPZ-Infrar...s_2826284031_sccl_3/262-5749603-3062134?psc=1
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