The Thermal Imaging Plumber

What is a thermal imaging plumber I hear you ask?

OK let me explain.

With the technology that is now available today for our modern plumbing and heating engineers. We can now trace blockages as well as water leaks and more with a thermal imaging camera.

Whereas before these cameras arrived these problems were trace by digging up concrete floors, lifting wooden flooring, basically it was a time consuming trying to trace out the problem, as well as expensive for the customer.

Modern technology has now produce a thermal imaging camera that can see where the plumbing and heating engineers cannot.

These thermal cameras have been around for sometime, but they have been way too expensive for the plumbing and heating boys.

Now that the costs have come down a little they are now within their reach.

All Gas Safe Registered Engineers must have a flue gas analyser in their tool kit which as we know is another very expensive piece of kit, now we have the thermal camera that can be added to the kit.

Thermal Imaging Plumber

We can now be known as the thermal imaging plumber who can find leaks and blockages with a camera instead of working basically blind.

So what can the thermal imaging camera do?

The camera can be very useful when maintaining or even installing a central heating system. You can check the temperature difference of any pipes located under flooring, this is very important when commissioning a central heating system. If there is a restriction within the pipe it will show you on the image display.

Let’s look at the home radiator

These thermal cameras will pinpoint any form of blockage within the radiator.

You may have notice that your radiator in your living room is not as hot as let’s say last year.

With the camera we can now basically look inside the radiator and see if any blockages are present as well as the condition internally. You can then make a decision on what’s your next cause of action.

Wet Under-floor Heating

This is the best bit; these thermal imaging cameras will show you the exact route the under-floor heating pipes take.

Let’s say you have recently moved into a new property, the central heating system is made up of under-floor heating in some rooms and radiators in others.

As normal when you move into a new property you want to put your own touch on it, and make it your own. You want to change the floor to something new, but it has under-floor heating.

Now, as you have no details of how the under-floor heating pipe work is laid out, you could damage the pipes trying to change the flooring.

This is where the thermal imaging plumber or heating engineer comes in. The camera will pinpoint the whole under floor heating circuit for you. You will be able to follow it on the camera screen. No more guess work, but most important no damage to the pipes.

Water Leakage

Tracing a water leak can sometimes be time consuming and expensive for the customer. You could have a leak lets say coming from your bathroom which is located upstairs to the left, but the leak is showing up on the right side of the property and dripping through the ceiling.

So the first place you would look is directly above where the water is dripping, this is normal. Water will travel the easiest route, so if the route takes it to the other side of the property, you can see it’s involved tracing the source.

With the thermal imaging camera, you can trace the route of the leak and locate the source without removing any flooring, ceilings or causing any damage.

Conclusion

These thermal imaging cameras will eventually become part our plumbing and heating engineers tool kits. They can and will save the customer on the final repair invoice.

They also make you look more professional in your work. As customers become more aware of these cameras and what they can do, they will start searching for a thermal imaging plumber instead of just a normal plumber.