Analyzing capacity of a consumer-grade infrared camera in South Africa for cost-effective aerial inspection of building envelopes

Prohibitive equipment cost and certain export regulations are the major obstacles to the widespread adoption of infrared (IR) thermography when evaluating building envelopes. In this work, we propose the use of an affordable and easily available camera as a first step of making the technology accessible. Combined with image post-processing, we hypothesize that a low-cost, low-resolution, and consumer-grade device can provide an economic alternative for the periodic evaluation of building envelopes. Following a market survey, the Seek Thermal Compact (STC) was chosen for evaluation. The STC was able to accurately measure the temperature of surfaces and distinguish small thermal anomalies (3 mm in diameter), and the IR images can be post-processed to reasonably estimate the anomaly areas. The STC was particularly effective when images were taken within 1.75 m from the surface. The 1.75 m distance did not pose a challenge in this study, as the goal was to mount the selected IR camera on an unmanned aerial vehicle for the surveys. The small size and weight of the STC were also useful. The results from the analysis of the capability of the STC and the image post-processing techniques may help form the basis of future investigations aiming at lowering the cost of building thermographic surveys.