Someone over on IP showed some examples of using a FLIR One several months ago to diagnose heat related issues and I thought it looked like a useful tool.

Ordered one recently and had some time to play with it for the first time at the house today.  Available for iPhone or Android for $250... here's some images.

Does it help at all to identify things inside walls? I had an HVAC contractor tell me he had one and uses it to sort of x-ray walls. But unfortunately, he didn't have it with him so I could see it.

Can you test it around some walls, windows and doors?
I'm curious how it does to identify hot/cold spots.

I have the first generation of this Flir One, was made for iPhone 5 only. And the above pictures are basically what you'll get. Sure you might be able to see small differences on the wall surfaces. But behind that wall, the temperature difference is very great in order to get a small on the visible side.

The resolution of this particular camera is not that great. In order to be able to "see through" the wall, you'll need to spend top dollar for that camera.

But it can help you find air leaks in the wall or next to windows or doors.

However, I haven't had the chance with this new generation. So it might be better.

KOT

I pointed it at exterior walls and could clearly see the framing and pipes inside the wall (really cool), but this didn't work on interior walls because there wasn't any temperature differential.  I expect heating or cooling ducts would be visible in walls/ceilings if the heat or AC was running.

It does indeed show leaks...  my house has T&G wood ceiling with wood trim where the walls meet the ceiling.  A couple areas have cracks and it easily showed the heat leaking in from the attic space.

I didn't take pictures of any of this, but did walk around the entire house checking stuff out.  I only have a small section of attic space, but only about half of it is insulated.  Outside temps were only about 70 deg today (same as inside), but the ceiling below the non-insulated attic space showed about 7 deg warmer than the ceiling below the insulated section.

I have a take over job with a small equipment closet that's really hot and not really sure what's causing it.  Should be there in the next couple weeks and I think this will be helpful to find out what's creating all the heat.

Man those Araknis Routers run hot.

I have been thinking about a FLIR thermal cam for outdoor use to trigger lights or other events more reliably then motion alone.

I have one and you can see if the dog or cat has been sleeping on the furniture.

Here's a couple images that show framing within the walls.  It's not enough detail to take measurements from, but does a good job of showing you what's there:





This is the door to the closet where my rack is.  The closet has active ventilation, but you can still see where the hotter routing and switching gear is located near the top of the rack even though the door:



This one shows some warm air leaking in from the attic space where the wood beams meet up with the ceiling.  The heat ran some last night and the register is still showing that it's warmer than the surrounding wall:

Wow, looks like the newest is far better than the original one. And there are models for iPhone or Android.

KOT