A failing connection announces itself as heat long before it announces itself as a smell. Thermal imaging finds that heat without opening a wall, which is the whole point of it.
Thermal imaging finds loose connections before they fail
Current through a tight connection makes almost no heat. Through a loose one it makes a great deal, and that heat degrades the connection further, so the problem accelerates. A camera sees that difference long before a person can smell or feel it, which is the same failure described in breaker panel repair.
The two places it earns its keep are panels and outlets. In a panel it finds terminations running warm that look perfectly ordinary with the naked eye, which is why it pairs naturally with a panel and breaker inspection.
It is also the honest way to check a suspicion. Where somebody reports a smell they cannot locate, scanning is faster and less destructive than opening things speculatively, and burning smells and hot outlets covers what happens once the source is found.
Fresh install
How it runs
A thermal imaging visit in Buffalo, four steps
Load the circuits
Nothing shows on a cold circuit, so the house is put to work before anything is scanned.
Open the panel
A scan through a closed cover is a photograph of a cover. It comes off, as it does for any real panel work.
Scan and compare
Terminations compared against each other rather than against an absolute number, because ambient conditions move everything.
Images to you
You get the pictures, not a description of them. Anything found is quoted separately.
What it cannot do
Thermal imaging inspection needs the circuits live
The limitation matters as much as the capability. Heat only appears under load, so a circuit that is switched off or lightly used photographs exactly like a healthy one. Scanning has to be done with the house working rather than at a convenient quiet moment. It also sees surfaces rather than through them. A connection deep inside a wall cavity may not raise the surface temperature enough to register, and a panel cover has to come off for the scan to mean anything.
Anyone offering a scan through a closed panel is selling a photograph rather than an inspection, which is why a panel inspection is the sensible frame for it. Added to an electrical inspection it runs $150 to $350, and $100 to $500 as a standalone visit. Figures are example ranges and pricing depends on how much is being scanned.
As an addition to an electrical safety inspection it is usually the better value, because the panel is already open. Where the scan finds something, the repair is quoted separately, and breaker panel repair covers what a warm termination in the panel usually needs.
$150 to $350 added to an electrical inspection, or $100 to $500 as a standalone visit. Example ranges, and adding it to an inspection is usually better value because the panel is already open.
No. It sees surface temperature, so a connection deep in a cavity may not register. It is very good at panels and outlets and less certain about buried junctions.
Yes, and properly loaded. Heat only appears under current, so a quiet house photographs exactly like a healthy one.
You can point a camera at a closed cover, but it tells you almost nothing. The cover comes off, as it does for any real panel work.
You get the images and a separate quote for the repair. Finding it is the inspection; fixing it is a different piece of work.
Less often, but it still finds loose terminations, which are a workmanship issue rather than an age one. It is most useful where a panel is heavily loaded or something has been added since.
Customer reviews
What Buffalo customers say about the thermal imaging scan
