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Finally caved and bought a $300 thermal camera for my phone
I mean, I always thought it was a cool toy but not really needed for our work. Had a call last week where a homeowner swore their motion sensor was tripping randomly at night. Spent like two hours checking wiring and alignment, nothing. Pulled out the thermal cam and spotted a tiny heat signature right above the sensor. Turns out it was a hot water pipe in the wall that had a small leak, heating up the drywall just enough to trigger the PIR. Fixed the pipe, sensor works perfect now. Anyone else found a weird use for a tool you bought on a whim?
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verar636mo ago
Honestly, that's the kind of thing that makes it worth it. I grabbed one a while back just for fun, but tbh it saved me a huge headache last winter. My own thermostat kept reading way too cold, and I couldn't figure out why. Pointed the camera at the wall around it and found a massive cold spot from a draft coming right through the outlet behind it. Never would have found it without seeing the temperature difference like that.
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finleythomas6mo ago
That cold spot story reminds me of when my cat kept sleeping in one weird corner. Thermal cam showed the floor heating vent right under that spot was actually working.
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