Thermal cameras ?

I am currently looking for the right camera, Can anyone help. I would like a middle o f the road imager. Fluke, flir, electratech ? I must prepay and order the camera without seeing it first. What are the rest of you guys using and what are the downsides to your choosen eyes.

Thanks guys

Flir had a BCAM for $3900.
May be gone by now.

Check with John McKenna, he posted it and I got the scoop from flir.
Next level is $15k on sale. Then $24k

The Flir guys will be contacting me in the next couple of weeks with one around $5,000. Do you want me to update you when they give me the details?

Do not buy the $3000 i5 Extech unless you have to.
Spend about $5000 and get the FLIR BACM SD

http://www.infraredcertifiedstore.com/store/contents/media/bcam_large.jpg

http://www.infraredcertifiedstore.com/store/

I am looking at the Flir B200. It is a newer cam with better sensitivity and resolution. It is also upgradeable so that as your business grows and avenues open into other areas of thermography, the camera can be upgraded to add new features. Cost more to start, but it is better in the long run in my opinion.

Yes, that would be great

Cheers,

I bought mine from FLIR in Ontario last winter. I paid $ 6,795. plus taxes for the B-CAM SD. One week later they were selling the very same camera for about $ 5,000. When I asked them why they didn’t advise me a week earlier that the price would be dropping like a stone, they basically told me to take a hike. They claimed they knew nothing about the reduction. I know a lot about retail business, and there is a lot more lead time than a week for prices to change that dramatically.

They offered to give me $ 500. off the cost of a $ 2,000 course which I never intended to take because there are better ones available, but I already knew they had offered that deal to may others.

It’s a great camera, but their customer relations suck. I would recommend the B-Cam SD to anyone, but I would suggest buying it through Pro-Lab or Professional Equipment or someone like that.

Just sour Grapes
Bill Mullen

And if you have bought numerous items from Professional Equipment in the past, speak with a salesman, they will give you a quote less than what is on their website for a Cam (quite a bit less).

They sure will,

Gord, I will PM you when they contact me.

Can any one please explain to me why colleagues suddenly feel the urge to buy expensive thermal cameras to carry out *“visual” *home inspections in a depressed real estate market?

Rudolf Reusse - Toronto

Rudolph writes:

I think you answered your question within your question. Basic economics demand that inspectors find additional sources of revenue, new tools to differentiate themselves from the competition, and new ways to command higher fee structures.

http://www.nachi.tv/episode47

What depressed real estate market? Things are still pretty good around here, maybe not as much sales as the last 3 years but houses are still moving reasonably well.

In very rough numbers in North America this past year, the number of home inspectors decreased by about 35% and the number of sales decreased by about 25% so actually there should be more real estate inspections per inspector.

What you are going to see is fewer inspectors (InterNACHI members if I have anything to do with it) doing more inspections… industry consolidation.

Nick, that is taking the U.S. housing market into the assesment, if you look at strictly the Canadian market it has not slowed anywhere near the numbers that the U.S. experienced.

Canadian’s were not as stupid as Americans in either taking or making loans.

That’s one of the reasons why home inspections must be as accurate as possible. Americans buy into homes by taking loans out on their kids! If you miss something and it costs $500 to repair they may end up going into foreclosure!
Then you get sued for more than the house is worth!

Depressed market? Are you sure you live in Toronto?

Just passed my level one last night. Took the ITC coarse first week in AUG.and sent in the field test part of the coarse on Tuesday of this week and recieved an e-mail from ITC last night confirming that I passd.

Congratulations Rob!!!

Thanks Mario Next step is to start marketing it, so I can pay for the camera. With the other half of the company doing Eco-Energy should not be to hard.