Thermal Cameras (12 products)

Thermal imaging technology is essential across several industries, professions, and personal projects. Thermal cameras can be used for building inspections, HVAC and plumbing, identifying electrical issues and water damage, and more. They’re also an essential part of any firefighter’s kit and can be beneficial for DIY enthusiasts making renovations to their homes. Whatever you need a thermal camera for, Johnny Appleseed GPS has the range to suit. View our selection below and read through our FAQs further down the page. If you need help deciding on the right product for your needs, be sure to get in touch or visit your local store.

Explore High-Precision Thermal Cameras for Enhanced Visibility

Our range includes various high-precision thermal cameras, which are essential for anyone who works in an industry where accurate thermal readings are required. For example, think of an electrician who needs to find a wiring issue where an excess of heat could be accumulating in one problem spot. The same pinpoint precision can be beneficial in fields such as medicine, science, climate monitoring, aerospace, industrial quality control, firefighting, and more.

High-precision thermal cameras accurately measure the most minute fluctuations in temperature, which is an absolute must in many professions.

How to Choose the Right Thermal Camera for Your Needs

Deciding on the right thermal camera will largely depend on what you’re measuring and why.

For example, if you’re a firefighter who’s dealing with an outdoor fire (such as a bush fire), you may just need a thermal camera that can measure broader extremes in temperature. As such, you may be able to use a thermal camera that just has enough precision to inform you of the general collective temperature within a fire hotspot.

By the same token, you may need a thermal camera with a wide field of view to measure temperatures of a distant blaze or a higher-precision camera if you’re trying to identify the source of a fire within an enclosed space (apartment building, office, etc.).

Having higher precision thermal cameras with wide measurement ranges (e.g. measuring temperatures between -20°C and 400°C) can be essential in specific jobs, such as house inspections or for electricians identifying an electrical fault within a building.

The higher the precision and resolution of the camera, the better they are at identifying minor fluctuations in temperature. This can allow inspectors to identify water damage, faulty electrical wiring, sections of the building that generate intense heat, and more.

The best approach is to consider your professional or personal objectives in using a thermal camera, identify the five key features you can’t do without, and then consider what’s available. You may even find that a thermal camera for smartphones is a good option, or perhaps you’ll need a standalone thermal camera.

Key Features to Look for in a Thermal Camera

Some key features we suggest looking for in a thermal camera include:

  • Thermal resolution: the higher the resolution, the easier it is to decipher between minor temperature differences.
  • Temperature range: the greater the range, the more temperatures you can measure for. Typical ranges usually run between -20°C to 400°C; specialised cameras can measure up to much higher temperatures such as 2000°C.
  • Temperature accuracy: the better the accuracy, the more reliable the temperature readouts will be.
  • Field of view: a wider field of view is good for capturing larger areas (e.g. bushland) while a narrower field of view is ideal for zoning in on distant or specific targets (e.g. a faulty power point).
  • Built-in camera overlays: a camera overlay helps you more clearly visualise where a temperature spike or drop is occurring.
  • Battery life: if the use of a thermal camera is key to your day-to-day work, then you’ll want to purchase one with a healthy battery life, or one that allows for the easy replacement or quick charge of batteries.

FAQs for Thermal Cameras

While the specific technology that makes thermal cameras work can differ between brands and products, the key component that applies to all of them is their ability to measure infrared (IR) radiation.

All thermal cameras are equipped with IR sensors, which allow them to detect and measure the levels of IR radiation in any given space. And unlike visible light, IR radiation is detectable in complete darkness. So, no matter the time of day, thermal cameras will return comprehensive results.

The higher the level of IR radiation an object emits, the warmer its temperature. This radiation is reflected in thermal cameras in one of two ways.

First, if the thermal camera shows IR radiation in greyscale, cooler spots in the image will be a dark grey to black colour, and warmer spots will be brighter shades of grey.

Second, for thermal cameras that utilise colour, objects with low IR radiation will often show up in hues of blue or purple while objects with higher levels of IR radiation will display variations of yellow, orange and red.

There are many use cases for thermal cameras, including:

  • Used during home inspections to identify possible issues with wiring, gas, water damage, or rooms that accumulate excess levels of heat.
  • Similarly, electricians can use thermal cameras to identify faulty wiring, damaged outlets, faulty power boards, etc.
  • Can be used in search and rescue efforts to find missing persons (e.g. people who went missing in bushland)
  • Used in scientific applications to ensure precise temperature ranges are maintained.
  • Used in medical applications in various ways: to detect fevers, identify minute changes in the underlying tissue, detect inflamed organs or muscles, etc.
  • Used in agriculture to assess if general ground and soil temperatures are increasing or decreasing, which can impact crops and harvest yields.
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