Finding energy leaks - cheaply

Extech Instruments Corp., with headquarters in Waltham, and its Billerica-based parent company say they have produced the first infrared camera to detect energy leaks that sells for under $3,000.

The price makes the camera - it's based on the military technology developed 40 years ago at a cost of millions of dollars - more feasible for home inspectors to use to find energy leaks and for small manufacturers to use to pinpoint overheating equipment, a safety hazard.

Previously, competing models cost $5,000, according to Extech, with other versions priced as high as $10,000.

Ray Grice, owner of gMc Services Plus, a Florida company that subcontracts for air conditioning installers and tests their work for energy leaks, already owns the new camera model, called the i5.

"It pretty much pays my bills," Grice said. "It's very light, but it's durable, and it's very easy to use."

The product is being marketed to factory managers who can use it to detect overheating equipment and make repairs before machinery breaks down or, worse, catches on fire. But one of the biggest markets is home inspectors, company officials said. In addition to finding energy leaks, the i5 camera can be used to see wires that are overheating in walls, preventing another common fire hazard.

Grice said his year-old business is almost entirely dependent on the camera. It adds a "whole new dimension to HVAC work," he said.

"It makes certifying the job easy," Grice said of the process that it uses to determine whether heating and air conditioning work has been properly completed. "When you leave the job site you have certifiable documentation on your card, and that record can be saved for as long as needed."

Tom O'Toole, a thermography expert at Flir Systems Inc., which originally developed the device and is the parent company of Extech, described the images captured by the camera as resembling scenes from the 1987 science fiction film "Predator." In the film, an extraterrestrial creature stalks a team of commandos, led by Arnold Schwarzenegger, but the alien can be seen only in infrared images. The screen shots depicting the monster helped garner the film an Academy Award nomination for best visual effects.

"It's a pretty valuable piece of equipment," O'Toole said of the new camera.

The i5 resembles a radar detector; it's just under 9 inches long and weighs 12 ounces. "It doesn't shoot anything out, it just captures images," O'Toole said.

Pistol-grip designs have helped bring down the cost of the camera, O'Toole said.

Also, the Extech i5 differs from more expensive models in that it does not use a liquid coolant, something that was standard in older designs. Newer computer technologies have eliminated the need for the coolant.

While the $3,000 price tag limits the camera's prospects as a consumer item - even as homeowners worry about skyrocketing energy costs - some of the older models were too expensive even for home inspectors, said Extech spokesman Andre Rebelo.

"It's still not going to be a stocking stuffer - it's not at the point where it's configured for a home user," Rebelo said. But for an inspector, he said, the i5 "can pay for itself over the course of a single winter."