I want this 'hot' app for my smart phone, and there isn't one.

C'mon...where is it?

[ScottM]

I want this app:

I want to go into my garage and point my smartphone at any area in the garage and have it display on the screen where I'm losing heat (or cooling, if that is the season.)

I want a smartphone app that will show me the infrared areas where my garage is "leaking" heat so I can plug those holes and keep my garage nice and warm for wintertime. (Summertime the door is open, so that doesn't matter to me, much)

I'd pay $50+ for this app if it worked as I wanted it to work.

I'd use it in other rooms in the house...and I'd save more $$$ (in heating and cooling costs) than the app by finding those holes in the house...and plugging them.

Where is that app for my droid phone?

[Leosghost]

Apps can't remove the IR filter in the camera hardware if there is one..

But if you can hack the hardware..totally voiding any warranty :) it ought to be possible..

Here ( France ) you can rent a live thermal imaging camera from the local "Marie" ( pronounced mare*-ee, where the maire / mayor has his office ) ( town/city hall )..for a day or two ..about $25.00 per day..it's the pro equipment..$25.00 can save you a fortune, come winter..

*mare is like in horse..so mare-ee..rhymes with Carey..like with Mariah..

Hey ..you are the guy with the "make the missing part business"..make the app and the hardware mod for the camera phone..you can do it from scratch ..I have some ..right here ..under this roundtooit..:)

[incrediBILL]

Like the man said, it's not an app thing, it's a hardware thing.

Can you say filters? :)

What you need is a filter for a digital camera but the gels are about $30 and the real filters are about $100.
[pcmag.com...]

The silicon used in digital camera sensors is sensitive to near infrared light, so if we physically filter out visible light, then what's left will be the infrared image. There are a variety of filters available to do this. Some of the best are made by Harrison & Harrison, but commercial filters can cost over $100. One inexpensive alternative is to use unexposed but processed slide film (it looks black). Tape it over your lens opening and it will allow infrared to pass through while blocking visible light. Or you can buy a small "gel" filter that admits infrared for about $30. Look for a Wratten 87 filter made by Lee or Kodak to get started.

If you have a film camera a cheap one shot alternative might be just buy a roll of IR film, assuming it's still in production, and then see if you can find anyone still processing it.

I should check my camera bag, I thought I had a Wratten 87 filter, can't remember!

[jimbeetle]

For what is probably a one-time use type of thing the best bet is to check your local home center for a rental.

[ScottM]

Thanks folks!
I'll research the "rental" idea.

I'm certain I'd save $25 the first year, so it would be worth it.

I DO like the idea of converting older digital cameras, but I'm not really good at that. However, we do have many older digital cameras the kids use for fun, so I'm not against taking a screwdriver to an old camera at the kitchen table this winter.

Maybe I should look into that?

Oddly enough, incrediBILL, from the article you provided, the guy has a Nikon D70. I've actually got one of those I bought for my wife years ago! (She was a military photographer)

I also have a Sony DSL "Alpha 100" that is gathering dust.

Leosghost? I'm mostly a 'metal guy' for my full-time job. Long story, but think lasers and thick metal.

Hmmm...
It just occurred to me that I have an older video camera, a Sony, that has infrared setting?

Now WHERE is that battery!

[Leosghost]

Yep ..a large number of Sonys do have infra red facility..in the form of the usual IR filter that exists in other cameras..but on some of the Sonys it can be moved out of the lens to image chip line..

Some cameras that don't advertise IR imagery nevertheless do have IR capability ( because their filters are not as strong or do not exist ) ..but they would require longer exposure times and a tripod to avid shake during those times ..

One way to check if you have a camera that can "see" IR..( do this inside, and in the dark or dim light ) point a TV remote* at it , head on to the lens from about arms length, press and hold any button on the remote, and take a picture..if the image has a bright spot when you view it..the camera can see IR..

You can also try a long exposure on a tripod ( say 30 seconds or so ) of an electric clothes iron set on "high" again taken in the dark or dim light..if the camera can "see" IR..you'll know it by the "glow" on the image..

Leosghost? I'm mostly a 'metal guy' for my full-time job. Long story, but think lasers and thick metal.

:) I know some of your "confrères" ( colleagues)..my real "calling" for the last 4 decades, is making imagery and sculptures, sometimes it requires the big machines to bend, shape and / or cut the metal we use, before we sculptors work on it..oxy cutters and welders I can use, oxy cutters welders, and electric welders I have,( Bottles and "Stick" and TIG MIG MAG) ..lasers that cut thick metal are out of the range of most sculptors..they require lots of money, and lots of space around them to manipulate the metal..

Wood and stone, we let nature do the rough work, but as well as my hand chisels and gouges for stone and wood, I also have a stable of chainsaws and air powered tools for working ideas and forms out from where I can see them lurking ..

Then there are clays and plasters, and cements and "composites"....

Playing with all of the above is much more fun than writing code and laying out pages..but, I left my huge ( had around 3000 sq feet and a 20' ceiling ) atelier behind when we moved from the south of France..so for now, computers and flat screens take less space..

* of the IR TV remote species..:)

[lexipixel]

Check your local non-profits, and energy providers (electric or gas companieS). There are many in my area that offer a "Free Home Energy Audit".

Some of them will come out with thermal-imaging cameras and do the entire exterior of your home for free -- along with locating other sources of lost energy.

[jimbeetle]

Free Home Energy Audit

Or close to it. Just found out that in nyc they charge $50 but bring along CFLs and a "smart" power strip that more than make up for the fee.