Interpreting thermal image to find central heating leak

emmjay123

Hi everyone
We think we have a leak somewhere in our central heating system as pressure drops gradually and plumber has confirmed no issues with boiler itself.
To try to save the expense of paying one of the national leak finding companies I hired a thermal imaging camera this weekend - trouble is I'm not sure if I've found a leak or not!  The photo below is an image of the central heating pipes under our laminate floor (running to radiators rather than underfloor heating).  The image looks a bit splodgy where is changes direction so wondering if this is a leak.  Any advice much appreciated!

grumbler

Why do you think that a small leak of water will significantly affect local temperature?  I think wetness is more relevant, but with laminate flooring you'd notice it without any special tools.

FreeBear

grumbler said: Why do you think that a small leak of water will significantly affect local temperature? 

A wet floor (or anything else) will transmit heat better than a bone dry one. It is possible that there is a DPM between the laminate and floor which would stop any damp seeping through.

If the CH pipes are running through a concrete floor unprotected (and are copper), corrosion is a very real possibility. We have seen it from another forum member earlier in the year.

OP - The only way you are going to know for certain is to lift the laminate and any underlay/DPM. The thermal image suggests that heat is bleeding out in one spot at least, so that's where I'd start any investigation.

AskAsk

the leak could be at the radiators.