Commonly $2–$5 / sq ft
Drill-and-fill wall insulation
Empty frame walls get dense-packed with cellulose through small holes, patched after. The scan tells the contractor exactly which bays — and the after-scan proves the fill.
Energy test guide · verified October 2, 2026
Thermal imaging: seeing the empty walls without opening them
An infrared camera maps the temperature of every surface, and temperature tells stories: missing insulation reads as cold streaks, thermal bridges as dark ribs, hidden moisture as blotches that don't match the framing. It's the difference between guessing which walls are empty and photographing it.
Cost
Usually included — confirm
Best conditions
≥10°C in/out difference
Finds
Empty walls, bridges, moisture
Pairs with
Blower door running
What's involved
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Get the conditions right
IR needs a temperature difference of about 10°C or more between inside and out — a cold morning is perfect, and direct sun on a wall ruins the reading for hours. This is why winter audits produce the best imagery, and why a good advisor scans early or on overcast days.
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Scan room by room from inside
Exterior walls, ceilings below attics, around windows and doors, behind furniture on outside walls, basement rim joists. Each frame is a temperature map of the assembly behind the drywall.
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Run it during the blower door
With the house depressurized, leaking air chills the surfaces along its path — leaks light up as cold streams the camera sees and the hand alone would miss. The combination is the audit's most powerful diagnostic.
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Read the patterns
Uniform wall = insulated. Striped cold bays between warm studs = empty or slumped cavity insulation. Cold ribs at every stud = thermal bridging. Irregular blotches that ignore the framing pattern = possible moisture — which gets verified with a moisture meter, not assumed.
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Keep the images
The photos scope the fix precisely (which walls to drill-and-fill, which attic zones are thin) and the after-scan proves the contractor actually filled what they were paid to fill.
How to get it done
Most registered advisors include a thermal scan with the assessment — confirm when booking, since it's the item most worth asking for by name. Building-science contractors also scan standalone. Phone-clip IR cameras are a fun screening tool, but their resolution suits finding suspects, not proving scope.
If it finds a problem: your remediation options
The scan's findings map to three different fixes — and one warning:
$1,500–$3,500 typical
Attic top-up (after air sealing)
Thin or wind-washed attic zones the ceiling scan reveals — see the attic inspection guide for the seal-first sequence.
Folded into renos
Thermal-bridge and detail fixes
Cold ribs and corners are framing geometry — fixed economically only when siding, cladding, or interior renovations open that assembly anyway. Until then, they're a known quantity, not an emergency.
The warning: moisture-pattern findings mean find the water first — roof, plumbing, grading, or condensation — before any insulation goes in. Insulating a wet assembly locks the problem in. That diagnosis path is the mold & indoor air guide's territory.
Common questions
Can the camera see through walls?
No — it reads surface temperature only. The skill is inference: knowing what a healthy assembly's surface should look like at these conditions, and what empty bays, bridging, air leaks, and moisture each do to that pattern. That's why conditions and operator experience matter more than camera price.
Does it work in summer?
It can — a hot attic or air-conditioned interior can provide the needed temperature difference, and duct leaks show well in cooling season. But Canadian winters offer bigger, more reliable deltas, which is one more reason not to postpone an audit to spring.
My phone IR attachment found a cold spot. Now what?
Treat it as a lead, not a verdict. Low-resolution cameras find suspects; the advisor's scan under proper conditions (ideally with the blower door running) confirms whether it's missing insulation, an air leak, a bridge, or just a cold water pipe.
Sources
Get the scan with your assessment
We'll match you with a registered advisor and flag thermal imaging in your request — the add-on most worth confirming by name.
Email us what you’re planning, your postal code and the type of building (a house, a duplex or triplex, or a larger multi-unit building) — we’ll reply with registered service organizations for your area and which rebates apply.
Email dave@clickshift.ca