FLIR vs Thermal Imaging

whitewidow2

Well-Known Member
whats the difference... is there any?

ill admit im still a bit paranoid about choppers finding my grow, ive heard that FLIR cant see through walls but what about thermal imaging?

can thermal imaging cameras detect heat build ups from hid lighting?
 

pinned

Member
whats the difference... is there any?

ill admit im still a bit paranoid about choppers finding my grow, ive heard that FLIR cant see through walls but what about thermal imaging?

can thermal imaging cameras detect heat build ups from hid lighting?
Here's some info straight from the horse's mouth:

http://www.flir.com/cvs/americas/en/lawenforcement/airborne/

I believe - although I have no firsthand experience with FLIR - that a well insulated attic op would be undetectable using FLIR. An op elsewhere in a house would be safer still. If you look at the roofs of houses in the linked video, you'll notice the absence of any significant heat signatures other than those of the suspects being chased. Granted, the houses in the shot probably didn't have grow ops in the attic, but one would expect something to show up if they were sensitive enough.

Like I said though, I have no firsthand experience, hopefully someone who really knows will chime in as I have had similar questions about FLIR / thermal imaging.
 

doc111

Well-Known Member
whats the difference... is there any?

ill admit im still a bit paranoid about choppers finding my grow, ive heard that FLIR cant see through walls but what about thermal imaging?

can thermal imaging cameras detect heat build ups from hid lighting?
It's the same thing. Yes thermal imaging can detect heat from HID lighting. The lights must first heat up the surface of the item being scanned though. Thermal imaging cannot see through walls. It scans the surface of an object and picks up on the miniscule differences in temps thereby rendering them into a viewable image which denote the temperature differences with black and white or color variations. It takes a good deal of heat or poor insulation to be detected by thermal imaging. Also venting to the outside, especially at night or during winter will show up on FLIR. These are the main ways people get caught by FLIR. Hope this helps. ;-)
 

Lifted247365

Active Member
wrong buddy, no the same thing. I was in the army and we used both FLIR (Foward Looking Infra Red) and Thermal also. Thermal picks up heat, and shows it in te color spectrum, hottest being white thn red, orange and so on till no heat shows blue. Also thermal can see through walls if the heat givin off is strong enough. FLIR works more like night vision, shows things green whte and black. IN infra Red given off by your plant shows as white, choppers dont use thermal vision, just IR and yes they can find you if they are looking. Putup Mylar o the roof and walls of your grow room if you are that paranoid. but it shouldnt matter the difference...if you get caught are you gonna ask them did yall use FLIR or Thermal?
 

doc111

Well-Known Member
wrong buddy, no the same thing. I was in the army and we used both FLIR (Foward Looking Infra Red) and Thermal also. Thermal picks up heat, and shows it in te color spectrum, hottest being white thn red, orange and so on till no heat shows blue. Also thermal can see through walls if the heat givin off is strong enough. FLIR works more like night vision, shows things green whte and black. IN infra Red given off by your plant shows as white, choppers dont use thermal vision, just IR and yes they can find you if they are looking. Putup Mylar o the roof and walls of your grow room if you are that paranoid. but it shouldnt matter the difference...if you get caught are you gonna ask them did yall use FLIR or Thermal?
Sorry bro. Look it up. It's the same thing. ;-)
 

whitewidow2

Well-Known Member
this thread was bound to start some controversy... i think we all spend a lot of time working out what lights we need, what ventilation, how much its gonna cost to get what we next need for our setup - but maybe we should be concentrating on not getting busted. There are loads of people on here that will say dont worry about it - its fine, but the technology is improving and it wouldnt surprise me if they police are using more than just FLIR now to look for grow ops - hence the additon of thermal imaging cameras which seem more accurate.

I also keep hearing of people saying "insulate your entire grow" - but it would be good to have a tutorial on how to do this - what materials to use etc. as i havent seen any threads dedicated to this as yet. And yes... it is something i want to do and hell if im going to do it i maye just insualte an entire room in my house to safely grow in. These things also take time money and planning and if you like me have never done something like this before its hard to know where to even start. I am and always will be paranoid of the choppers until i get a good insulated room constructed. However my setup is small just now so i dont think it warrants it... but what i will say is dont underestimate the police - and in the uk, its those choppers we need to watch out for!
 

doc111

Well-Known Member
this thread was bound to start some controversy... i think we all spend a lot of time working out what lights we need, what ventilation, how much its gonna cost to get what we next need for our setup - but maybe we should be concentrating on not getting busted. There are loads of people on here that will say dont worry about it - its fine, but the technology is improving and it wouldnt surprise me if they police are using more than just FLIR now to look for grow ops - hence the additon of thermal imaging cameras which seem more accurate.

I also keep hearing of people saying "insulate your entire grow" - but it would be good to have a tutorial on how to do this - what materials to use etc. as i havent seen any threads dedicated to this as yet. And yes... it is something i want to do and hell if im going to do it i maye just insualte an entire room in my house to safely grow in. These things also take time money and planning and if you like me have never done something like this before its hard to know where to even start. I am and always will be paranoid of the choppers until i get a good insulated room constructed. However my setup is small just now so i dont think it warrants it... but what i will say is dont underestimate the police - and in the uk, its those choppers we need to watch out for!
I'm a retired firefighter and a bit of an expert on FLIR/thermal imaging. FLIR is a company which makes thermal imaging cameras. It also refers to the technology used (Forward looking Infrared) as opposed to side scan infrared. But don't take my word on it. Do some research and you will see what I'm talking about. It's the same thing. :bigjoint:
 

doc111

Well-Known Member
Wikipedia You cant trust shit you read from them anyone can post in there it is not accurate info.
Believe what you want to. In this case the info is accurate. FLIR is basically a brand name. There are other types of thermal imaging that are not FLIR but for the purposes of this discussion, to avoid confusion, they are for all intents and purposes the same thing. I urge everybody to do their own research and not take mine or anybody elses word for it. :bigjoint:
 

whitewidow2

Well-Known Member
I see no reason to doubt the information on wikipedia - its usually pretty good stuff...

How do we beat it then...

So far i know... dont vent to the outside - but if you are venting to inside your house that heat does build up - so how do we get rid of it, ive heard a lot about using portable ac units but which one - how powerfull has it got to be? and they in turn give off heat much like dehumidifiers ive heard
 

Lifted247365

Active Member
Doc 11, did you just try and prove me wrong with a fucking link to wikipedia. get out of here...I was in the ARMY i dont know if youve ever heard of it...im not trying to brag just letting you know I used FLIR inmy vehicle EVERY DAY, i know what it is, thermal is different, it uses the whole color spectrum to show heat. Wikipedia i not a valid source for refference in case anyone else doesnt know
 

doc111

Well-Known Member
Doc 11, did you just try and prove me wrong with a fucking link to wikipedia. get out of here...I was in the ARMY i dont know if youve ever heard of it...im not trying to brag just letting you know I used FLIR inmy vehicle EVERY DAY, i know what it is, thermal is different, it uses the whole color spectrum to show heat. Wikipedia i not a valid source for refference in case anyone else doesnt know
I was in the Marine Corps and a firefighter/paramedic for 15 years. I was my departments in house technician for our thermal imaging systems which were, wait for it, wait for it............FLIR! The color thing has fuck all to do with it. Our TIC's (that's what they're called: stands for Thermal Imaging Camera) were equipped with a feature where we could do the color picture or the black and white. Oh yeah, I gave you the link for FLIR systems as well as wikipedia. ;-)
 

infdjedi

Well-Known Member
I remember when i first started I was paranoid about this and looked into the legality of it. I cant cite the specific case.. but the supreme court ruled that police cant just start randomly scanning neighborhoods looking for a thermal signature from a grow. They first need some other type of evidence to get permission to use that technology. Other type of evidence could be smell, an informant, land lord, etc. Just keep your nose clean and dont tell a soul.
 

Lifted247365

Active Member
congrads man...FLIR is a type of thermal imaging his question was is there a difference, the answer is yes pain and simple, they have thermal cameras that work one way IR cam that work one way, they may all produce thermal images but they arent the same.and quit winkin at me when you get done with your posts..just like you marines
 

whitewidow2

Well-Known Member
Lol people people i dont want this to turn into an argument... yes i was curious as to whether there was a difference between the two and if one was better than the other etc etc - you can never be too sure what the helicopters are carrying these days and as for the warrant situation - i wouldnt trust them would you?

Im looking for ways to beat the camera, not venting to the outside is a good one but heat does undeniably build up within your room when you choose this option. From what i have gathered through this site and my own research this heat build up in a room is bad - so im looking at ways to effectively "get rid" of the heat build up... like ac units and since i have no experience of using one of these ive been looking for advice off the folks that post on here.

Knowledge is power
 

krustofskie

Well-Known Member
Insulation is key to stop detection. Personally I use astro foil, basically bubble wrap with ir reflective material on both sides. This stuff is lining all the walls and roof surfaces of my attic.
http://www.astrofoilint.com/stage/index.html

As for venting outside without being detected you can go a few ways, i vent into the chimney stack, I would like to see police try to get a court order to search someones house because they have heat coming from their homes chimney, they would get laughed out of court. Another way to go is to vent where your homes hot water boiler system vents, you can easily tap into it so they come out the same place.
 

doc111

Well-Known Member
congrads man...FLIR is a type of thermal imaging his question was is there a difference, the answer is yes pain and simple, they have thermal cameras that work one way IR cam that work one way, they may all produce thermal images but they arent the same.and quit winkin at me when you get done with your posts..just like you marines
FLIR is a type of thermal imaging huh? Did you read any of my posts? Yes there are other types of thermal imaging but FLIR is a type of thermal imaging hence they are the same thing. I didn't want to try and confuse the OP because this is a very confusing subject my friend. I mentioned side scan thermal imaging as an example of a type of thermal imaging which isn't FLIR. It's not really used that much bro. Especially in law enforcement. FLIR stands for forward looking infrared as previously stated. Infrared is heat. The proper term for what we are discussing is thermography. Thermal imaging and thermography are the same thing, look it up bro. FLIR is the same thing as thermal imaging. FLIR is a company (a company which trained me for 10 weeks) which makes thermal imaging equipment. FLIR is pretty much a brand name but other companies make thermal imaging equipment using FLIR tecnology. Scott, Morning Pride, and Bullard to name a few. So in summation I really don't like people giving out bad information. FLIR and thermal imaging=same thing!

P.S. I'm not arguing with this guy, I'm simply trying to give the OP the information he seeks out. I encourage anybody who isn't sure to do their own research and don't blindly take anybody's word. It's obviously the only way to be sure that you are getting accurate info on here. ;-)
 

whitewidow2

Well-Known Member
thanks krust... i definitely want to get insulated but at the moment only have 2 small cupboards for a personal grow, if im gonna insulate i might as well do a whole room with 9.5inch fiberglass leaving a gap inbetween for air to get pumped into - the bigger the insualtion effort the bigger the grow tent :)
 
Top