STT

Thermography

Electrical Thermography

Electrical thermography explained in plain English — how it works, what it detects, and how it connects to switchboard thermal imaging and insurance-ready reports.

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What is electrical thermography?

Electrical thermography is the practice of using infrared thermal imaging to inspect live electrical equipment — primarily switchboards, distribution boards and connected plant. It's the disciplined, documented version of switchboard thermal imaging: trained thermographers, calibrated equipment, standard severity ratings and a written report. We're a referral and lead-generation service — we don't perform the inspection ourselves. We connect you with a qualified, licensed electrician or thermographer in our provider network who specialises in switchboard thermal imaging.

What's Included

  • Live, under-load inspection of energised electrical equipment
  • Calibrated thermal imaging (infrared) cameras
  • Licensed electricians with thermography training
  • ΔT measurements and severity classification
  • Thermal and visible-light photos per finding
  • Insurance-ready written report

Who Needs This

  • Commercial property managers
  • Industrial, manufacturing and warehouse operations
  • Body corporates and strata managers
  • Insurance brokers and risk managers
  • Facility teams running preventative maintenance programs
  • Asset managers tracking electrical health over time

Why It Matters

Electrical thermography is one of the most established condition-monitoring techniques in industry. Done properly, it catches the majority of switchboard faults at a stage when they can be repaired during planned downtime — not after a failure, a fire or an insurance claim.

What electrical thermography is

Electrical thermography is the disciplined use of infrared (thermal imaging) cameras to inspect live electrical equipment for heat-related faults. 'Thermal imaging' is the act of capturing the image; 'thermography' is the practice — the trained inspector, the calibrated camera, the standard methodology, the ΔT calculations, the severity classification and the written report. In Australian switchboard work, the two terms are often used interchangeably, but a true electrical thermography inspection always includes the report and the methodology, not just the picture.

How electrical thermography is used for switchboards

Switchboards are the most common target for electrical thermography because they're high-load, high-consequence assets that are easy to inspect non-invasively. The thermographer opens accessible panels with appropriate PPE while the board is energised and under normal load, captures thermal and visible-light images, identifies hot spots, measures ΔT against reference components, classifies each finding by severity and writes it up in a switchboard thermal imaging report.

Common defects detected

The same set of issues come up repeatedly across Australian switchboards: loose terminations on incomers, lugs and busbars; overloaded distribution circuits; phase imbalance on three-phase boards; corroded or undersized connections; and early-stage degradation of breakers and contactors. Most of these are invisible during a standard electrical inspection and only show up as heat under load — which is exactly what electrical thermography is designed to catch.

Difference between electrical thermography and general thermal imaging

General thermal imaging covers anything an infrared camera can see — building envelopes, plumbing leaks, roofs, mechanical equipment. Electrical thermography is the specialist subset focused on energised electrical equipment, performed by a licensed electrician with thermography training, using equipment suitable for live electrical work, with severity ratings and a documented report. For switchboards, you want electrical thermography, not generic thermal imaging.

Insurance-ready reports

An electrical thermography inspection should always deliver a written report in the format insurers expect — thermographer credentials, equipment and calibration details, site identification, thermal and visible-light photos per finding, ΔT readings, severity ratings and recommended actions. This is the same document referred to elsewhere on this site as a switchboard thermal imaging report or an insurance thermal imaging report. See our insurance requirements page for what Australian insurers commonly ask for.

How It Works

  1. 1

    Submit your details

    Tell us about your site, switchboard count and timing.

  2. 2

    Get matched

    We connect you with a qualified provider in your area.

  3. 3

    On-site inspection

    A licensed electrician or thermographer attends with calibrated thermal imaging equipment.

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Reading

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