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Know Your Infrared Thermometer

We at ESPinvestigation consider the IR thermometer to be one of our best pieces of equipment. As any paranormal investigator (and most everyone else because of shows like “Ghost Hunters”) knows, one of the telling signs that paranormal activity is about to pick up is the infamous “cold spot”. There are a thousand-billion ideas about why cold spots form, we will not get into any of them, and to be able to track them can really boost any evidence that is collected on an investigation. Tracking them usually involves the use of either a thermocouple or an IR thermometer. There are very little misunderstandings about how to properly use a thermocouple thermometer; stick it in the spot and see what the temperature reads. This is not exactly the case with IR thermometer.

With an IR, the user should be familiar with how it works and its range, as well as where exactly it is that the user is pointing the device. We try to avoid what we call the “infinity reading”. Simply put, if the investigation is taking place outdoors, don’t point the IR at the sky. No, it doesn’t actually take an “infinity reading”. In fact, one of our guns will gather a temperature reading from no more than about ten feet. However, point that sucker at the sky and it will totally freak with readings dropping into the thirties. Nothing in South Louisiana is in the thirties in July – not even meat lockers. When the gun is leveled off, the reading will return to something normal (75 – 85 degrees at midnight). This happens because the IR gun has nothing to reference. One very, very, very common mistake made by paranormal investigators is using an IR like it works magically and gives readings of cold spots simply because they exist. Not so. The IR has to have something to reference in order to give a correct reading because it measures the heat exchange from the targeted item and its surroundings. If there is no target item, then what is being measured? How do you know what information the gun is actually trying to give you?

Another player in the game of IR thermometer readings is D/S, or “distance to spot” ratio. It is a ratio of the size of the spot against how far away the spot is from the IR. The smaller the spot and the farther away it is, the more corrupt the reading will become. If the ratio for the IR gun is 8:1 and the spot being measured is 12 inches in size, the optimum reading will be taken no farther than 96 inches (8 feet) away. On top of that some IR guns simply will not read any farther away than around ten feet. Does this mean that an IR thermometer will be useless on a paranormal investigation? Nope. What it means is that the information will be mostly, if not all, unreliable.

However, the IR gun serves a fantastic purpose in notifying the investigators that something is happening. Just because the investigator does not know what the target is or how far away it is at first, doesn’t mean that the gun cannot tell you that something cold is being picked up in the area, that it is getting colder or warmer, and that it is moving from one place to another. Will the numbers on the read-out be correct? Doubtful. Will the team be alerted to a potential cold spot? Yes. We recommend that once you get the cold spot figured out, stick a hand held thermometer in it and see what the temperature is for real. This will give an investigation team more definite numbers to log for the occurrence.

The last issue is to simply be aware of where the IR thermometer is being pointed. Not so much indoors since it will at least have something to reference, but outdoors. Be careful of pointing the IR gun towards the sky. Sometimes, it is a simple perspective issue that can throw the IR into some really chilly readings. If the device is pointing at angle greater than the horizon and there is nothing to reference there, it can be enough to get significant drops from the baseline temperature because it is impossible for the gun to give a reading – not because there are ghosts in the midst. Being aware of issues like this can really help an investigator dismiss things that are not valid and help them to be more objectionable in his/her approach.

Jamie Thoms
ESPinvestigation
www.esp-paranormal.com