Fluke VT02 Case Studies

Name: Eric Robinson

Company: Washington

State Department of
Transportation (DOT)
and HVAC/R Instructor

Imager model: VT02
Visual IR Thermometer

Testimonial

Visual IR Thermometer

1. What is your line of work?

I’m an Engineer for Washington State DOT traveling to 125 sites throughout the
state of Washington as an HVAC/R Specialist who supervises retro-commis­sioning, unit replacement and system updates to improve energy efficiency. I
also teach continuing education classes to first-year HVAC/R Apprentices and
Class I Electricians for the union.

2. What type of applications do you work in that require IR
temperature measurement and troubleshooting?

I use IR temperature measurement in applications where I check heat gain
and heat load as well as randomly troubleshoot hot or cool areas. I can quickly
scan to detect duct leakage. For in-house preventive maintenance, I also use it
on electrical panels.

3. What tools do you currently use for these applications?

I’ve been using a high-end Fluke IR Thermometer. I don’t currently use thermal
imagers. We’ve been considering them, but the price makes them more dif­ficult to afford.

“ I liked the blending

capability that lets you
get digital pictures
throughout the
room with the heat
map overlay. Having
blended pictures
to take back to the
customer would be
really helpful.”

50 %
thermal
blend

4. What were your first impressions of the VT02 Visual IR Thermometer?

I immediately figured it out and started making frontline measurements like
getting a snapshot of a diffuser 30 feet in the air.

I liked the blending capability that lets you get digital pictures throughout
the room with the heat map overlay. Having blended pictures to take back to
the customer is really helpful. Plus, capturing and saving the highest abso­lute temperature gives me a reference point that I could store in my customer
records or put in a report and reference in the future.

5. What advantages does the VT02 offer you in your temperature
applications?

The compact size is a big advantage. It’s small enough to fit in your back
pocket, smaller than thermal imagers, and it’s cost-effective.

I see a great application for home inspection. It would help contractors,
like the ones I teach, do their jobs more efficiently, and it would make a
great selling tool. To be able to take pictures, create reports and then show
homeowners the results is powerful. Then, when inspectors make a recom­mendation, it’s not just a matter of “trust me.”

The VT02 is also rugged. That’s really important since everything gets
bounced around so much in service. When you pull a tool out to use it, you
have to know it’s going to work.

6. How would having SmartView® professional reporting and editing
software impact your job?

Technicians are more credible when they can create a report. For example,
in doing a retro-commissioning, when we are trying to restore equipment to
its original efficiency, we could document the “before” and “after” states and
prove that the equipment is running smoother, and generating less heat and
resistance.

©2012 Fluke Corporation. Specifications subject to change without notice. 11/2012 4286596A_EN
Modification of this document is not permitted without written permission from Flu ke Corporation.