Can infrared waves pass through walls?

In general, no, though there are circumstances where they could, if you're willing to play a bit with your definition of either 'infrared' or 'wall'. read more

The energy absorbed by the walls would be radiated inside the house, so in a sense, a small fraction of IR energy would "pass through", but not the incident waves themselves. If you are referring to the movie/video game cliche in which IR goggles can see through walls etc, no, that doesn't work either. read more

I remember reading that infrared cameras can be used to help find people trapped in collapsed buildings which suggests they can, but then I keep finding stuff such as the following that says the opposite. read more