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How to Detect Heat Loss in a House With a Thermal Imaging Camera

How to Detect Heat Loss in a House With a Thermal Imaging Camera

How to detect heat loss in a house with a thermal imaging camera can show where your house is losing heat. Simple repairs can be made to stop this, saving you money over time.

There are two main types of heat loss: loss through transmission and loss due to ventilation or air infiltration. Heat loss through transmission can be reduced with caulking and weather stripping but many leaks are invisible to the naked eye. The best way to detect them is with a thermographic inspection.

The most common places to lose energy are around doors and windows. These can be fixed with a simple blower test and some caulking. These can save between five and 30 percent a year in lost energy.

Detecting Heat Loss in Your House: Methods and Techniques

Other sources of energy loss include uninsulated walls, soffits, attics, and other uninsulated areas. These can be audited with a thermal imager as well. The images can be a great help to determine what kind of insulation is needed.

A good place to start is with a basic thermal imager like the FLIR ONE Edge which is a pocket-sized device that reports the temperature of the area being viewed. These are fairly inexpensive and available online. There are also more expensive ones available for professional use. If you are looking for something more portable you can also get a maker-friendly breakout board from Adafruit that uses a normal digital camera. These are much less sensitive and only report the temperature of what is being aimed at but are still useful for quick inspections.

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