The UK unfortunately has some of the worst insulated houses in Europe according to many reports.
Climate Action Weston Turville has been using a thermal camera to assess how effective house insulation is by capturing images of hot and cold spots around houses. Camera pictures help identify areas of heat loss, allowing homeowners to target specific insulation improvements and maximise energy conservation efforts.
Thermal cameras provide a visual representation of temperature variations inside and outside a home. By using these cameras, homeowners can identify areas where heat is escaping, such as poorly insulated roofs, walls, windows, or doors, gaps in insulation or areas with inadequate coverage. Where double glazing is installed sometimes it is without adequate insulation around the window itself, so heat leaks out.
See the pictures below for some examples of heat loss in a roof and no insulation on a wall, shown in darker colours.
These visual insights allow for targeted improvements, ensuring that energy-efficient measures are precisely applied where needed, rather than a more blanket approach, possibly costing a lot more. These could include cheaper improvements such as using draught proofing and sealing gaps, to cavity wall insulation or new double glazing with adequate surrounding insulation.
Identifying and fixing heat loss areas ensures a more consistent and comfortable indoor environment, preventing cold spots and drafts and helping us all with reducing heating costs and helping the planet at the same time.
If you’re interested in having some thermal pictures of your home taken to help with better insulation, then please contact George Lait at georgelait@hotmail.co.uk.
CAWT would like to thank Kirsty Shanahan from Bucks Community Energy for the loan of the thermal imaging camera. More information and examples are available on various websites including this one: https://octopus.energy/how-to-use-flir-thermal-camera/
Ben Brownlee, CAWT
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