Thermal imaging to detect heat loss in house

zax47

Norman_Castle wrote: »

Look for draughts where pipes go through the floor and walls. The worst I've found are from behind kitchen cupboards and bath panel.
Sealing between wooden floors and skirting can also make a big difference.

Have read the OP?

"100 year old, single brick, single glazed house with no insulation."

The things you suggest will have negligible effect in the grand scheme of things....

Towser

We had it done but by volunteers who were doing it for free in our area. The Council or Borough may know who is doing it for free in your area.
We were recommended to get a new back door as ours was bent and letting out heat unknown to us. We were also recommended a front door curtain, insulation in one part of the roof and thicker curtains.
I think we have done everything which the previous owners had not done to keep our house snug.

Alter_ego

Doesn't the ipad camera have an infra red option?

HappyMJ

dominoman wrote: »

I live in a 100 year old, single brick, single glazed house with no insulation. Heating it costs a lot and as soon as the heating goes off it cools very quickly because of all the draughts.

So far I've done the easy things. Draught strip around front door. Polystyrene insulation under the floor. Loft insulation.

I was thinking of borrowing a infrared camera, or getting a heat survey done, to tell me where else I can make small low-cost changes that will have the most effect.

Has anyone used an infrared camera for this? Or had a heat loss survey? Did it help?

Single brick? Are you sure? They aren't load bearing walls.

Norman_Castle

dominoman wrote: »

I live in a 100 year old, single brick, single glazed house with no insulation. Heating it costs a lot and as soon as the heating goes off it cools very quickly because of all the draughts.

zax47 wrote: »

Have read the OP?

"100 year old, single brick, single glazed house with no insulation."

The things you suggest will have negligible effect in the grand scheme of things....

Yes I have read the original post. Have you?. Stopping draughts is very cheap and easy and will make a difference regardless of your opinion.

Smiley_Dan

the_r_sole wrote: »

I can only assume that you haven't tried to use a thermal imaging camera on an uninsulated, single glazed house before - surveys are only useful when you are looking to identify a problem, but we already know that there's heat escaping all over this place.

Why would you assume that?

What you are saying isn't true. Sure, while there will be an indication of high heat loss in the uninsulated parts, if these parts are next to the thermal envelope (in a heated space) they will still show warmer than the more insidious thermal bridges that occur at junctions and the like, furthermore air ingress can still be spotted. Granted, it's more difficult, but it's still possible. I know because I have done it.

Smiley_Dan

zax47 wrote: »

Have read the OP?

"100 year old, single brick, single glazed house with no insulation."

The things you suggest will have negligible effect in the grand scheme of things....

Incorrect. You simply do not know what effect the above things will have without understanding the dwelling.

I realise the government and the EST and so on like to sew this story about "save 30% by installing loft insulation" and so on but the reality is much, much more complicated, because houses are not commoditised predictable boxes. Not only might the improvements be far better, or far worse, in certain circumstances you may also compromise other elements of the performance of the building.

MisterBaxter

HappyMJ wrote: »

Single brick? Are you sure? They aren't load bearing walls.

Single brick would be 9" half brick would be 4. 5", single brick is fine for structure but not a great insulator.

I've seen FLIR images of this type of property and so much of it glows white or red that it's hard to really see what to do first. In my opinion they are better suited to fine tuning insulation and sealing by looking for the hot spots on a property that is already at a reasonable level of insulation, they are a good tool for focusing efforts.

If the OP really wants to spend money on surveys a desktop study of the material heat loss would yield better results and would also allow for changes in heat loss to be calculated by changing material types or insulation levels. For example changing windows may yield better results for the same money than insulating walls.

HappyMJ

MisterBaxter wrote: »

Single brick would be 9" half brick would be 4. 5", single brick is fine for structure but not a great insulator.

I've seen FLIR images of this type of property and so much of it glows white or red that it's hard to really see what to do first. In my opinion they are better suited to fine tuning insulation and sealing by looking for the hot spots on a property that is already at a reasonable level of insulation, they are a good tool for focusing efforts.

If the OP really wants to spend money on surveys a desktop study of the material heat loss would yield better results and would also allow for changes in heat loss to be calculated by changing material types or insulation levels. For example changing windows may yield better results for the same money than insulating walls.

Sounds cheaper to demolish and start again.

MisterBaxter

HappyMJ wrote: »

Sounds cheaper to demolish and start again.

May be a little overkill but it certainly isn't going to be cheap to bring a building of this nature up to a standard even close to a new build.