Hiring a thermal imaging camera to reduce energy bills?

radox2608

Hi,

With winter approaching I've started turning my heating's thermostat up. I'm keen to try to reduce my energy use as much as possible whilst still staying warm. I don't like to be cold  I was thinking of hiring a thermal imaging camera so I can check for cold spots in my house, draughts, where I can add insulation, etc. Also thought it might help check if the thermostatic radiator valves on my radiators are working (Some are old and I suspect might not be working).

I'm with Octopus Energy and did sign up about a year ago to borrow one of theirs but I don't think they do it anymore. I've looked into buying a thermal imaging camera but they seem expensive and I think I might only need one for a few days. Does anyone know where I could hire one for just a few days/weeks at a reasonable cost?

Thanks

DougMLancs

Unfortunately Octopus only lend them out to their vulnerable customers now. I managed to buy a 2nd hand FLIR One for my iPhone on CEX for £110 in the summer but they are much more elsewhere as you say. Looking forward to it being cold enough to get some good data. They seem to keep their value well so I’ll sell it on when I’m/FIL/brother-in-law and church are all done with it! You can hire FLIR handheld units from the likes of Jewsons and Red Current amongst others.

Robin9

Try your local council / library

Reed_Richards

I hired this thermal image camera https://www.jewson.co.uk/p/flir-i3-thermal-imaging-camera-JTH07250 a few years ago.  I used it to trace the route of central heating pipes that were buried under my floor and it worked pretty well for that.  I also tried it on a few walls but there it did not seem to be indicating anything useful.  

radox2608

Jewson & Red Current seem expensive at £160 & £125ish for just a single week's hire. I think these might be aimed more at professionals. The FLIR One looks ok. I've done a bit of Googling and found these for hire on the Stuart Dalby website for just £50/week. Their website shows lots of thermal images of the kind of things I'm looking to do including checking for heat loss through walls, ceilings & floors so I might give them a go. Thanks for the replies.

Shedman

If you're in or near a location that is served (mainly London area and Brighton it seems) some of the locations on this site hire out thermal cameras for around a tenner a day. https://www.libraryofthings.co.uk/.  

Some local authorities also loan them out (Guildford is one I seem to recall)

radox2608

libraryofthings.co.uk looks like a great site but unfortunately I'm not in the South.

I ended up hiring a thermal imaging camera from stuartdalby.co.uk/thermalimagingcamerahire for a week. It helped me locate several cold spots in my home which I think I've been able to fix. Time will tell 

radox2608

Just a quick update on this. Four months later and I'm happy to report that my house feels much warmer this winter than last. It also seems to take less time to warm up. The thermal imaging camera identified a number of cold spots such as unnecessary air vents, gaps in insulation above a bedroom, a draughty loft hatch, etc. All obvious in hindsight but it's only when you "see" the cold on the camera that you are motivated to take action on the worse culprits. It also pushed me into fitting a couple of blinds in the kitchen and closing the curtains every night after seeing just how much colder a bare window is compared to a covered window. Eradicating each individual cold spot didn't make a huge difference but I think together they have done. I haven't analysed my gas consumption in detail but I do think I'm using less whilst of course I realise no one winter is exactly the same as the next. But I'd definitely recommend people consider hiring a thermal imaging camera.