When I started Expert Energy back in 2010 on a wing and a prayer after being made redundant, the idea of any serious investment was anathema, however there was one tool that particularly appealed to me – a thermal imaging camera. As some intuitive level I understood that anything that could turn what is often a dry and abstract discussion into a very tangible illustration of where the client was throwing money away was going to be worth a gamble.
So, after 13 years and thousands of pounds laid down, has the investment – and pain – been worthwhile?
The good
One of a thermal camera’s major benefits is its ability to bring energy to life. Almost without fail, the process of thermal imaging fascinates (and sometimes horrifies) clients, often helping to highlight issues that would otherwise be very difficult to uncover or convincingly demonstrate. For example, the extent of gaps in cavity wall insulation coverage, cold air infiltration behind plasterboard and air movement through internal voids would be challenging to prove by other means but are immediately apparent in the right conditions with a thermal assessment.
Although the bulk of my work has been with private homeowners, I have often been asked to carry out surveys by housing developers keen to understand where their new-builds are coming up short, albeit usually after being prodded by the homeowners. It can be quite breathtaking to realise just how poorly constructed many new homes are, with insulation frequently poorly installed or missing entirely across large areas. Remedial work can be so significant that it involves families moving out, sometimes more than once, in order to ensure the construction meets the design standards. It was telling to hear one of the site managers for a major developer privately volunteer to me that thermal imaging surveys would be a very sensible action to carry out on every property before final fix; if only the management had such foresight…
The bad
Thermal imaging is far from an exact science. One big disadvantage is that it can only reliably be carried out in the heating season – a period that seems to shrink year-by-year as global heating encroaches from either end. Another issue is the many ways in which images can be misinterpreted, for example because of surfaces’ varying ability to radiate infrared heat at any given temperature (a characteristic known as emissivity – I’ll talk more about this in another article). Other issues arise around solar gain, damp and reflections, all of which can combine and conspire to catch out the unwary observer.
There are plenty of times when even I struggle to make sense of certain images, particularly those taken outside, and I often have to disregard images as being potentially misleading. For these reasons I try and steer casual users away from using thermal imaging cameras as the high risks of misinterpretation is likely to result in erroneous conclusions and expensive mistakes being made.
The ugly
Professional thermal imaging cameras are expensive and – in some quarters – very desirable bits of kit. Following my initial £4000 investment I got three or four years out of my first Fluke camera before it was stolen at knifepoint in East London by a gang who posed as clients. It turns out that thermal imaging cameras are much sought-after by drugs gangs hoping to uncover their rivals’ cannabis farms (there’s some serious heat kicked out from those loft voids). I wasn’t too distraught at losing that camera as it was a pretty cumbersome beast that made my arm ache after just a few minutes. The latest models are fortunately much more manageable and provide better image quality; my current Flir device is still going strong after nearly ten years so it has paid for itself many times over.
Oh, and the sales pitch
If you’re interested in having a thermal imaging survey carried out on your home or building project this winter then we’d love to help, so long as you don’t try anything funny. Do get in touch with us via expert-energy.co.uk.