Using A FLIR Thermal Camera To Save On Energy Bills

I would also suggest going outside and use the camera to look back at the house. Best to do this when there's a good temperature variance between indoors and outdoors. I have my own infra red camera and it's surprising how often you can use it over the course of a year. You can also use it to see any hotspots on your solar panels.

Great video as usual! As it happens my son has a cheap self-contained £110 Ali Express self-contained thermal camera which he brought with him when he visited before Christmas. It saved me £500-£600 straight off the bat because I had just got quotes for a Power Flush but the Thermal Camera showed that all the radiators were heating evenly and no cold spots. Also showed where there had been a window in the lounge I never knew had been there and the buried lintel was a cold spot as was the loft hatch. I also could confirm that the 300mm of Rockwall loft insulation was doing its job and had been pushed into all the difficult to reach places but the loft hatch showed up as DEEP BLUE and in need of attention. We also went outside and inspected the performance of the windows and wall insulation and all was good apart for one hot spot 10 C hotter than any other point on the house. It coincided with where central heating pipes at the other side were buried in the floor typical on a 1970's build. Well worth any family investing in a thermal camera I would say and sharing the cost.

Our local library lends out those cameras for free! The only downside is the one+ year waiting list… I got one last winter and it’s amazing what hidden heat loss places it found!

I have just bought a FLIR one too, took my first set of photos yesterday and need to go through in a bit more detail. Found a similar issue to you below the kitchen cupboards. Realised that the bottom third of some of our walls are colder where they go in to cellar, which seems obvious but I hadn't realised before (our house is split level). Confirmed a few other things I suspected were cold spots that will be harder to deal with but also confirmed that a couple of improvements I made in the past are working! I'm hoping it will eventually pay for itself with us, as our house is big, draughty and we'll be here a long time... we'll see. I also have an extractor fan that I thought was completely dead... but the FLIR has shown me it is producing heat! So some investigation is warranted there. A word of warning to others...FLIR seem to be having trouble with compatibility with certain phones, which their website does not indicate at all. I have a Google Pixel on Android 13 and the FLIR does not work with it, but fortunately there is an older version of the FLIR app that works with my old Sony phone on Android 9. I also tested the camera successfully with the latest app on my friend's Samsung with Android 12. FLIR have told me an app update will be released to make it work with Pixel phones, but I'm not holding my breath. Go in eyes-open because these things are not cheap.

Cracking video. When I have the money to do next stage of house energy efficiency upgrade I will definitely get one of these.

Thank you. Several months ago I was going to buy a thermal camera, but got distracted and forgot. Now I've seen this vid, I'll look again. Was going to get a UNI-T model from aliexpress. Good reminder...thanks👍

Good stuff and helpful comments, I have seen that they can be used to identify faults on solar panels, hot spots etc.

I have a Black and Decker thermal detector (a gun type device) which I used to confirm that a neighbour's new build had a section of uninsulated external wall. Very good video and I think that renting one of these devices is a great idea.

Yeah we did borrow one. Mate found loads of heat flooding out his kitchen front wall into his drive. Can see the spot of no insulation under the water tank in the loft too, so it doesn’t freeze up. We bought a big one for work too - checking on hot wiring and appliances 👍 def worth doing and sell or pass it on

We just got a pro version at work and it is fantastic, borrowed it to look at my house. Like you, the loft hatch is an obvious place I need to start with insulating. I also need to draught proof several timber external doors. If you know someone who has one, then it is definitely worth borrowing one

About 11 years ago my son purchased a Flir camera for use at work. One of the first savings was when he discovered a very hot spot in the mains cabling in the warehouse where he worked. When we used the camera on our home we discovered that the building was full of heat escape routes, in spite of having 'professional ' installed insulation. We ended up knocking the old house down and built anew. The new house is built like a tea-cosy, and when we use the camera now it is hard to find any leaks! Plus we have a brand new house, for the six of us.

Flir cameras are a great job. But go outside and look at ur front door and windows. Doors loose heat but the gap between the window fram and wall might surprise you. I ended up silicone between them on the inside and outside and save litres of oil each day

Use it on your heat pump pipe work externally and internally. I found that wrapping my DHW cylinder with foil bubble wrap insulation made a difference!

Cold spots on upstairs ceilings will also attract damp and mould. As moisture will migrate to the upper floors and then find the cold surfaces to condense on. I've just fixed my insulation and had to repaint because of this.

In Suffolk the council has a number of these that it lends out to community groups. Great idea!

Awesome, thanks for sharing!

Good one. Been toying with this idea for a while and I'm thinking of putting a notice up on the local social media pages asking if anyone's willing to rent one out for a couple of days (or group buy one) - fingers crossed because, as you say, they are a tad expensive to buy for an individual!

I have heard of projects where cities deployed advisers with these thermal cameras to advise people on what insulation could/should be installed where, in order to be the most cost effective in reducing heating/energy bills. Even some neighborhood committees used them that way.

I borrowed one of these from work - job done!

I had a guy from a local insulation company come in with one a while back. It didn't cost a thing, until I paid him to fix some of the problems he found.