Using a FLIR Thermal Image Camera to see where our house is losing heat - Low Carbon Lifestyle Ep41

[@Belrmar]

The kind of double glazing matters a lot , talking metric units it can go from >3 w/m2k to 1.0 w/M2k, do they have low emissivity and argon gas? If the windows are good you could invest in only swapping the insulating glass unit for a high end doble pane or triple pane. Also the material that separates both panes could be made with plastic instead of aluminium, that is called warm edge. Cheers

[@TomBray-LowCarbonLifestyle]

Hi Beltran, thanks for the comment, apologies I missed it last year. Absolutely agree that double glazing, and well fit windows, are key to minimising heat loss. Our windows are probably not that great... we decided to go for the cheapest option when we were refurbishing our whole house in 2018. Next time we replace windows, in 10-15 years time, I think I will pay much more attention!

[@Belrmar]

@@TomBray-LowCarbonLifestyle you shouldn't apologize, there are a lot of comments. Hope that your next windows provide some better experience. If you need some info I would love to give you information on the topic.

[@brackcycle9056]

Very Thick Curtains . Loft Hatch draft exclusion & insulation is sometimes over looked. generally draughts ( eg Readinguk Draughtbuster website for advice). Also I find shelves above radiators mixing the warm air into the room rather than let it sneek up the wall & insulation/silver foil behind radiators helps too.

[@TomBray-LowCarbonLifestyle]

Sounds like a plan - anything we can do to reduce heat loss is a positive step!

[@GregoryMarler]

I was surprised Tom didn't mention curtains, and I wanted to ask if they're an option and the benefit of good curtains (e.g. long length so they cover the wood wall too).

[@TomBray-LowCarbonLifestyle]

Hi Greg, yeah good point - curtains are always a benefit as help add a layer of insulation and prevent air movement, I think my assumption is that most people already use curtains and get the benefit, but that trying to be a bit more ambitious / drastic could help too. 👍

[@GregoryMarler]

@@TomBray-LowCarbonLifestyle if you still had the thermal image gun could you open/close/change curtains and show us the difference? It's easier and a bit cheaper than getting insulation done. I like thick floor length curtains because they make me feel warm and cosy. For bay windows you can have curtains that are straight to cut-off the bay, potential of that looking nice if you only use the window seat when it's sunny.

[@yitaojin9906]

We didnt put further insulation as we dont have too much space, we just put phase change material blanket (24 degree indoor, wall and some false ceillng, it really reduce temp swing and reduce cooling and heating in last three years. as its high latent heat storage, thickness of PCM blanket is only 1cm, it ready save lot of space and incraese thermal mass and thermal comfort

[@TomBray-LowCarbonLifestyle]

Really interested to hear more about this product. Do you have a link to it? Tom

[@richardkingadi5511]

The trick comes in being able to interpret what you see with the Thermal Camera. Inside your house, were areas that looked - to my untrained eye - as if they needed to be looked into. But I'm guessing , as you use the camera at work, you knew from experience they were not worth worrying about?? I recently got a camera myself - and have found myself trying to get rid of cold spots and finding they look exactly the same after I've gone to the expense and trouble of changing window gaskets, or adding weather stripping etc!!

[@TomBray-LowCarbonLifestyle]

You are talking a lot of sense. Yes there we areas that needed looking into, but rather than surprising me, these were areas I already knew were cold or draughty. I think often the camera picks up heat loss relative to surroundings, so even if you had improved a spot, that bit may well have more heat loss than the areas around it. The key is whether you think your work has reduced draughts or improved insulating properties? Is it more comfortable now? My use of the camera at work is more to highlight significant issues, rather than pick up the detail around a certain feature, and I would use the images to make the case for upgrade or refurbishment - 'look how bad this is!' - rather than to quantify heat loss. And, without being too cynical, colourful pictures like from a thermal imaging camera, really stand out in a report to any organisations leadership!

[@StefanMarjoram]

Really interesting videos. I'd love to insulate and reduce the carbon footprint of our cottage. Trouble is it's at least two hundred years old, with solid stone walls and the original draughty sash windows etc.When we got it, it had been coated with cement render (which had cracked and blown), the windows had been painted shut in the 60s and every surface had been covered with wood chip - even the ceilings. It felt cold and damp. Over the years we removed the concrete and re-rendered with lime, stripped and restored the windows, removed all the wood chip and repainted with breathable clay paint. The house is in a much happier place - but there are draughts, and it loses heat fast. I can see that insulating the exterior walls would help warm it up - but I have also seen just how vital it is to let the building breath. I'm not sure I could bring myself to pull out those lovely delicate windows that have lasted for hundreds of years and replace them with UPVC. I'm convinced any extra layers will lead to condensation and mould forming. Do you think a heat pump would be a silly idea on such a building? Sorry for the long winded post.

[@TomBray-LowCarbonLifestyle]

Hi Stefan, sounds like a wonderful house! But does sound complicated to reduce emissions, I agree with not wanting to impact original features. Your house sounds a lot like my mother-in-law's, who was able to replace windows with sensitive wood framed double glazing that looks 'original' and really helps reduce draughts. There are probably actions that you could do that would help reduce draughts as well through spending a day with a caulk gun, or plugging old fireplaces when not in use, the DIY stuff that can help make small differences. Whether a heat pump could provide heat in a house like that, it's a good question, heat pumps can heat any building if they are sized and installed correctly, with sufficient radiators / heat emitters. However with draughty houses it would mean a large heat pump, working hard, so potentially high energy costs. How is your house heated at the moment?

[@StefanMarjoram]

​@@TomBray-LowCarbonLifestyle Thanks for the suggestions Tom. Currently have gas central heating with quite an efficient boiler - and (cough) a gas converted AGA (just for cooking). This is not at all green - but it was in the house when we arrived and now it's very hard to get rid of. Being gas we can turn it down at night and that knocks a third off the bill. I think we might actually turn it off for the summer now that the gas prices are so high. As bad as it is, I think having this low heat spreading around the house all the time has done a lot to make it comfortable - and it's sort of the 'heart' of the house. You mentioned sealing up draughts but that leads to another confusing conundrum - controlling humidity. I just got a meter and it seems our house is just about right in terms of humidity levels. I've seen people in much newer houses with plastic windows and no draughts having horrendous problems with mould and humidity levels off the scale. Isn't the air in a house supposed to be exchanged four times an hour or something? If that's the case the only heating system worth thinking about would be one of those pumps that extracts the heat out of the vented air.- forgotten what they're called. Sorry for even more rambling - but it's a quandary I've had going round my head for some time now. I'm thinking it might be a good idea to get some solar panels. That way I could probably cover my low electricity bill, heat some water and perhaps in the future use it for an electric car or maybe some electric underfloor heating. Seems like a step in the right direction.

[@charlievan4877]

@@StefanMarjoram passive houses, being the epitome of heating efficiency, are completely sealed and in order to deal with moisture issues utilise hear exchangers with dehumidifiers. This is an inevitable consequence of sealing up your house. The issue about the house breathing has much to do with water being absorbed by the render. Many people make the mistake of assuming concrete render won't absorb water IE it's water proof but it isn't. If you waterproof your external walls but moisture builds up inside then it's absorbed by the walls and cannot pass through so the house starts to smell of damp. External insulation can be achieved without sealing up the buildings ability to breath. You just have to use the right material. Lastly, before looking at double glazing you could consider secondary glazing which could be made to blend in with your current windows. Too much is made of double glazing... A lot of it is inferior quality and a lot of the heat loss is actually through the plastic (which is uninsulated) so not that good anyway.

[@charlievan4877]

A lot of heat loss in double glazing is through the uninsulated plastic. In Canada and colder countries the frame and entire area around the frame is insulated, foamed and taped ... Shonky Britain we just sling em in there.... Gaps are covered with a thin piece of plastic and jobs a good un

[@terryrigden4860]

Interesting, I'm hoping to borrow a thermal imaging camera this winter too.

[@TomBray-LowCarbonLifestyle]

They definitely make a point! I wonder whether we sometimes know intuitively what a thermal image camera can tell us - ie we know a wall or an area of house is often cold. Where they are really useful is spotting areas that are leaking heat drastically, can be quite stark to see a big cold thermal bridge!

[@hiddenwitness4080]

I cut 3/4" Celotex insulation boards then covered them with quilted Thermax fabric to fit our windows. The total R factor is about R10 and cost about $23 per window. A replacement plastic window would cost about $600 and provide only R3.2. They look great and when measured with a digital thermometer, provide almost as much insulation as the exterior wall.

[@stevem6259]

Have you considered painting the external walls/brickwork with silicon liquid? It prevents water soaking the brickwork and lessens the heat drawing effect as experienced when wearing wet clothes. And it's easy to do and cost effective. Just a thought.

[@TomBray-LowCarbonLifestyle]

Hi Stevem- I haven’t considered that. Very interesting. I’d be interested in seeing case studies of where that has been done!

[@thomasjefferson3552]

Do people do this?

[@Alexskiing]

Amazing video!! Nice presenting skills also!

[@TomBray-LowCarbonLifestyle]

Thanks Alex - kind of you to comment Tom

[@georgeadams5548]

I was wondering what model of FLIR this is?

[@TomBray-LowCarbonLifestyle]

Hi George, apologies for my slow reply to your question, I think the images in this video were taken with an early version of these cameras - www.flir.co.uk/instruments/ex-series/. I suspect their quality has increased since the camera I was using was purchased 5+ years ago. I have also used one of the mobile phone mounted systems and again, I think these are improving all the time. Are you hoping to use one? Thanks Tom

[@user-be1it9zi8v]

Stupid question, but what are we looking for? I know blue is cold and red is hot. On the outside I assume we're looking for red spots as that's the heat leaving the building. But on the inside, are we looking for red spots or blue spots as areas that need work/attention/insulation? Anything retaining heat will be red, but anything losing heat (inside) should be blue right, which means inside, blue spots are what needs the work?

[@TomBray-LowCarbonLifestyle]

Hi J, Yes that is my understanding too. For us, you can kind of tell in our home where we are losing heat even without a thermal imaging camera, the camera just helped confirm our suspicions! Tom

[@lewisdean22]

I insulated my internal walls, any wall that was facing outside was strapped with 25mm batons then 25mm of insulation board then a reflective membrane. At this moment I am insulating under my floor boards and have seen a remarkable difference even before I've finished.

[@TomBray-LowCarbonLifestyle]

Hi Lewis, fantastic. Our floorboards are uninsulated, I suspect this could make a significant difference if and when we did it! Tom

[@lewisdean22]

@@TomBray-LowCarbonLifestyle if you have a good enough crawl space then hopefully you don't need to lift any flooring.

[@maroufsultanzada6964]

i love your face but if you add some picture about what you speak . it will be helpful.

[@TomBray-LowCarbonLifestyle]

Thanks for the feedback Marouf - I will try to use more videos that aren't my face!

[@sniperpd9505]

@@TomBray-LowCarbonLifestyle Lose the woolly hat when you warm up!

[@markgaudie80]

This is something we did. We put bay window seat in our daughters front bay window. Noticed a massive difference in how much warmer the room is in winter. I also insulated the storage space inside on the inside of the bay way. 👍👍

[@markgaudie80]

We are looking the insulate the exterior walls on the front and rear bay window areas also. Some thermal barrier and K Rend.

[@TomBray-LowCarbonLifestyle]

Fantastic! We still haven't got our bay window installed but could be an autumn job. Pleased to hear it has made a difference!

[@mickclarke5741]

What model flir is it?

[@TomBray-LowCarbonLifestyle]

Hi Mick, I think it was a Flir One Pro, and a few years old.

[@Michael-bw9ec]

Add a green wall.

[@TomBray-LowCarbonLifestyle]

Hi Michael, thanks for the comment, something we could think about although we don't really have anywhere 100% suitable. Have you got a greenwall at your house? I would be interested in hearing more. Tom

[@homayounrezaie]

cool! any idea about how much energy loss?!

[@TomBray-LowCarbonLifestyle]

Hi Homayoun - not got an idea about heat loss from the FLIR camera, but from a heat loss assessment done as part of our heat pump installation. This suggested heat loss from the home, on the coldest day, would be just over 5 kW. Over a year we use about 12,000 kWh of heat energy to stay comfortable and for our hot water use. Hope that makes sense! Tom

[@homayounrezaie]

@@TomBray-LowCarbonLifestyle Hey Tom, I was thinking about how to convert heat loss to energy loss (GJ). Do you have any ideas? I was thinking about estimating the U-value of my house by using thermal imaging and also working on the Plank Law. Any thoughts on this? Thanks!

[@TomBray-LowCarbonLifestyle]

Hi Homayoun, we tend to measure heat loss as an instantaneous transfer of heat in kilowatts (kW), and would convert this to energy loss by having that loss of heat over a period of time i.e. kilowatthours (kWh) which could be converted into GJ. We can estimate heat loss using the average U-value of a building (units W/m2.K) and multiply by the surface area (m2) and the difference between the internal and external temperatures (K). Where I live we tend to size heating systems based on the extreme external low temperature (-5°C) and the desired comfortable temperature (maybe 21°C). This can give the heat loss in kW at that temperature, which was calculated for my home at around 5 kW. We then run the system throughout the year which provides up to 5 kW of heat for a number of hours per year depending on the external and internal temperatures. Overall, my system delivered around 12,000 kWh (43.2 GJ) of heat in 12 months after installation, the heat loss varies compared to the external temperature. I hope that makes sense and is helpul? I am sorry, I am not familiar with the Plank Law? Tom

[@ianpadgett8032]

why dont we have insulated curtains for windows ?

[@TomBray-LowCarbonLifestyle]

Good question - we have quite heavy curtains that probably do some of the job. Curtains with higher insulating properties wouldn’t hurt too I guess!

[@examinerian]

Yup, agree with the foil/insulated foil backing behind rads, and the shelving above (or just a deeper window ledge). If the shelf can be fitted, get curtains long enough to tuck behind the rads so heat doesn't just go behind them and heat the window glass instead of the room. Findley's did our roof work, and quoted for the insulation/cladding to the front pebble-dashed wall at the same time (about £1500 for the extra work whilst the scaffolding was up) - turns out it wasn't needed as that wall actually had a cavity (they were surprised, given the age of the house). We got a government scheme to remove old partial wall insulation from the original house and replace it with new stuff, and 0800Repair did that, including the aforementioned wall which hadn't been insulated before. Although, pebble-dashed walls usually create a cold facia because they retain more dampness, especially older, more weathered stuff. I'd remove it all, replace with v high performance layered external insulation behind weatherproof cladding (decent stuff, not "fades in a couple of years" cheapo types). External insulation also lets the building mass heat up as an energy sink to give heat back after the rads have switched off, plus stops solar gains in summer from getting into the rooms through the walls. Internal insulation creates a faster responding interior, but that also means it cools down more quickly too. So, is it time to pop round here for that 'site visit'...? 😁

[@TomBray-LowCarbonLifestyle]

Ian - sorry I missed this comment! It may be time to pop round?! When would be good? We could do a video...?!

[@examinerian]

@@TomBray-LowCarbonLifestyle That sounds good! Pick a day between now and 11 April - I'm around doing a bit of garden DIY and stuff 😁