Measuring heat lost may sometimes require specialized equipment.
Over the last decade, more and more homeowners have been more conscious of the energy that is lost within their property. This is mainly due to the expenses of energy, as well as a bigger goal of trying to cut their carbon footprint.
There are many places around the house that cause wasted energy that you may not realise or even think about. Luckily it isn’t too expensive in a lot of cases to solve the problem. Realistically, some home improvements such as insulation might be a little more expensive to get. But it’s definitely worth it when you take into consideration how much you will save over a long period of time whilst living there. These improvements should be seen as a long-term strategy which is first and foremost beneficial environmentally, as well as being financially sound in the long run, too.
You may be aware that your home is not energy sound. The first thing to do is to find the source of the energy loss. The main areas in which properties lose energy are heating, ventilation, air conditioning and lighting. If you concentrate on one or more of these areas, you could potentially save a considerable amount and in turn have a good impact environmentally too. One simple saving is to only use hot water only when it is truly needed.
Some of the energy losses are visible from outside of the house. One common occurrence with office buildings is that heating systems carry on overnight when no one is there. This is also true within the home. You can set a timer for the heating to go off not long after you have gone to bed so it isn’t on throughout the night. Another factor which affects both homes and businesses is leaving lights on overnight when they are not needed. Making minor changes like these may not seem like a lot, but over time it makes a significant difference.
After implementing changes, look to maximize your savings with other significant changes. One great option is to find a test equipment hire company to rent a thermal imaging camera. This uses a specialized piece of equipment to find specific areas which are leaking heat; they do this by displaying a temperature reading rather than a normal picture through the colors which are shown on the screen. Reds, oranges and yellows appear where the heat is emitting. This gives you a precise guideline as to where to make improvements on a building. Some examples of leaks, such as losing heat through a poorly made door, are easy to see, whereas others are near enough impossible to find without using a thermal camera. These particular leaks are found inside as well outside the building. Some windows with gaps may be fairly easy to solve, but building subsidence can be a major source of heat loss which could be a fair job to put right. Other significant wastes of energy are misdirected airflows or faulty ducts inside the building. Thermal imaging cameras are perfect for detecting any of these types of energy loss. Fixing them quickly is usually relatively easy, with a huge impact on your energy usage.
This article was written by Michael Turner, who is currently doing online research & development on behalf of UK-based Inlec, a test equipment hire entity.
