Thermographic Imaging
Most Irish households spend €1,000s on heating their homes every year. Unfortunately, a large part of this money is wasted usually because of insufficient insulation and lack of air tightness. Greener Smarter uses cutting edge infrared technology to locate these hidden problem areas. This helps decide on the correct improvements to make the house energy efficient and save money as well as improving comfort levels for occupants.
How is it useful:
- Reduces your energy costs: a thermographic camera allows you to 'see' where a building is losing a lot of heat and therefore show you where exactly you are losing a lot of money. The camera can 'read' where exactly heat is escaping from a building by showing up the hot and cold areas of building surfaces. This allows you to tackle this waste of energy and money by carrying out the correct solution such as installing insulation in the correct location.
- Locates air leakage losses: the camera can identify places where the building is not as airtight as it should be. Excessively draughty or leaky houses are obviously a lot more expensive to heat than air tight ones. Excessive air leakage can account for up to 50% of the energy consumed in buildings.
- Identifies defects: it shows if there is any insulation missing, damaged or poorly installed in the building's fabric such as in the cavity of the walls or in the roof. The camera can detect temperature differences without having to open up the construction (ie. it is a non-destructive test method).
- Detects moisture: the thermographic camera can also detect moisture within the building fabric. This is useful in combatting potentially costly condensation problems within the construction. The camera can also show up any hidden pipe leaks or roof leaks. Flat roofs are particularly vulnerable to leaks. A thermographic camera can identify moisture problems in building elements that can't be examined by moisture meters.
- Provides a record of defects: the camera can capture and record high resolution images that can be used to remedy problems. These images can also be used as evidence of poor quality workmanship by certain contractors.
- Verifies improvements/repairs: the camera can be used to confirm any repairs or improvements made are done properly.
The camera can instantly capture and record high-resolution thermographic images that can be downloaded onto a computer.
Users of the camera need to be properly trained in using the device: they need to understanding the science behind the technology; they need to understand the object or system being inspected; they must also understand common errors that can influence the results.
Greener Smarter uses infrared cameras for its home energy assessments on request.
Basic Science
All objects emit a certain amount of radiation depending on the object's surface temperature. A thermographic camera is an electronic device that can 'read' this thermal radiation and display an object's temperature on the camera's screen. The camera screen shows the temperature of various surfaces using different colours to represent different temperatures: the brightest (warmest) parts of the image are usually coloured white, intermediate temperatures are coloured red and yellow, and the coolest parts are coloured blue. A scale on the side of the screen shows what colours represent what temperatures.
Infrared cameras can identify problems that can't be seen with the naked eye. This eliminates the need to break open up walls, roofs, etc. which can be very expensive and disruptive.