INFRARED THERMOSCAN INSPECTION

Flir.com sales Infrared camers and has a nuber of good examples of their use.

As for having a house scanned.... It is a good investment and if done soon enough the weather will still be cold enough for a good scan. Once you have a thermal image of your home you will be better able to plan future improvements. Why replace windows if you are loosing most of your heat through the roof?

Thanks Richard. Do you know at what outside temprature this has to be done for the best result. Now where I live the outside temperature reaches 20 to 30 deg. C. Do I have to wait till winter season to get the best result.

Thanks

Give Flir.com a call they will be able to give you the best unbaised advice. I would think though if the scan was done first thing in the morning and you had turned the heat on a couple of hours earlier you should get the information you need.

FYI when they come out to do the scan have then do everything and pint a lot of pictures for you. Get the hot water heater, furnace, attic, garage.....I mean make them work, I have seen my fair share of "Specialty" contrators short change home owners.

Greetings,

Without "seeing" what sort of building you are dealing with, and because the air duct does not have access, the air duct may actually need to be two tubes (one usually insulated) if the bedroom door is always closed.

An infrared scan of the outside walls and roof of a house does require at least a 30 degree F /C inside to outside temperature difference, the other part is the time of day, walls and roof are best right after sunset (look also for trapped moisture after a rainfall) or before daybreak. Walls can also be scanned at noon to look for uniform heat transfer or uninsulated areas. Be sure to use the furnace or air-conditioner to sequentially heat and cool walls to help in the troubleshooting.

You may wish to put a visible camera into the air duct to "look for blockage", probably a vent control / shut-off.

Dan N

Level 2 Infrared Tech & Camera Sales

Hi: One way to do a temp-scan is it set up a baby thermometer in-each room, and take notes. Also if your roof does not leak water, You can use news paper in the rafters for insulation. News paper is better than fiberglass and will hold heat very well; as-well, it will keep the cold out and you warm. If you Do this you will be saving big bucks. I survived in Montana one winter by doing this. Mr X

I had a similar problem with a two-story and the answer was poor ventilation design and installation by the developer of the subdivision. I finally had to install a bigger air conditioner and furnace and install 3 in-line booster fans (good ones, not the hardware $30 kind) in order to cure most of the problem with the second story. I also removed many beer cans and lunch trash out of the returns as well as sealing the in-wall returns. To see if the air flow is good at all the outlets and returns, use a smoking cigarette or if you want some quantitative measure, rig up a 5 inch muffin fan to a multi-meter and measure the voltage when the fan is moved by the air flow.

Dave Meador

One quick way will be to buy a infrared thermometer from the Home depot or Lowes. You can your self scan the wall and windows at different times of the day and you will get info about the loss of insulation.

However, you should also check the duct system for clogged section (as it may be dangerous) and get it fixed.