Thermal Cameras Do Home Energy Audits

By PHIL MULKINS World Action Line Editor
Published: 6/27/2010  2:19 AM
Last Modified: 6/27/2010  6:46 AM

Dear Action Line: How can I get an “energy audit” done on my home? I need the type done involving an infrared camera that shows where heat is leaking in or out of windows and sliding doors and such. — M.G., Tulsa.

Dan Riedel, owner of Thermal Imaging Solutions LLC, Broken Arrow, uses a “thermal camera” to do exactly that. He does energy audits for homeowners and businesses. Most of his customers are small businesses concerned with energy-wasteful buildings or electrical equipment, but he also does residential energy audits.

The heat-sensitive camera is the Razir Lite, made by SPI (Sierra Pacific Innovations Corp., Las Vegas) and displays buildings or any environment in shades of black, purple, blue, red, orange, yellow and white — the brighter toward white the hotter. The $10,000 camera “sees the world in vivid hues invisible to conventional photographic systems.” It “detects heat signatures surrounding leaking air conditioning and heating ductwork, mold and moisture, bad motor bearings and electrical problems.”

He worked with the Tulsa Public Schools in 2009 testing windows for energy efficiency, said Les Pace, certified energy manager with the school system. His responsibility includes “management and verification validating that energy savings are really happening.”

“What we have been doing is using the camera to check the energy efficiency of school buildings and then again after ‘Low-E insulated storm windows’ have been installed. We are checking them to make sure
they will perform as advertised — that they will save us in heating and cooling expense,” Pace said.

Riedel said he performs residential energy audits for a minimum of $100 for structures of up to 2,300 square feet and then charges by the hour if the job takes longer than 90 minutes. Typically, the homeowner wants to walk around with him and view the camera screen at each outside surface while taking notes. Riedel also has the software necessary to take thermal-image photographs of these structures to either e-mail to the customer, or to record on disk to mail to the customer (about $30 extra). An extensive, all-surface examination with multiple hard-copy photographs starts at $200, he said.

“If they want me to come back and go over it again for an insulation worker or a relative helping them with the job, I can do that and explain to them how to do it (for $25). I do offer discounts to senior citizens and veterans.”

Thermal Imaging Solutions is listed in the Tulsa Better Business Bureau database but has “no rating” as the bureau “does not have sufficient information to issue a rating.” No complaints against it have reached the bureau for the past three years. Contact the firm at thermalimage@gmail.com, call 455-2425, or go to tulsaworld.com/ThermalImagingSolutions.

“These audits can be done inside or outside of the home,” Riedel said. “The camera shows missing insulation, inefficient windows and doors and many other issues. In addition, I check out electrical boxes, conduits, circuit breakers, live wires for hot spots and ductwork for leaks. The camera reads the difference between hot and cold which tells me if it is an issue to be checked out. I do a lot of work for businesses concerned that hot spots in electrical boxes or other equipment will cause fires.”

Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/business/article.aspx?subjectid=15&articleid=20100627_15_E5_DearAc792973