We recommend that any house, apartment, or other building you are about to purchase should be inspected for heat loss.

Inspection is also advisabble before starting interior or exterior decoration, since this will allow you to identify existing defects and eliminate them, avoiding unnecessary future costs.

A competent calculation of the heat transfer resistance indicator makes it possible to accurately determine the required amount of additional insulation, and therefore significantly save money on utility bills in cold weather. 

A preliminary thermal imaging survey of building structures helps to protect you from an unprofitable purchase and also provides grounds to seek a reduction in the cost of the building based on the identified problems in its construction. Unfortunately, few people think about carrying out such an inspection in advance and only resort to thermal imaging after they notice heat loss problems.   Sometimes a small construction error can lead to very unpleasant consequences. Heat begins to leave the home through windows, walls, floors or roof. A thermal imaging survey of the house will help you understand where exactly the weak links are. With the help of a special device - a thermal imaging camera, it is easy to detect sources of heat loss and correct the situation.  The main advantage of a thermal imaging survey is the ability to see with your own eyes all the places through which heat leaks from the building. 

In a new home, diagnostics help to identify all the "cold bridges", damaged insulation elements, design and construction problems that affect the heat losses of the entire structure. As a result, the prospective owner of the premises or its tenant can demand the elimination of defects or compensation from the contractor or landlord, or can fix the matter themselves. 

It is always useful for potential buyers of buildings to conduct diagnostics - this way they can be sure of the quality of the building, and estimate the upcoming costs for repairs and heating of the premises. Thermal imaging inspection of the building is best carried out before entering into any contract with its owner or builder.

   What is a thermal imager and how does it work 

Thermal imaging inspection is a method of diagnosing a room using special measuring devices, thermal imagers and other special equipment that allows for inspection in the infrared spectrum. A thermal imager is a device based on an infrared camera that allows contactless measurement of surface temperatures of structures and displays the results on thermal images - thermograms.

The principle of operation of a thermal imager is based on the conversion of invisible thermal radiation into visible light, where different temperatures are displayed in different colors. As a rule, lower temperatures are shown in cold color shades (dark blue, light blue, green), higher ones - in warm ones (from yellow through red to white). The main application of thermal imagers in construction is the determination of heat loss to the outside world through walls, doors and windows. The difference in temperature between the room air and the temperature of the surfaces being inspected can be used to understand how well or poorly they insulate the building from the external environment. A thermal imaging inspection also allows you to find areas of heat leakage in a house due to design features called "cold bridges". In these places, with poor ventilation and high humidity, condensation and mold growth are most likely.

           Problems solved by thermal imaging                     Inspection 

The scope of application of thermal imaging services is quite wide. Diagnostics of private homes of all types, along with other buildings and structures allows you to control the quality of construction and identify the following problems: cracks in the walls, or the integrity of the foundations, the condition of the interior decoration of the house, whether the plaster is peeling off the walls, defects during the installation of windows and doors, window sills, outside seals in places where walls or any prefabricated structures are connected tightly to the walls, along with and other defects in thermal insulation. 

We see how well the heating system works, whether there might be blockage, whether the temperatures at the inlet and outlet are correct. How the ventilation system works, and whether there is heat loss through the chimney.  We can predict zones of condensation judging by the state of the thermal insulation of the structure, and heat leakage through the ceiling and roof. 

Most importantly, we see the overall state of the thermal insulation; how it works and whether it will be possible to live in the house and spend only a moderate amount of money on heating.

How to prepare a residential building for inspection

There are certain requirements for conducting a thermal imaging survey. It is best carried out from autumn to spring in order to maintain the difference between the indoor and outdoor air temperature. Outdoor temperature should be between 15 - 20 ° C.

Before your survey there are some things you should do...

 Two days before the survey, you need to make sure that the heating system in the house is working properly, and the temperature inside the building is maintained at about 20 ° C. 

All repair and construction work in the house that can affect the change in temperature (replacing windows, installing an entrance door), should be paused.

Curtains, paintings and other items should be removed from the perimeter walls of the building, and any floor covering that isolates the surface from the outside dould be lifted. Depending on the area and complexity of the building, thermal imaging will take up to 2 hours. For example, an average house with an area of ​​1000 sq.ft. would take about 2 hours.                                                                                                                                                                                                  The approximate cost for the service, an Independent individual thermographic survey of a residential building of around  1.000 sq ft will cost from £200. Larger properies will be negotiated individually.   We include travel up to 50 miles, but are happy to travel further by arrangement.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 What does the customer receive in the thermal imaging survey report

Of course, it is worth discussing another important point - the way in which the thermal imaging survey report is issued. After diagnostics, an expert analyses the information and prepares a report indicating the causes of heat loss and giving recommendations for eliminating defects. 

The thermal imaging survey report contains the following information:    description of the methods and standards used during the study;    survey conditions (weather, time, date);   information about the equipment used (thermal imager);  thermogram files; description of the defects detected. 

If we are conducting a survey of a private dwelling, sometimes an oral report and recommendation from a specialist on how to eliminate problems will be enough. This will reduce the cost of your survey.  

Analysis and processing of data using special software will take about three working days. As a result, you will receive a report on the thermal imaging survey of your building by e-mail. It will include an analysis, together with all the photos and thermograms we have gathered. We will also offer our advice about the most effective methods for eliminating any problem areas. 

We are experts in the most effective methods of heat and waterproofing and are ready to solve the most difficult problems.