Spotlight on Thermal Imaging

January’s Change Makers gathering will offer sustainability group leaders space to discuss using thermal imaging cameras as a tool in their community. We spoke with Dan Parnell, who has been using a thermal imaging camera with Sustainable South Brent (SSB) and will be speaking at the gathering, to get some insight in advance.

Dan’s personal interest in thermal imaging led to SSB borrowing a camera from Bigbury Net Zero to test out the concept, and to Dan gaining a Level 1 Thermographer qualification. This enabled the group to work out how a camera might be useful and to be supported by Dan’s expertise.

Schemes are available which allow people to simply borrow a thermal imaging camera and try it out, but SSB were keen to make sure there was real value for users, and that the organisation was properly insured. They decided to offer access to the camera as a free SSB membership benefit with the proviso that users had undertaken training. This ensured that the camera was being used competently - helpful for insurance, reducing likelihood of damage and clear understanding for users.

This gives users a general background on what thermal imaging is, how to use the camera and how to understand what they’re seeing. Dan emphasised that the camera itself is not going to immediately identify and fix all issues, but can give a good initial idea of problems like draughts and damp.

From here, it’s important that users also understand how they can use this information to make their homes more energy efficient. Dan said, “Often you find that most people are already making decisions for the economy of their heating, in terms of things like spending most of their time in one well-heated room during winter rather than heating the whole house. There are also quick and cheap solutions that the thermal imaging can highlight, like draught excluders or closing curtains.”

A key challenge, and one that is likely to be shared by other sustainability groups, is that those interested in using the camera and following up with energy-efficient measures are more likely to be those already engaged in these topics. There isn’t an easy answer to this, but it’s crucial to consider issues around energy and heating on a community-wide scale.

Some possibilities that SSB are considering involve identifying areas with the worst performing housing and focussing efforts there, and assessing on a larger cluster basis, i.e. looking at the level of a whole housing estate rather than one house at a time. One additional note is that there are several people in the South Hams living in caravans and static homes, which can be hard to heat and insulate - these groups also need to be taken into account when working at a community level.

At January’s Change Makers event, Dan will be introducing the concept of thermal imaging, how we use it, which camera to buy, tackling logistical challenges, understanding what to do with images, and options for training. We hope you’ll join us there on the 10th January - book your free place now!