Insulation Problems
Recently I bought a camera that can see whether and where a home is insulated. This camera is so cool! It overlays visible-light and infrared images (no, you can't see through anything) and it has a 5-inch display. It can detect temperature differences of .07 degrees centigrade, yes seven hundredths of a degree! In addition, I can burn a report to CD using my tablet PC.
I became interested in infrared technology for building science applications after I'd talked to the fourth or fifth person who spent many thousands of dollars replacing all their windows with dual pane models, yet saw almost no difference in energy use. That's most likely because their walls have no insulation. In California, builders large and small didn't insulate walls until recently. We don't have extreme temperatures so insulating anything but the attic was considered unnecessary.
In most homes, only 25% of the wall space is dedicated to windows. And dual pane windows reduce heat loss by just 30 to 50%. Each standard-size window costs about $400 installed so that's an extremely poor cost/benefit ratio. They do make your home less drafty and more quiet, but reduce your energy use? Hardly, when your walls are not insulated. One woman I spoke to had spent almost $30,000 to replace her old windows. The sad thing is, she's disillusioned and may not install any more energy efficiency upgrades.
I'm not sure which energy agency it was, but one of them estimated that over half the California homes built before 1960 still have no wall insulation. Many others have been remodeled, and perhaps an addition got insulated. But with our homes changing hands so often, we don't have much reliable information.
I can say for sure that adding insulation is surprisingly reasonable (please note I have no interest in any insulation company). For saving money, it probably beats any other energy upgrade you could install. Our built environment does as much damage as our cars, greenhouse gas wise, and now we can confidently go about solving the problem. I'm so excited this technology made it out of the military and into our hands! For that, I've been told we have a bunch of guys from Honeywell to thank.
Ho-Ho-HO!
Lorna Fear
Certified Green Building Professional (Advanced)
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Camera Info.
As a green builder we are always looking for ways to build a better, tighter, more durable homes and after the construction is all complete including finishes is not the time to find out we have a problem. The camera you describe would be very helpful but you did not provide any info as to where to find one and product info. Would you please be kind enough to let us know where to get one so we can provide the best possible construction for our clients.
Thanks,
Scott Dwire
PCR