Are consumer-grade thermal imaging cameras any good for spotting heat leaks in a house?

[russell]

I’ve been toying with the idea about buying myself a thermal imaging camera to do a DIY heat loss assessment of my own house. I’ve been looking at things like Seek Thermal which is about £250.

My thinking is that if I had my own camera I could check on the progress of my own improvements and also help my neighbours out for free etc. Also I get to buy myself a toy and don’t have to go through all the hassle of employing a professional to do the job.

However a friend of mine who uses professional thermal cameras as part of his work as a forensic fire investigator was skeptical that I would see anything useful with this sort of camera.

Can anyone advise?

[Locky]

That’s my understanding too. I’ve heard good things in the trade about Testo cameras - and cheaper than Flir etc

If you’re interested in heat loss think about calculating loss with an app. Www.heat-engineer.com offer a £10 service - many pro engineers are now using it. I had a look at it a while ago and seemed relatively easy to use as apparently pretty accurate if you understand how your house is constructed