How can I tell if my building is losing heat unnecessarily through it walls, roof and/or windows?
The normal sign of problems will be unexpected variation in energy bills, particularly gas bills where the heating is provided by natural gas boilers for example. However, in an older building these changes may be too subtle to see easily or the bills are already high without any obvious sign of deterioration. In either circumstance a quick way of assessing the thermal performance of the building is to use a hand held thermal imaging cameral. Such a device will quickly show you where heat is escaping and which areas are worse than others. Cameras are available to buy but many companies also rent the devices for short-term use, ideal for this application.
