Thermal Leak Detector
Heating and cooling account for almost 50% of an average homes energy usage and cost. So, if you can find a way to reduce your heating and cooling usage, you can put a significant in your energy costs. Well, I have found a simple tool that can help you find thermal breaks in your home’s building envelope: the Black & Decker TLD100 Thermal Leak Detector
This cool gadget is very simple to use. You just need to set the temperature differential you want to detect, and then just point the device. The green light will change to either red or blue to indicate places where the temperature is higher or lower than the room temperature.
When I used the device, I waited for a day where the outside temperature was very cold (around 20 degrees), so that any leaks would show up easier. Since, I only wanted to locate major leaks, I set the thermal detector to 10 degrees. This setting would allow me to find places along the walls and around doors and windows that was 10 degrees lower then the room temperature.
I then went around the house along the exterior walls and noted any locating where the devices light turned blue. I paid special attention to the areas around windows and doors, since those are the most likely places that air or cold would be leaking into the house. With the leaks identified, I then went around and began fixing the leaks with caulking and/or spray foam.
Be removing the thermal leaks and cold spots from our home, I was able to increase the overall comfort level at the same time as reducing our heating costs. I would recommend that anyone that wants to keep their heating and cooling costs down should own one of these Thermal Detectors.
