Infrared Home Energy Testing

Infrared energy testing is a technology that holds great promise in cutting our energy usage in buildings as well as a variety of other industrial applications.

Infrared cameras have been used for perhaps decades to affix vivid color images to variations in heat. Recently their price has come down just as the Obama administration's energy policy is ramping up. Less than two years ago an infrared video camera cost at least $20,000. Now, one can buy a high quality unit for less than $10,000 and a cheaper chinese camera for just under $6000. Prices from there are said to be coming down soon. This is similar to the way compact fluorescent lamps went from $18 to 20 down to around $3 today at a big box retailer. This is the beauty of a technology and economics and production.

Infrared video cameras can virtually look through walls and see missing insulation, air leaks, plumbing leaks, structural components and the variation of temperatures across a wall or ceiling area. This now allows us to test rather than guess where energy is leaking from our houses and buildings.

Now, instead of guessing that our windows or our insulation is bad we can actually see where air and heat are escaping out buildings. We can also see hot wires or fuses in electrical systems, hot bearings in electric motors or a pool of water under a flat roof. This is a huge step as now we can see our wasted energy dollars in vivid color.

To figure out a course of action in a green building retrofit one must know where the problems lay. To do otherwise is to guess and probably waste money on expensive fixes that don't address the key problem.

Geoconserve remodeling and construction is now offering infrared home energy testing to the greater San Francisco Bay Area.

We can come to your home and scan the entire structure of the house and see what is going on underneath the sheetrock. My question to potential home buyers and real estate agents is this, do you think it is a good idea to buy a old house without taking a look underneath the surface? To homeowners, wouldn't you like to know exactly where energy is leaking out of your bay area house so that you can address the problem directly?

Maybe it is time for a green home energy retrofit. Getting an infrared energy audit of your house is the first step.