INFRARED THERMOGRAPHY USERS

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Comment by Joshua Knittel on May 21, 2012 at 4:46am

As most of you know, there is more to an energy audit or energy rating (such as a HERS rating) than just the thermal imaging - but this start up company has a good idea on how to get a nationwide database going.....

Here's a link to the Treehugger article:

http://www.treehugger.com/clean-technology/startup-takes-google-str...

Comment by John Snell on May 26, 2011 at 5:09pm

No, despite what some suggest, it is not a simple process to determine R-value or otherwise quantify heat transfer based on a single thermal image. Still, images can be very compelling and other tests can fill in the numbers.

Comment by Hal Skinner on May 26, 2011 at 5:02pm

That was what I had somewhat envisioned for that test.

 

One room in a home.  Half the wall painted with the coating and half with regular paint and thermal picture from the outside to show the heat energy reduction.

 

The 2nd test would be painting the coating on a section of a wall and regular paint on the EXTERIOR wall, again both on the same wall of a room - half and half, to show the reduction.

 

What I am most curious to see is if what it shows on the thermal picture can be measured in some form.  Or, is that going to require other measuring equipment to determine exactly what % of reduction we are looking at in the thermal picture.

 

What radiation / heat energy they see on one half vs what they see on the other.  Can a thermal inage akone determine that?

Comment by John Snell on May 26, 2011 at 4:50pm

Hal, One of the issues you run right into using thermography to show the impact of insulating coatings is that the imagers SEE radiation. Thus if the coating reflects radiation in the wavelengths detected by the imager, you'll see that but that doesn't necessarily show how effective the coating is. Better to paint some of the interior wall surfaces and leave others unpainted and then look at the wall from the exterior; of course this assumes all walls are same construction (except the coating) and that all thermal influences on both sides of the wall are similar. 

I know some folks have tried this sort of test but I'm not convinced they "dotted all their i's and crossed all their t's" if you know what I mean.

It might be more effective to design a demonstration on a smaller scale, say a couple of cardboard boxes with the same internal heat source. If the coating actually reduced heat transfer, it would show up on the exterior side. John N. is correct, however, in that most people would not accept a couple of cardboard boxes as good science!

Comment by John Nicholas on May 26, 2011 at 9:04am

Hal,

 

If you set it up so you could follow a standardized testing protocol, such as RESNET, ANSI, or ASTM perhaps you could make a claim.  Would your claim be accepted by the building performance industry?  Some would, some wouldn't.

 

Your best bet to establish a insulative value for any product claiming to retard heat transfer is to pay an independent lab to do a guarded hot box test on it.  That will actually measure the heat loss per sf in each sample.  The test is repeatable, and is not subject to interpretation.  With this independent test, you can get DOE, RESNET, BPI and other entities that are recognized within the industry to use the information.

Comment by Hal Skinner on May 26, 2011 at 7:57am

Hi Michael.

 

I have a question;  How exact a science is thermal imaging?  I have many years working with an insulating coating but ZERO experiences with thermal imaging.

 

Hypothetical situation;  If we painted an insulating coating on the interior sheetrock of a home, say we painted half a wall, I would expect a themal image showing a reduction in the loss of heat through that wall to the outside colder air.

 

Is thermal imaging an exact enough science so that those images can be analyzed to determine the exact amount of heat loss reduced and thereby calculate it's equivolent R-rating? 

 

Thanks and my apologies if this sounds like a dumb question.

Comment by Michael Stuart on February 3, 2011 at 4:14pm

I apologize that I have not posted anything interesting the group lately... but I have been a busy guy!   However, I attended ACI Northwest this week down in Portland, Oregon and had a great time.   On Monday of this week, I had an opportunity to perform a fun infrared inspection and blower door test with some other colleagues on a south Portland home.   I will share some of the images as soon as I get a chance to get them out of my Ti32 imager.  I also strongly encourage all other members of this group to post examples of your work, ask questions, and prod us into meaningful discussions.

Comment by Michael Stuart on December 23, 2010 at 10:19am

Happy Holidays to all on HEP!  May all of your season's wishes come true!  And may we all have a prosperous New Year!

Comment by Michael Stuart on December 13, 2010 at 1:42pm

TJ,

 

Thanks for the follow up with all of us.   Interesting developments.  Thanks for the added images as well.

Comment by TJ Ewing on December 12, 2010 at 7:43pm

Hi all,

Sorry it took me so long to update, I’ve been in a mad dash to the holidays!  So we did take the bulletin board off (which showed evidence of wetting/rot on its backside) and the church reps were more than eager to do a destructive core given the many decades of trouble with this wall. So they did! We learned we have 4" block with at most a 1/2" air gap to the brick that is most likely impeded in many places by mortar. No vapor or air barrier present and no block insulation or filling.  We saw no direct evidence of internal wall moisture. There's been a lot of confusion by the church reps on when the wetness appears. But at this point we have an externally concentrated drainage area of a large portion of roof, potential irrigation spray onto the brick during summer, less than adequate drainage away from the external side of the brick veneer wall, a weak drainage plane, no weeps in the wall, and some contact between the brick and concrete. Controlling water sources is primary in our minds as we think the wall is wicking bulk moisture via the wall surface and from the ground. When the morning sun hits the SE facing wall, it drives the moisture in which condenses underneath the interior wall paint. The church is replacing the bulletin board with standoffs and we are leaving our core hole open for now.  We aim to control moisture first, and when the event happens again, take more details of the internal and external conditions when it does.

Have a great holiday season,
TJ 

 

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