Casa Concept Thermography Study

Case Study #1

 

A one-storey ,1600sq.ft. house built in 1953; 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house with attached garage with octogenarian live oak trees and a beautiful back yard.

 

Owner wants to update the house, and add 240sq.ft. to make the house an age-in-place home with a modern master bedroom suite.

 

She knows the house is old, the windows single-pane and the walls cracked. What she doesn't know is how much leaking there is everywhere, how much her indoor air is mixing with the attic air, how hot her attic gets in the summer due to lack of proper air circulation and ventilation, how little insulation there is and how compromised it is, and how leaky her A/C ducts are.

 

The thermography camera used for the study operates using infrared radiation. The results are similar to an X ray machine in that it can see through some walls and detects surface anomalies, but it operates differently. The photographs show in black and white the differential of temperatures. See the examples below:

 

 

Thermographic image #1-  camera is looking at the living room ceiling with two recessed lights. The darker lines are the wood celing joists, the gray in between (as well as in the walls beyond) is the insulation, and the white spots on the ceiling are showing an absence of insulation. The camera is reading the attic heat right through the sheetrock in those places. When we examined the attic, we found that the insulation had been removed from the area where the recessed cans were installed in an effort to avert a fire. The recessed cans are single wall ( not to code), get extremely hot and can cause spontaneous combustion if in contact with combustible material like insulation. The par 80 lamps in the recessed cans have been recorded by our temperature gun as hot as 345 degrees. These are all factors contributing to heat gain in the interior.

 

 

Thermographic image #2-  camera is looking at the living room windows, which are single-pane and are letting in all the radiant heat from the sun. Notwithstanding the ambient temperature, these metal windows are conducting the radiant heat through the frames, acting like radiators in the house. Notice the great impact that shade has in preventing heat gain. In this case, the mature tree outside provides enormous respite to the house, shading it from the intense west sun. The remodel will include replacement of all windows to thermal break, double insulated windows with Low-E coating. West oriented windows and glass doors will get solar film to further diminish the heat gain.

 

 

Thermographic image #3-  camera is looking at the patio doors. The white lines denote the air infilatration which is contributing to the heat gain. If there is weatherproofing around the door it is not working.

 

 

The following videos give you an inside look at our case study Casa Concept-Bluegill Green Home Energy Efficiency Study under way: