Aeral thermal imaging captures heat loss in Okotoks homes

Posted by on Friday, February 5th, 2016 at 3:18pm.

Chances are that heat is escaping from your home. Do you have any idea from where?

Log into the Town of Okotoks website and check out MyHEAT .  Find your home and see what parts of your home are leaking hot air.

Last fall, University of Calgary researchers flew over Okotoks with equipment that captures heat loss from buildings in town.  The results of are now posted and Okotoks biggest energy wasters have been revealed.

The thermal imaging software developed by researchers captured the bird’s eye images last October. The program assigns a Heat Score for each home with a rating between 0 and 100.  The score is reflective of home much heat loss is depicted in the images.

As homeowners will see, many of the structures in Okotoks with the lowest scores are uninsulated buildings such as garages or in certain areas of the attic of several homes. The lower the score, the more heat has been measured escaping.

The worst score in Okotoks was a 4.  This was recorded from a heritage building downtown that may be insulated with paper or newspaper as was a common practice more than a century ago.  It may also have very old, single-pane glass windows which are very inefficient.

The average Heat Score for those structures measured in last October’s fly-over was 49, and many homes scored between 70 and 90.

Owners of homes that scored even as high as 80 should still give every consideration to improving that score because every point means wasted energy and addition energy charges. Representatives from the Town of Okotoks would still like to see the town’s average score come up.

A first step towards energy efficiency could be replacing windows, even if it’s one window at a time.  Sealant around windows and doors, including new weather stripping, can also make a difference.  The thermal imaging is so specific, homeowners can even identify if an uninsulated bay window is leaking warm air.

The goal of the research was awareness, providing an opportunity for town residents to save money on their monthly utility bills even if it’s only a dollar at a time.

In addition to this information, residents may soon benefit from a Town of Okotoks program to subsidize energy audits of private homes. A survey of how energy is used in the home can identify areas of improvement and energy wasters like old refrigerators and stoves or faulty fireplaces.  There are actually kits which could be provided to homeowners by the Okotoks Public Library which could be borrowed.  Once homeowners have a better idea on how they can improve energy use in their home, they can get to work – one project at a time.

Details of the energy audit plan are still being worked on the Town.

The MyHEAT program cost $75,000 but because the Town of Okotoks was a guinea pig for the program there was a 40% discount.  The Town has invested in a $20,000 subscription so another survey can be taken again, giving residents an opportunity to up their heat score.

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