Anybody else do this?

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FatttFire

Member
Hearth Supporter
Feb 14, 2008
195
Snowbelt, Ohio
I am posting this b/c she thinks I am NUTS, which I am not arguing about! ( the G.F. by the way ) I bought an IR thermometer, and I have been walking around looking for cold spots, pointed at the floor, ceiling, outlets, attic doors, eves, stuff like that, and I have found a few, and have fixed them. She thinks I am loosing it, I tried to explain to her, but you know how far that went. Then she said nobody else in their right mind would have ever thought of that, or would do it, not even on your wood site! I chuckled and said I would ask if anybody else has done this, and if I get a certain number of "YES" then I win :coolgrin: sorry can't tell you the prize! Anybody do this?
 
would have never known about or purchased my IR thermometer had i not read it on the board

so yes i do the same :)
 
Hey FattyFire just curious did you find any cold spots where simple fixes like caulking around windows did the trick? I'm a caulking sumbasti and buy' em by the cases when their on sale...just wondering if my time is well spent. thanks
 
I borrow the one from work on a semi regular basis when we get a good cold snap so I cna find my cold spots and fix them and also to help me masure my air flo patterns and see where I might try something new to improve it.

You're not nuts.

Now if you were to go out and purchase a set of infrared night vision goggles from an army surplus store so you could find the cold spots she might be onto something...hey...thats not a bad idea.
 
I was thinking of purchasing one just for that reason. Tell your girl friend to pay up! ;-)
 
Dude, I'm sorry, but we just built a new home and it's pretty tight....

HOWEVER :)

If it'd help ya win your bet, I'd go out and buy one just so I could say I did it!
 
I'd ask her if sh'e rather stand naked near cold spots so you can count the goose bumps to determine where any cold infiltrations are coming from.
 
While you might actually be nuts, I do the same thing. A sickness I guess, but saving energy rules. :-)
 
I did it. It works. Saves me money by reducing heat loss, which ultimately makes the wife happy.
 
just saw on CNN that people pay 300 -600 dollars to have this done by a "professional" to cut energy costs.
 
oilstinks said:
just saw on CNN that people pay 300 -600 dollars to have this done by a "professional" to cut energy costs.
Well... I think they are using fancy thermal imaging cameras, not some dinky IR laser pointy thingy.

The best way to seal up the house is to stop where the warm air is getting out. Running around inside the house with a laser pointy thingy is not going to do much good there. A low tech smoke pencil or stick of incense is your friend there. Thermal imaging from the outside will show heat loss too.
 
HA! I also went from the outside a used it to look for hot spots, thought of that too! Also, I have a close friend in the "fire" business, and he brought over a thermo imaging device they use to look for fires inside walls! Now that is a GREAT TOOL! Wish I had one of those but I could buy 10 Summits for that price! Let me count 1, 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ..... Honey where are you????????? LOL
 
FatttFire said:
HA! I also went from the outside...
LOL

So now your neighbors agree with your wife. I hope you weren't doing this at night with the laser pointer cuz they might call the FAA!
 
FatttFire said:
Let me count 1, 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ..... Honey where are you????????? LOL
Hey, I just got it... I'm a little slow.

You mean count 1 one thousand, 2 one thousand, 3 one thousand... ready or not...
 
Point the IR gun a the GF and say, WOW! you're hot! She will no longer question your sanity, plus it could lead to some extracuriiculars.
 
I'm another IR thermometer user that has measured temperatures on walls, floors, around doors, at electric outlet and anything else I can think of.
 
myzamboni, I did that, and she gives me "the look" and says good try! Gets me no where! lol
 
I shall sheepishly acknowledge I *plan* to do this more with mine. I'm lucky to have a friend who let's out his IR camera for cheap rates by the day or week, too - that's far and away the better way to really gauge heat loss / cold air infiltration.

And yeah - my Woodstove Wife (she currently wants me to call her "Woodstove Goddess", btw since she hit 475 on the Rutland, but I didn't tell her it was after i reloaded and readjusted the damper and primary controls) loudly proclaims my mental illness for the world to hear :)

Good luck with the paying up part. She definitely owes you :)
 
+1 I use my IR all the time looking for cold spots.
I tried the IR on my girlfriend last winter and almost got a split to my head. Something about that red dot made her feel like a target.
 
woodjack said:
I tried the IR on my girlfriend last winter and almost got a split to my head.
Is that like an ice cream headache?
 
I ordered one from Harbor Freight last week. It's on back order, though. Can't wait to get it.
 
EngineRep said:
I'm another IR thermometer user that has measured temperatures on walls, floors, around doors, at electric outlet and anything else I can think of.
Me too. ;-)

But the best part is having the guy that is pictured in my avatar chase and play with it. I make sure not to get it in his eyes.

Shipper
 
Nah, you're not nuts . . . I brought home a thermal imaging camera from work the other day and scanned the house from the outside looking for hot spots to indicate heat loss. Incidentally, just to be clear this is an older unit that is no longer used by the engine crews -- it's been assigned to me for demonstration purposes.
 
Many industrial uses with same concept. They are used to inspect electrical cabinets adn bus bars for loose connections, checking bearings and motors, piping, oil coolers, etc.
So tell the GF you are high tech. May be nuts too, but that is another topic.

k
 
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