Cheap and Easy Heatloss Detection? 23
Monty asks: "I'd like to measure heat loss to find out where to insulate and then find out if that is working. What can be done cheaply? Can I use my Sony's Nightvision and just cover up the IR emitter? Are there cheap but useful infrared cameras? What about plain infrared film? Or how about temperature data loggers? Where's a good place to ask these questions?"
Different kinds of infared (Score:5, Informative)
A heat sensor based on thermal radiation can only detect items that are warmer than itself, at a bare minimum, due to the laws of physics. That's why heat imaging cameras are so expensive, they have to cool the sensor down, usually using a Peltier effect junction, or in the case of a Sidewinder missile, a form of gas cooling.
I hope this all makes sense, and helps answer your question.
--Mike--
Chilly solution (Score:2, Interesting)
I'm no physicist... (Score:1, Informative)
Re:I'm no physicist... (Score:1, Funny)
If they would just use 32 bit pointers, they could address all infrared up to 4 gigabytes.
Re:I'm no physicist... (Score:1)
Sweet! Then we could build a beowulf cluster of these and have the worlds largest universal remote! You ould change an entire country's channel at once!
Good idea (Score:4, Interesting)
Why you can't... (Score:3, Informative)
Apparently anything longer than red is IR, but the film or sensor only goes slightly past visible.
A *better* way... (Score:1)
Forget it, Unless you are Rich (Score:1)
Now, cheap IR devices and IR film in a camera will reach into the IR but not far down. They will easily detect things that are pretty hot but which have not started to glow yet. If you want to watch coolish things (computers) you need something that can see the far infrared, and this is going to cost you lots of moolah. Like another post mentioned, it needs to be cooled (the Sidewinder uses liquid Nitrogen). Also, because the wavelength is very long, the pictures are quite blurry.
Of course, if you have an Athlon and take off the fan, you might just get it to radiate enough blackbody radiation to be detected on a cheapo IR sensor since it will reach temperatures not too far from the point where it will begin to glow. For a few seconds at least...
Btw, IR films in a camera are neat mostly because just below the visible part of the spectrum plants are pretty reflective, and therefore IR pics in nature look spooky. And you need a filter on them which filters out anything visible. These filters are practically black.
On another aside, some flowers have beautiful patterns in the near UV, just beyond the blue you can see. Insects CAN see that. Your retina is sensitive beyond the normal blue, but the lens absorbs it. People with a lens replacement (my father for instance) can see further into the blue spectrum. These slight-UV thingies which are used to make the flourescent marks in banknotes glow? My dad can see a blue light shining around the device, which you and I cannot.
Re:Forget it, Unless you are Rich (Score:2)
Y'know, that sounds cool enough that I'm actually looking forward to getting old and needing the relevant surgery. ;-)
35mm IR film is your friend (Score:2, Interesting)
And to save you some googling, here are a few links
Photo know-how : Infrared 101 [photoquest.com]
Infrared photography [prairieghosts.com]
A comparison of infrared films [pauck.de]
Infrared photography [rit.edu]
Just ask mom (Score:4, Funny)
Mom
Maybe those "remote temperature sensors"? (Score:2)
I don't know what the range (distance) is on those, or other limitations, but perhaps an idea would be that you can use it to spot check certain areas. Around windows, doors, specific places in the ceiling, etc.
Can anyone build on this?
Only ways I can think of... (Score:1)
Also, there is always the option of common sence while adding a bit of risk. I take no responsibilty for what you do with this info.
If your looking for hot spots on a solid metal case (no vet holes on the side you want to look at) try a spray bottel with water, and watch where it evaporates from first. Alcohaul would work too, and faster, but maybe too fast. Just remember water + electricty = bad things.
Try using your hand if it's safe and feel for warm spots verses other areas around it. Keep in mind, hot = pain, and flesh = conductor of electricity. If you want to stick your hand in the back of your TV and feel arround for hot spots, it's your life at risk, not mine.
Ask your local police department if they have a heat cam and if they would let you see your house through it. Often times they use them to look for "hot rooms" on homes in neighborhoods where they think there is a drug house growing things that they should not be. They may say yes, but they may also look closer at your house than you want. Hell, maybe Home Depot has them for rent now like an air hammer and a radial arm saw.
If you don't mind the mess, use wax, that melts at a temp just above the temp you want the thing to be at and spread some around. Cryans might work, or candels. Butter or Crisco also would work. I don't know their melting points, but butter has to be between 70 and 120 degrees F.
You may think I'm crazy, or on crack, but I am trying to help. Keep in mind, you never mentioned what you want to see the heat pattern on, whether house, car, ice fishing shack, custom electronic device, or something compleatly different. I hope this helps in some way.
Call your utility, and then guess. (Score:3, Informative)
Call your local utility. Often at least one of them will have a program where they do an "energy audit" on your house for cheap or free.
If that doesn't work, attics, windows, walls, floors, in that order.
Start with the attic, it is normally cheap and easy to add more, though there is a point of diminishign returns. If you have more than 12 inches up there, you are probably just fine.
Then windows. Low-e windows really make a difference. Unfortunatly low-e windows are expensive. If you need to replace your windows anyway, then get low-e glass. Otherwise window insulator shrink-wrap kits are cheap and work well.
Walls are harder. I you need to tear off the covering anyway, then add something, other wise it is really hard to do something. A professional can pump foam into walls, but this leaves holes all over the house, so I don't know if I would recomend it. Get a bid and decide if it is worth it. Often walls are best ignored until you build new.
floors are almost a non-issue. Still an uninsulated floor will get cold. carpet is about all you really need though.
Less precision, but what I'm thinking of doing... (Score:1)
Install temperature sensors in each room of your house, connected to a central pc, or data logger, then, you could graph the heat loss in each room over time, and see which rooms are cooling the fastest.
My plan includes a sensor on the furnace, and an outdoor sensor. This way I can also see how long the furnace has to run to maintain an internal temperature given the outside temperature.
I know, I'm a serious geek, but I think it's cool
Spytech!!! (Score:1)
Just wanted to let you know that Spytech (the fake childrens spy game toys) released a thermal sensor. It has a bar graph of LEDs showing how hot something is. I got one when I was a kid, and it worked VERY well. (for a kids toy) It could pick up a person walking in front of it from 100'.
Later,
-Affe
Ask Mims (Score:2)
IR Thermometer (Score:1)