A team of researchers at the University of Calgary has developed a free website that allows you to see how much heat is escaping from your home – and how much it’s costing you.
The team used a thermal imaging camera mounted in a small plane to measure heat loss from every home in Calgary.
Using thermal images from 29 communities, they created the website www.saveheat.co.
When you click on your community and then your home, a map will show you how much heat is escaping from your house and from where. It also tells how you how the energy efficiency of your home compares to your neighbour’s.
The scientist leading the team, Geography professor Geoffrey Hay, says the project began when he noticed the new home he had bought was losing too much heat.
“Literally I came home and my house was cold and I thought – wouldn’t it be great if I could pull out my iPhone, click on Google maps and up would come a map showing me where the energy was leaving my home?”
Hay says heat loss in the nearly 38,000 homes on the website so far collectively costs those homeowners $4.9 million a year and emits 29,000 tonnes of C02.
The researchers hope to secure funding so they can post thermal images of every home in Calgary on their website.
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