I know it’s depressing to think about, but it won’t be too long before we start thinking about taking the sweaters out of the closet and putting the swimsuits in their place. While the weather is still nice, though, it’s a perfect time to identify and fix those pesky energy-sucking leaks around windows, electrical outlets, and anywhere else where the insulation behind your wall or ceiling isn’t quite perfect.
Fortunately, there’s a new tool out there from Black & Decker called the Thermal Leak Detector that will make this task much more accurate than guesswork or incense sticks and much less expensive than a full-blown energy audit. We mentioned it back in December, but it’s now widely available and can be found at LIL’s partner Energy Federation and at Amazon. (note: if your heating or cooling bills are high and your home is > 10 years old, a professional audit is most likely the best way to go. They’ll be able to do a much more comprehensive job than you will, and can help to identify which fixes are most important. We have a great list of auditors near you on Low Impact Living).
The Black & Decker Thermal Leak Detector is very easy to use and pretty accurate. Simply scan it across a wall or other surface and a light emitted by the device will change from red to blue as you scan over zones that are hotter or colder than a reference temperature you select. Try to pick a day when the difference between inside and outside temperatures is high and scan away!