This article discusses sources education, experience, and tools for "house doctors" who use building science, home inspection experience, and thermal scanners, IR scanners, thermography cameras and other tools for the detection of heat loss or air infiltration in buildings.

How do I Become A House Doctor [a building doctor for energy surveys or indoor air quality or for other building problems]?

A "house doctor" as we use the term here is an expert building consultant who understands building science, how air moves through a building, how buildings are actually constructed (and what goes wrong), heating, ventilating, air conditioning, and building insulation systems, standards, and good practices.

And, if that's not enough, also how to use an occupant interview, thorough visual inspection of the building, and special tools and equipment (HEAT LOSS DETECTION TOOLS) to diagnose and describe repairs or changes necessary for a wide range of building complaints such as indoor air quality, mold contamination, heating costs, cooling costs, odors, leaks, and problems with the structure and/or its mechanical systems.

Photo at page top is discussed at Basement Energy Losses- IR & Visual. The accompanying text are reprinted/adapted/excerpted with permission from Solar Age Magazine - editor Steven Bliss.

Also see ENERGY SAVINGS in BUILDINGS.

And for an example of visual clues that identify building air leaks and heat loss with no instruments whatsoever, see Air Bypass Leaks, Thermal Tracking. Contact us to suggest text changes and additions and, if you wish, to receive online listing and credit for that contribution.

The question-and-answer article below paraphrases, quotes-from, updates, and comments an original article from Solar Age Magazine and written by Steven Bliss.

Details about how to use thermal imaging and the sources of error or even abuse and misue of the equipment are found at THERMAL IMAGING, THERMOGRAPHY

Information on Becoming a House Doctor for Energy Surveys, Air Leaks, Heat Loss Diagnosis & Repair

Question:

Where can I get information on how to get started in house doctoring and find sources for house doctoring equipment? - Phil Kalvelage, Dubuque, IA

Answer:

Critical House Doctor Education & Building Inspection Courses

First, study basic building science, how buildings work, how air moves in buildings, where air, moisture, and water leaks occur, how buildings are constructed, how and where insulation, caulking, sealants, are used, and how buildings wear or deteriorate over their lives.

You will need to know good new construction practices and building energy codes, and also you will need to know how older buildings were constructed and where errors were commonly made in the building envelope and insulation system as well as where leaks and other damage cause changes in how a building works.

Courses on home inspection are offered by independent home inspection schools and by various trade and professional associations.

See Home Inspector Education and also the articles listed beginning

at HOME & BUILDING INSPECTORS & INSPECTION METHODS - see detailed links

at the ARTICLE INDEX .

House-doctor franchises are available through Princeton Energy Partners [Princeton NY] and other energy auditing firms such as Watt Count [Franklin TN]. Watt Count supplies certain equipment, marketing, training, and evaluation of testing and a guarantee to customers. A Watt Count franchise in 1986 cost between $20,000. and $50,000, depending on the territory.

[Take a look at Home Inspection Company Franchises for some related concerns and franchise pros and cons.]

Products, tools and marketing support services for house doctoring (or "building doctors and building doctoring") are also offered by Retrotech USA, Inc. (Indianapolis IN) and Enercorp [Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada].

Many manufacturers sell specific tools and products used in the house-doctoring approach. You can find building doctor products listed in several building products guides and catalogs as well as sold by home inspection equipment supply companies.

House Doctor Tools for Air Leaks, Energy Loss Detection & Measurement

See AIR LEAK DETECTION TOOLS and see detailed links under that heading at the ARTICLE INDEX the bottom of this article .

Ongoing House Doctor Education, Field Studies, Reports, Magazine Articles

Also learn all you can about what house doctoring is and how it works through magazine articles such as those we list beginning

at ENERGY SAVINGS in BUILDINGS. See detailed links listed at the ARTICLE INDEX the bottom of this article .

Also see House Doctors with Better Medicine" (Solar Age 9/84 p. 27.)

Thermography Education and Training for Building Inspectors

...

Also see THERMAL IMAGING, THERMOGRAPHY for detailed advice on using & becoming trained in the use of thermal imaging equipment.

The photos above illustrate detection of overheating aluminum electrical wiring. Readers wishing training on use of thermography, IR or infra red equipment, for building surveys or other applications, should also contact the Institute of Infrared Thermography.

• Swedish-based AGA Infrared Systems AB was [in 1984] the world's oldest and largest manufacturer of infrared scanning equipment. In the 1980's the top-of-the-line Model 782 cost around $32,000 and had many features. The hand-held AGA model used by PEP and described in House Doctors with Better Medicine cost (in 1984) $12,500.
  
  In the 1980's Inframetrics also produced hand-held thermal scanners in the U.S.
• Currently and for some time we (DF) have made extensive use of a non-imaging low-price, small hand-held IR scanner provided by Exergen - a device costing less than $1000.
• FLIR Thermography - produces IR cameras and scanners

The question-and-answer article about sources and use of infrared thermal scanners and heat loss detection equipment, quotes-from, updates, and comments an original article from Solar Age Magazine and written by Steven Bliss..

Where to Buy IR & Thermography Equipment

Infra Red Inspection Equipment, temperature, heat loss, active leak detection, moisture investigations - Equipment Suppliers

• AGA Infrared Systems, 550 County Ave., Seacaucus NJ 08094. Here is
  
  a general product brochure from AGA (minor edits),
  
  History: the AGA Thermovision 750 was produced in the 1970's and was the first individually portable thermography system to reach the market. Here is
  
  the AGA Thermovision 750 operating manual from AGA.
  
  A used AGA Agema Thermovision 880 800 Infrared Camera Sys FLIR might be purchased typically (2010) for around $2000.
  
  Warning: looking for information about AGA will trip up readers whose web searches will find the American Gas Association AGA. AGA Infrared Systems AB [ca 1981] was a member of the Pharos Group, manufacturer of a complete range of thermal measurement systems, with subsidiaries worldwide.
• Headquarters: AGA Infrared Systems AB, S-182 11 Danderyd, Sweden
• Canada: AGAtronics Ltd., 5230 South Service Rd. Suite 125, Burlington Ontario L7L 5K2
• United States: AGA Corporation, PO Box 721, 60 Chapin Rd., Pine Brook NJ 07058
• West Germany: AGA Optronik GmbH, Zimmersmuthlenweg 40, D-6370, Oberursel/T
• Exergen Corporation, portable infra red scanners, 400 Pleasant St. Watertown, MA 02472, 1-800-422-3006 617-923-9900 Fax : 617-923-9911
• Inframetrics Inc., hand held thermal scanners, 25 Wiggins Ave., Bedford Mass, also available from Hughes Aircraft, El Segundo, CA.
• Institute of Infrared Thermography, (the company's website does not provide their mailing address nor telephone number). info@infraredinstitute.com
• Imaging Systems Inspection Equipment Inc. - 323 Andover Street - Wilmington, MA 01887 [focused on electronics and semiconductor placement systems, not building heat loss/IR thermography for general use]
• FLIR Thermography manufacturer of infrared cameras, thermography testing equipment, and thermal imaging cameras. FLIR provides infrared software as well as infrared training and support


• Asia Pacific: FLIR Thermography Support & contact information:FLIR Systems Co., Ltd. Asia Pacific Head Office, Hong Kong Tel: +852 2792 8955
• United States: FLIR Thermography Support & contact information: FLIR Systems, America's Main Office, USA
  Boston, MA Tel: 1-800-GO-INFRA (464-6372) or 1-978-901-8000
• Canada: FLIR Thermography Support & contact information:FLIR Systems Ltd., Canada's Main Office, Burlington, ON Tel: 1-800-613
• Europe: FLIR Systems International Main Office, Sweden Tel: +46 (0)8 753 25 00
• Latin America: FLIR Thermography Support & contact information:FLIR Systems Latin America, Sorocaba, Brazil, Tel: +55 15 3238 8075
  FLIR offers this comment on use of infrared for building diagnostics:

The link to the original Q&A article in PDF form immediately below was preceded by an expanded/updated online version of this article.

• "A Doctor in the House", Q&A on Getting Started in House Doctoring - original PDF version, use your browser's back button to return to this page. Solar Age Magazine, September 1986.

Watch out: The toolbox for studying air movement, heat loss, airborne particle levels, gases or chemicals moving in buildings, is a large one, but tools and gadgets alone do not make a building expert, and worse, they might be used improperly giving misleading and unnecessarily expensive results use to "sell" treatments or "improvements" that might not be the best way to spend on improving building air quality or saving on building energy costs. Understanding the basics about air movement and appreciating the benefits of an expert visual inspection

(see THERMAL TRACKING & HEAT LOSS)

can help consumers guard against bad advice or superficial building studies. .

...

Continue reading at AIR MOVEMENT in BUILDINGS or select a topic from the closely-related articles below, or see the complete ARTICLE INDEX.

Or see these

Recommended Articles

• AIR BYPASS LEAKS
• AIR FLOW MEASUREMENT CFM - how to make air flow measurements, where to buy air flow measurement equipment.
• AIR LEAK DETECTION TOOLS - using heat loss measurement tools in practical applications
• AIR MOVEMENT in BUILDINGS
• BLOWER DOORS & AIR INFILTRATION

Suggested citation for this web page

HOUSE DOCTOR, how-to be at InspectApedia.com - online encyclopedia of building & environmental inspection, testing, diagnosis, repair, & problem prevention advice.

Or see this

INDEX to RELATED ARTICLES: ARTICLE INDEX to BUILDING ENERGY SAVINGS

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Citations & References

In addition to any citations in the article above, a full list is available on request.

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