Black & Decker TLD100 Thermal Leak Detector
- Uses infrared sensors to measure surface temperatures
- Helps homeowners track down power-draining drafts
- Sold with a 5-step guide to fixing basic energy leaks and comes with the thermal leak detector
- Plugging leaks can save up to 20 percent on heating and cooling costs
- Backed by a two-year warranty
Heating and cooling accounts for about 50 percent of your energy usage, but the average house has enough leaks and drafts to equal a 1 sq. ft. hole. Cut down on wasteful spending with the help of the Thermal Leak Detector from Black and Decker .The TLD100 is an infrared sensor that finds these leaks along walls, molding, ductwork and more. Auto color change provides quick, intuitive feedback, showing users where to caulk, insulate, etc.The Black & Decker thermal leak detector helps you increase
List Price: $ 25.99
Price:
Some comparisons with the KINTREX Infrared Thermometer,
I purchased this Black and Decker product because it has an innovative feature: A LED spot is projected on the surface that you are scanning. If the surface temperature is higher by 1 degree (or 5, 10 degrees) than a reference point you set, the LED color will turn red. Similarly if the temperature is lower, the color will turn blue. This saves me a lot of neck pain because I would not need to keep looking up and down between the ceiling I am scanning and the LCD screen on the device.
However, the KINTREX device is far more technologically advanced (not surprising as KINTREX specializes in making precise measurement devices while Black and Decker is just a home and garden gadget makers.
The disadvantaged of the Black and Decker product vs. KINTREX:
Measurement Range: -22 to 302 °F (-30 to 150 °C) vs. -76 to 932 °F (-60 to 500 °C), i.e., useless for measuring your oven.
Distance to Spot Ratio: 6:1 vs. 12:1, which means you will have to stay twice closer to what you are measuring.
Battery: 9V alkaline battery (not included and costs about $5) vs. 2 AAA battery (included). KINTREX also claims that because of the low voltage its battery life is 60% longer.
Padded Nylon Carrying Case with Belt Loop: not included vs. included.
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|This meter is a dandy, especially if you’re tech-nerd,
Once leaks and losses are narrowed down, then a trip to the hardware store to get some caulk, weather stripping, and limited insulation for hopefully less than one hundred dollars will go a long way to spending less on heating and cooling.
A couple notes on this instrument:
– This can read temperature differences up to about 300 degrees Fahrenheit, so there is plenty of range. This can be important for finding dangerous HOT spots around the house, and having little to do with energy savings: heating or stove problems hidden from view, electrical shorts behind the wall, etc.
– You can set the infrared beam to indicate temperature differences of either 1 degree, 5 degrees, or 10 degrees, giving you a good choice of the sensitivity you are inspecting; and the differences are visual – a green spot for temperature within allowed limits, red spot for too hot, and blue spot for cold beyond the limited tested.
– Windows and transparent surfaces (and probably shiny surfaces) will not test well with the instrument. Not a big deal.
This tool is an excellent buy.
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|Cool device provides valueable insight to your energy bills,
When you scan over a temperature variation the color of the LED changes either to red to indicate it senses a higher temp or purple to indicate a lower temp at the same time you get a the temperature displayed on the units LCD screen.
A few years ago I had a company run CAT5, coax and a a ton of Siemens wire for some security cameras along with satellite TV an alarm and some updated phone lines. Well it turns out that in the process of running all that cable they made a TON of air leaks everywhere.
Found a spot where when they drilled through the fire stop they messed up the insulation and that area was 10 degrees warmer than the surrounding areas you could feel the heat coming in from the outlet they put there.
While playing with the scanner I noticed that the Smarthome keypadlincs and other smarthome light switches I have generate a TON of heat!
For instance a keypadlinc that is a x10 transmitter only read 85.5 degrees compared to the surrounding wall that was 9 degrees cooler.
A keypadlinc that contains a built in dimmer measured 95.37 degrees. Compare that to a normal electrical switch that generates no heat and uses no electricity to sustain itself.
Now your thinking thats cool but how does that affect me?
Well heat is power loss regardless of whether you are talking about loss through the transfer of from inside to outside the home or heat created by the consumtion of energy it all cost you money.
I really need to look into how much its costing me just to have these smarthome switches in place. If they are generating that much heat are they consuming 3-5 watts per hour? multiply that by 15 switches in the house over the course of a year and that adds up! The question then becomes does the convenience of being able to control multiple lights from 1 switch outweight the annual cost? Don’t know yet.
This thing has tons of uses from measuring how inefficient your insulation is to seeing where your air conditioner and furnace ducts are not properly sealed, were hot water pipes aren’t insulated properly (mine aren’t at all yet)or just which windows aren’t properly sealed.
I should point out that the family is a bit ticked off at me lately as I have been walking around the house pointing this thing at everything. I made my older son unplug his cell phone & tooth brush charger because they were generating heat and consuming energy I put a power strip on our loft TV which rarely gets used but yet the tv, receiver, subwoofer cable box and dvd player were once again all generating heat all using electricity even though they were turned off. (even in standby the cable box was generating INSANE heat 92 degrees IN STANDBY!!)
I also ordered a P3 International P4460 Kill A Watt EZ Electricity Usage Monitor from amazon that hasn’t come yet but with that I will get a dollar amount on how much energy we are wasting.
As a final note the reason I am going through all this trouble? Well last months electric bill was $375 and I almost popped my pants well this months bill? $482.00!! Yeah i did %^$% my pants!
Personally, I thought we were ok energy wise, every bulb in the house is either florescent or LED, the only halogen bulbs I have are some landscape lights (300 watts worth) but these last two months have opened my eyes.
Next few months I’ll be making changes so that I will never see any more bills like those.
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