Thermal imaging reveals hot air at No. 1012 May 2010

February's ITV's tonight programme, Money to Burn, which looked at energy wastage from No 10 Downing Street and the Houses of Parliament, harnessed Flir thermal cameras in the hands of Eriks expert Duncan Webb.

The results, not surprisingly showed how inefficient older buildings can be – including, ironically, the building housing the Department of Environment and Climate Change.

"[We used] the same equipment and process that we use to analyse the efficiency and health of a wide range of industrial equipment, from electrical power distribution and power transmission equipment to mechanical devices, such as bearings and gearboxes," says Webb.

"Excess heat usually tells us that there is a problem; elevated temperatures mean higher resistance in circuits and motors, and higher friction in rotating machinery," he explains.

Commonly, says Webb, such problems are spotted when Eriks works as part of a proactive maintenance service, using predictive maintenance techniques to identify problems early on and fix them in order to reduce downtime.

"The image [above] shows tghat there is probably scope to improve the insulation at No 10, as the entire building is giving off quite a strong heat signature… But insulating listed buildings can be tricky to do," states Webb.

Brian Tinham

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