The ever-excellent Environment department at Slough Borough Council have shed some light on their new Heat Map.
It is very similar to the Haringey Heat Loss Map and most of the information on their site applies to the Slough one.
Basically:
- a plane flies overhead about 2 hours after sunset on a cold February/March night. It's done then so it's cold enough for people's heating to be on, but after the effect of the sun heating the roofing surface has faded.
- the measure is of how hot the roof is at that time. It clearly cannot know how hot the house is in the first place, so you can't make any firm assessment of how good the insulation is, just how much heat is being emitted at the time of surveying.
This means that a very poorly insulated house will appear "cold" if the owners are away and the heating off, and a very well insulated house look really "hot" if you're having a massive party and is full of people. Or you're one of the infamous Slough ganja farmers ...
There's a little bit more to it than that, but that's basically it. It's a very useful guide, but not totally accurate energy survey. But wait, Slough Council have thought of that, and are offering free energy checks for local residents, with subsequent help with insulation, by ringing 0800 043 9569. It's a relief to know that whilst some of the decisions of the planning committee seem to befar adrift from reality, other departments are getting to grips with the real problems in an effective way ...
