thermal imaging of house

has anyone employed one of these service providers ?

the one i have in mind are midlands based and claim to be able to identify points where heat loss is occurring , cost is 350 for about four hours work , price doesnt seem too bad but ive no clue as to what qualifications and credentials this person should have for this kind of thing , im wondering if they just tell me there is heat escaping around the doors and windows , those seem very obvious weak points

No qualifications are required for this service really, just the ability to point a thermal imaging camera at your house and see on the screen where the hot spots are indicated outside.

Take a look at the Flir guide here, it contains a section on using such cameras for this purpose. I read a guide a few years back on doing such test, and there were caveats on ensuring such tests were carried out in the mornings before the sun starts hitting surfaces and throwing the results off. Can't find it at the moment, I'll take another look later and will post if I have more luck.

Would it be worth getting a BER cert done?
I got one done last year and it cost about €150. It had a pile of recommendations showing where I could get work done to improve the heat retention.

An example is

Some of the windows in this dwelling with a U-Value of less than 2.7 and greater than 2.
The heat loss through these windows can be reduced.
Cost: High
Impact: Low

There were loads of recommendations like this.

I don't know what you get for the €350 in the service you're looking at. Maybe they go into explaining the U-Value a bit more and what number I should be looking for in my windows. There's a bit of Googling to be done from a Ber cert.

A BER assessment won't point to issues like thermal bridging, gaps in insulation in cavities, failed glazing panels, or poor joint detailing between different materials or other similar issues. The assessor just inputs known or assumed values for the various materials used and a figure is calculated by the DEAP software they use.

Unless the home owner can supply specifics such as the spec sheets for the windows, doors, blocks, insulation in all locations, etc., the assessors just guess the U-Values for materials.

In the early days, almost anyone could become a BER assessor regardless of training or background. They've tightened up since I believe and new applicants now at least require some formal recognised education in a related discipline in order to become assessors. So some assessors will be better informed than others and will be more accurate in that assessment, but it's still a matter guessing. No measurement takes place.

Without derailing Galways thread too much my Ber Cert has 2 recommendations for windows as below. They're all the same material. I wasn't there when the assessment was done. My missus told me that the guy was outside pointing something at the house. I assumed that this was some kind of infrared / thermal measurement. I didn't pay too much attention at the time. I needed the cert as I was moving our mortgage from one bank to another (i.e. the actual value on the cert wasn't of much interest to me, as it was still our house no matter what result we got).

Some of the windows in this dwelling with a U-Value of less than 4 and greater than or equal to 2.7.
The heat loss through these windows can be significantly reduced.
Cost: High Impact: Medium

Some of the windows in this dwelling with a U-Value of less than 2.7 and greater than 2.
The heat loss through these windows can be reduced.
Cost: High Impact: Low

I'll guarantee you one thing about a BER assessment and that is you could get a few people to carry out the survey and you'd be certain to get different results from them all, they're a load of bull in my humble opinion. I've no idea what you're talking about when you say applicants becoming BER assessors now require some formal recognised education. You pay your money, do the course, get the cert and you're let loose. With the thermal imaging you "should" get a print out of the cold spots, etc. Some will for example show where cavity insulation has sagged, etc. Glass will obviously show as a heat loss but is obvious as other areas will be also. To me, the thermal, with imaging "WITH" read outs would be my choice by a mile.

maybe i wasnt very clear in my original post but im not looking to get a BER cert , im not moving house or remortgaging or anything like that

i want to try and identify why my house becomes cold so quickly when heat is off , i dont just want this pointed out , i want solutions offered

I didn't know this was required for the BER Cert now, thank you for pointing it out. I got the cert when they first came on stream but don't carry out any assessments anymore, all consumers want is the cheapest assessor and don't mind saying that a massive amount of certs aren't worth the money they're written on. Proper thermal imaging by the right people will show where improvements need improving and in many cases they'll show no insulation at all, eg, underfloor, etc. Then again, it's all up to what people themselves want, not always what they need.

Yeah, there was a lot of criticism at the start as some of those certified clearly had no idea what they were doing and saw it as an easy means of topping up their income. From your posts, you appear to have a lot more knowledge than many who qualified at that time.

One complaint from those coming through the system now is that those early assessors have devalued the system and they are unable to command the fees they feel they should be charging. Whether they deliver value for what they would like to charge however is another matter.

I haven't employed anyone in this area but have some advice to offer. Some Local Libraries have a kit that includes a heat sensor that helps you determine heat drops on outside walls - measure when heating off for a while, then after heating on for an hour and then once more after heating off for an hour etc to get an idea of how fast heat is lost. You do this at multiple points around the house. It's free once you find a library with the kit....
I purchased a FLIR One for my android phone two years ago and have been using it to track hot & cold spots around the ceilings of the rooms in my house. It will provide point temperatures and a heat map that's very useful and a possible investment to consider. You can track heating pipes with it and observe the house from inside and outside to find out the areas to focus on. This you can do on your own time and then ask about particular issues you find. The newer version fixed a lot of problems with the USB connection facing the wrong way etc.
Update: Appears to be just Dublin libraries that have that kit unfortunately.