Find out how much heat your home is losing – by borrowing a thermal camera for free

Sustainable Suffolk and the Suffolk Climate Change Partnership – which includes Babergh and Mid Suffolk District Councils – have previously loaned out thermal cameras to community groups through their project called Keep the Heat. 

The thermal images taken by these community volunteers revealed where heat was escaping from people’s homes and businesses, making buildings cold, increasing energy bills and emitting wasted carbon into the atmosphere.

Equipped with information on how home and building owners can stop the leaks, the Keep the Heat volunteers have helped people to take action to stay warmer, lower their bills and their carbon footprint.  Since 2022, over 153 community groups have taken part in Keep the Heat, surveying almost 2,000 homes across Suffolk.

Thanks to the success of Keep the Heat and the desire from residents for more ways to take part, people in Suffolk can now borrow a thermal camera themselves from their local library for free. 

This collaboration with Suffolk Community Libraries gives anyone over 18 with a library card the opportunity to take thermal images of their own home.

To take part:

1.    Sign up for a library card, if you don’t already have one. Suffolk library cards are free, simply sign up on the website or ask at your local library.
2.    If you live in or around Ipswich, you can collect a camera by visiting Ipswich County Library or book a camera online, just as you would reserve a book and it’ll make its way to your local library for you to collect.
3.    Take your pictures. The cameras are straightforward to use, and all come with a handy step-by-step guide. 
4.    Return the camera to the library so someone else can borrow it.

There is no obligation to make your home more energy efficient if you borrow one of the thermal cameras. However, Sustainable Suffolk offer lots of free advice on quick and easy ways to ‘plug’ the leaks that you can do yourself such as draft excluders and thermal curtain linings. They also provide a booklet that highlights grants and support available to Suffolk residents for bigger improvements, such as thicker loft insulation.

There is also additional help for Mid Suffolk residents through the council’s Cosy Home initiative, with funding of up to £5,000 available for eligible homeowners, tenants or landlords.