The Homeowner’s Guide to Passive Thermal Performance

INSIGHTS

The Homeowner’s Guide to Passive Thermal Performance

You’ve probably heard the term “passive design” before — but what does passive thermal performance really mean for your home?

The basics

Passive thermal performance is how well your home naturally maintains a comfortable temperature without heavy reliance on heating or cooling. Key factors include:

Insulation in walls, ceilings, and floors
Airtightness around openings
Window glazing and shading
Orientation and ventilation

Why it’s important

A home with strong passive performance is:

Cheaper to run – reduced energy bills, often 10–30% lower
More comfortable – no more hot or cold zones
Sustainable – lower energy use = reduced carbon footprint
More valuable – energy-efficient homes are increasingly sought after

Why an inspection matters

Your home should comfortable and efficient to heat and cool while being airtight to help manage allergies.

A thermal imaging inspection can identify temperature leakage caused by air gaps and insulation failures that can go undiscovered for years.

Contact us to book your thermal imaging inspection and stay ahead of the seasons – stay warmer in winter, cooler in summer, and save on energy costs all year round.

DRAFTGUARD

Our mission

At DraftGuard, we help homeowners see what the eye can’t. Using advanced thermal imaging cameras, we detect hidden air leaks, missing insulation, and other thermal issues that are reducing the comfort of your home while driving up your energy usage and bills.

AT A GLANCE

Thermal imaging leak detection

At DraftGuard, we help homeowners see what the eye can’t. Using advanced thermal imaging cameras, we detect hidden air leaks, missing insulation, and other thermal issues that reduce comfort and drive up energy costs.

Most homes lose far more energy than their owners realise — in fact, studies show that up to 25–30% of a home’s heating and cooling can be lost through gaps, cracks, and poor insulation. That means higher bills, harder-working heating and cooling systems, and a home that never feels quite right.

We believe in giving homeowners clear, actionable insights so they can make simple improvements that add up to big savings and a more comfortable home.

ADVANCED THERMAL IMAGING TECHNOLOGY

Detection and diagnostic equipment

Not all thermal cameras are created equal. Inexpensive consumer models often have very low resolution (as little as 80×60 pixels) and poor thermal sensitivity, meaning they only show rough “hot and cold blobs” with little diagnostic value. Temperature readings can also be inaccurate by several degrees – enough to miss or misinterpret real thermal leaks.

We exclusively use the HIKMICRO™ M Series professional thermal cameras, built specifically for assessing and inspecting building diagnostics. Featuring much higher resolution and NETD sensitivity along with more precise temperature accuracy (within ±2 °C or 2%), our professional, industrial-grade thermal cameras reveal fine details like thin air gaps, degraded or missing insulation, or duct leaks that cheaper cameras simply can’t resolve.

This allows us to identify and prioritise issues with confidence rather than guesswork. Beyond clarity and accuracy, the M Series offers advanced tools: multi-spot temperature measurement, isotherm alarms, and onboard reporting. Combined with our AI analysis, this means we don’t just hand you blurry thermal images — we deliver precise, annotated reports that quantify energy loss and prove improvements after fixes.

By choosing DraftGuard, you are accessing industrial-grade accuracy and reporting rather than vague, unreliable snapshots. This helps ensure every leak is found, every recommendation is backed by data, and every dollar you spend on passive thermal improvements to your home is targeted where it counts.

THE INSPECTION PROCESS

What an inspection looks like

Step 1: Inspection

A DraftGuard technician inspects your home for thermal leakage – this includes detailed thermal imaging of common vulnerabilities such as windows, doors and ventilation outlets, as well as scanning for wall and ceiling insulation issues.
Our pre-inspection checks ensure any specific concerns a home owner has are captured and prioritised during the inspection.

Step 2: Reporting

We provide clear and easy-to-understand reports featuring thermal images taken during the inspection which reveal issues unable to be seen without the technology.
Comprehensive diagnosis with descriptions of each fault are included, with interpretation and annotation included with each image captured during the inspection.

Step 3: Actionable solutions

A DraftGuard report lists recommendations of actions for each identified issue that can be carried out by the home owner themselves.
These DIY upgrades are simple to carry out, with cost-effective and readily available materials, ruling out any need to hire expensive labour, leading to substantially increased future savings.

Products

Patents

Employees

Countries

DRAFTGUARD

Thermal imaging leak detection

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Therapeutic Areas of Focus

Neurology and Oncology

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Thermal IMAGING INSPECTION

It’s time to start saving on energy costs.

An air leak or insulation issue can significantly impact your energy usage and costs to heat and cool your property.

A DraftGuard thermal imaging inspection is a quick and cost-effective starting point to making impactful improvements to your home or office’s thermal performance.

If you suspect a leak or experience part of the home always being hot in summer and cold in winter, book a DraftGuard inspection and utilise latest-technology thermal imaging to pinpoint exactly where the thermal weaknesses are.

The sooner a weakness can be identified, the sooner it can be rectified and your energy bills lowered.

BOOK AN INSPECTION →