Halfway Through with FilesThruTheAir

Richard Grove, Heritage Field Services

We’re only a month in to the trial, but already the benefits are becoming apparent.

I don’t have to worry anymore about physically being on-site at all times to collect data; the Cloud can be remotely accessed from anywhere, whilst the sensor display allows occupants on site to directly monitor real-time data at their leisure. More importantly, I no longer have to spend large amounts of time physically taking readings with pen and paper, nor have I had to make staff or residents responsible for data collection in my absence. This benefit by itself is significant, allowing data collection to be carried out at a range of sites where staffing pressures or access issues would otherwise have prohibited comprehensive assessments.

The sensors turned out to be very easy to set up – once I’d set up my Cloud account and linked the sensors I was ready to go. The whole process took just a few moments and I was immediately feeding data to the Cloud.

The sites I selected for the pilot study are:

• Nether Westcote Farm - a large Georgian Farmhouse, with later alterations, which is currently used for domestic purposes.
• Myton Crescent - a 1930’s detached townhouse, which is soon to undergo a major renovation.
• Hillfield Cottage – an 1840’s terraced brick cottage within a designated Conservation Area.

So far, the results are outstanding. I’m already starting to notice trends in the data that I may never have picked up before.

For example, I was able to identify that all of the heat from Hillfield Cottage was being lost from a small area of roof in a kitchen extension, as well as from the space above a small dormer window on the second floor. Being able to pinpoint the sources of heat loss meant we could direct the owners to invest just £40 on top-up insulation; and the results were a significant stabilising of the temperature across the entire household throughout the 24-hour cycle.

I’m hoping that I continue to get these sorts of results, as it will mean I can present a glowing set of results to my clients.

This is where another benefit of the system comes into play. The Cloud platform allows me to interrogate the results in a variety of different ways; these can then be presented as either a visually appealing graph, or as a spreadsheet for a detailed breakdown of results.

Stay tuned for the full results of my study.

Click here for the final part in Richard's test.