Black and Decker Thermal Leak Detector

Black & Decker TLD100 Thermal Heat Detector

As a homeowner, this little tool has been an indispensable part of my toolkit. It works great, and I’m totally happy with my Black and Decker thermal leak detector.

The Black & Decker TLD100 thermal heat detector will improve the insulation in your house by letting you identify spots that are poorly insulated, which leads to much higher heating and air-conditioning costs. In fact, studies have shown that a properly insulated house can save up to 20 percent of your money each year! Who doesn’t want to cut down the energy bills by 20 percent? As a bonus, a properly insulated house will increase in market value.

The tool instantly finds suspect areas around poorly sealed doors and windows, fireplaces, ceiling lights, molding and trim, and basically anywhere that is supposed to have a tight seal. It finds all kinds of hidden drafts and poorly insulated weak spots around your whole house. The device works by using an easy-to-use thermal reference light that points out heat and cold.

The Black and Decker thermal leak detector is simple to use; simply set the tolerance on the device to 1, 5, or ten degrees (you can select whether to use Celsius or Fahrenheit via the unit’s LCD screen) and then point the reference light at the areas you want to check out. The color of the light will become red for hotter areas and blue for colder areas, effectively detecting heat transfer leaks. Trust me my friends, it doesn’t get any simpler than “point and read” — competing devices simply aren’t as convenient. It even works well at a distance and is highly accurate.

And can I mention that it’s also really fun to point it around as you inspect your house?

Once you determine where your thermal leaks are, all you have to do is go down to your local hardware store and buy some insulation, sealant, or stripping and take care of the problem for much, much less than it would cost to hire a contractor.

The TLD100 works equally well in both hot and cold weather. Some other uses for the thermal leak detector is to investigate an inefficient refrigerator or even a poorly running automobile engine that’s constantly overheating. But I suspect the first thing most homeowners will do is to go upstairs and check the insulation in the attic, which is too often neglected and can lead to some major air and heat leaks.

Note that very reflective surfaces and transparent surfaces such as windows are difficult to test directly with this device. Instead, test the areas directly around windows and other reflective surfaces.

This thermal heat detector has been extremely efficient in helping me to plug up all the thermal leaks in my house — there were an eye-opening number all throughout. The Black & Decker TLD100 does exactly what it’s advertised to do, and the price is right, too.

The package contents include a five step manual for finding and solving basic thermal leaks, detailing steps on a variety of home improvement tasks such as how to apply caulk and properly seal windows. The unit itself is covered by a generous two-year warranty. I haven’t had any sort of problem at all in the year or so that I’ve been using it.

If you or someone you know has just bought a new home, Black and Decker thermal leak detector makes the perfect gift or tool to add to your toolbox.