Longitudinal Energy Waste Detection with Visualization

Abstract

Leaky windows and doors, open refrigerators, unattended appliances, left-on lights, and other sources subtly leak energy accounting for a large portion of waste. Formal energy audits are expensive and time consuming and do not capture many sources of leakage and waste. In this short paper, we present a hybrid IR/RGB imaging system for an end-user to deploy to perform longitudinal detection of energy waste. The system uses a low resolution, 16×4 IR camera and a low cost digital camera mounted on a steerable platform to automatically scan a room, periodically taking low resolution IR and RGB images. The system uses image stitching to create an IR/RGB hybrid panoramic image and segmentation to determine temperature extrema in the scanned room. Finally, this data is combined with thermostat set-point information to highlight hot-spots or cold-spots which likely indicate energy leakage or wastage. The system obviates the need for expensive, time-consuming waste detection methods, for professional setup, and for more intrusive instrumentation of the home.