BLACK+DECKER Thermal Leak Detector (TLD100)

I've used thermal guns before but this 3 color light indicator is way cool. It makes checking temp delta's very quick. With the old gun (with laser pointer), it was, point at the area you wanted to test and then look at the meter, repoint the meter to a new location and look at the meter again. With this TLD100, it was just move the light around the area you are checking and the only time you have to actually look at the meter is when the color changes. It completely eliminates this looking back and forth at the target, then the meter, then the target, then the meter,...A comparison would be the difference between using a box end wrench or a rachet wrench to remove bolts. It makes the process much simpler and faster.I bought my unit at the wrong time of year when the outside temp was, at maximum, only 30 degrees different then the inside temp so even though I found some leaks, they were minor. My house is about 40 years old and since I bought it a few years ago, I installed storm doors and had added insulation to the attic. All the windows and doors are relatively new and from what I can tell, this house is relatively tight. Even though I didn't find any major problems, it's gives a certain peace of mind to know that everything is okay. This summer when the temps hit the 90's, I'll retest.The bottom line is that for home use and price, this is a very good meter. As some posters have pointed out, there are more accurate meters available and IR camera's that have far more versitility, but for what they cost, it would be much cheaper to not fix your leaks and just pay for the extra energy costs.Addendum:I've owned this product for a while now. When I first got it, it took under a minute to figure out how to use it. The concept behind it is very simple and very well done. At first, to my chagrin, my house seemed very tight and I found no hot or cold spots of any significance. I almost felt like I wasted my money, but there is a certain amount of consolation knowing that everything is in order.Recently, I bought a whole house fan, but my attic access was too small to get it into the attic, so I enlarged the opening. I knew that I would have to insulate the cover to the new opening, but before I got around to it I used this product to see what to expect. It was a warm day and I had the air on at about 77 degrees. When I pointed the meter at the new attic cover, it was reading almost 100 degrees. What that meant was that I had a radiating surface of about 7 square feet at 23 degrees over the interior of the house temperature. Looking toward the future when the winter would come, I could have a temperature differential of over 100 degrees during very cold days. In the summer when the temperature gets into the mid 90's or more, my attic temp exceeds 140 degrees. This would give me a temperature differential of over 65 degrees.I figure that this knowledge alone would pay for the meter in short order.Anyway, I really like having this meter and contrary to what some posters have said about it's accuracy, it's the delta (temp difference) that is the most important thing to be concerned about in this case.

I wanted a remote-measuring thermometer for checking my home for hot spots (in summer) or cool spots (in winter). This one is great! It couldn't be simpler to use, and it's very accurate.It projects a green, red or blue spot onto the wall or other surface being measured. The green spot represents the baseline temperature of a wall or other surface measured when the unit is powered on. The spot turns to red when scanning a surface that is hotter than the baseline temp, or blue when scanning a surface cooler than the baseline temp. The colored spot makes it really quick and easy to scan for hot and cold areas, since you don't need to pay close attention to the actual temperature reading until you find a zone of interest. At first I thought that the colored spot might just be a gimmick, but, in practice, I have found it to be a really useful feature.My background is in science and engineering, so I appreciate instruments that are accurate and work well. I checked this thermometer against several others that I know are accurate and it consistently agrees with the others +/- 2 degrees or better. This is within the specs for this device, and pretty good for under $30.Be aware though, that this unit remotely measures the temperature of surfaces, so it is not a good choice for medical use, for cooking and for other jobs where you need to measure internal temperatures. That said, it will measure the temperature of your skin pretty accurately. It will not accurately measure the temperature of shiny or transparent surfaces, but you can stick a piece of masking tape or duct tape on the surface and measure that.It's so sensitive that it will easily measure the residual heat left by my bare foot standing on a cool wood floor. Leave your foot in place for a minute or so, so that the temperature of the floor is increased by your warm foot. Move your foot away, then measure the temperature at the spot where your foot was, and the surrounding floor. The red LED light will light up when the thermometer is aimed at the outline of your foot, but will turn to green for the surrounding area. (Note: this probably will not work for concrete floors, since they will not warm up enough).You start by aiming the unit at a reference surface, such as a wall, to establish a baseline temperature. (Note: a switch in the battery compartment sets either Farenheit or Celsius for the readings) Then you can select one of three ranges: +/- 1F*, +/- 5F* or +/- 10F*. (.5, 3.0, 5.5 C) I like to start out with 10F*, since that will quickly let you zero in on any serious hot or cold spots. Spend your time fixing those spots first, and you'll get the best bang for your buck. After those spots are fixed, or if you don't find any in the ten-degree range, then move to the 5-degree range and repeat.Aside from its real value in finding and fixing thermal leaks, this thing is a heck of a lot of fun just to play with. My grandkids had fun searching for hot and cold things around the house. On the 5-degree setting, you'll find that just about anything that runs on electricity and stays on all the time (clocks, power cubes, etc.) will turn the LED to red. A/C ducts will turn the LED to blue if cool air is coming out.