I conducted a thermal scan of a brand new home. The A/C was on for a full hour. I captured this image at the front door.
I would like you opinion on:
the location of the supply vent
the insulated front door
The popular beleif in HVAC design is to place registers at or near the area of infiltration/exfiltration (i.e. under windows and around doors). This warms/cools the extremes of the room and allows for a more balanced approach.
The difficulty in evaulating that door is that the materials around it are different and therefore it is not a good comparative thermal scene. One would also like to see what the solar load was on the door - any shadows?
It appears that some of the weatherstripping could be improved.
Steve, thanks for the response. The insulated door exterior temperature was 145 deg. F. while the interior door temperature was 85 deg. F.
My opinion is that the big picture here (duct location and door type) are minimally adequate, hence the “poplular belief”.
I wonder what an architect would say about this?
Yes, shadows were present which is why the “insulated” door has several temperature areas.
The weather stripping was satisfactory, but the saddle was metal, hence the bright color and temperature difference.