[420 Girl]

One cold, clear night a spy plane will be circling over Poole taking pictures with a very special camera.

The light aircraft will be fitted with a thermal imaging camera to map the amount of heat escaping from homes and businesses across the borough.

The £17,500 project, funded by the Energy Saving Trust, aims to help residents and businesses beat the cost of rising energy bills.

When the project is complete everyone will be able to find out through the council’s website how their property fares, with a colour-coded rating based on the level of heat loss.

“The rising cost of heating our homes, schools, offices and other buildings is a big issue for everyone in Poole, including the council,” said Cllr Don Collier, cabinet portfolio holder for the environment, Borough of Poole.

“This innovative project will allow us to help residents and businesses reduce their energy bills and also support our efforts in facing the bigger challenges of climate change,” he said.

The aerial study will provide a borough-wide snapshot of energy efficiency using thermal maps and help the council identify which households could benefit from energy-saving grants to better insulate their homes and reduce fuel bills.

For the flight a winter evening with a temperature below 4C is required, when people are more likely to have the heating turned up.

The aircraft, fitted with a thermal imager, will fly at 3,000ft over the town collecting the images which will be laid over a map of Poole.

So what colour will your home be? The darker the colour the better, with the hot spots showing yellow to white and the better insulated properties black to blue and green.

The information will allow the council, in partnership with the Dorset Energy Advice Centre, to identify which homes may benefit from advice on grants for loft insulation, which can save 15 per cent of heating costs, equating to £155 for an average household.

Similar equipment has been used by the police to pinpoint cannabis factories, which use high levels of heat and light.

The council plans to make a further flight in 2011 to chart progress.

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