FAQs

You can book a callback here to make your survey appointment, or you can book and pay directly here.

No, if you are a renter we have an 80% discount offer, or you can pay full price for a survey, or you may qualify for a free survey. As a social enterprise we strive to keep our prices as low as possible. However, if you have a Retrofit West voucher, you can get 70% off the cost of your survey up to £500.

Yes, for the 2025/26 season we are pleased to be offering an exclusive 80% discount for renters on thermal imaging surveys and airtightness testing, along with free draughtproofing materials. We recognise that there is not much help available for long-term renters who would like to tackle causes of cold at home and this special offer comes thanks to grant funding.

If you are receiving benefits, family support, etc. we will consider your application favourably. Check our Free Surveys page for more info.

We work with partners in the community and apply for grants to provide these for people who may be struggling. One of our aims is to help people in ‘fuel poverty’. Availability varies, so it is best to ask early in the survey season (from September). Check our Free Surveys page for more info.

Pricing is dependent on the amount of time it takes to survey the home and we pay our surveyors accordingly. A typical 3-bed home can take 2.5hrs whereas a 14-roomed property can take as long as 4-5 hrs. Visit the Pricing page for more info.

When booking, it is very important to choose the right number of rooms for your home, so we can allocate the correct length and price for your survey according to our pricing. We ask you to count all rooms inc. designated spaces, utility rooms, annexes, en-suites, heated loft rooms, but not hallways or unheated garages. Large open spaces are defined by their usage (i.e. open plan living & dining room is 2 rooms).

Households with extra rooms found on the day can choose to extend their survey by paying the balance difference.

Thermal imaging surveys with pressure reduction can pinpoint specific leaks, cold spots, etc. offering a comprehensive assessment, and are usually the starting point when trying to understand how you are losing heat/energy. Airtightness testing is a valuable tool to evaluate your home’s existing performance, too, but not all tests include thermal imaging. Commercial airtightness tests are now being required under building regulations Part L for PAS2035 on new-builds and larger extensions. The CHEESE Project is excited to be offering airtightness testing from Autumn 2025 and you can find out more here.

We regularly carry out surveys in the same streets and we encourage it. To coordinate this just drop us an email or book a callback, and let us know the postcode/s and we can support you with this.

We cover the whole of the County of Bristol, some postcodes within South Glos and Keynsham BS31 Check your postcode here: Postcodes we cover

You can find the full terms and conditions for booking a CHEESE Project survey here.

We require a minimum of 72 hours notice to cancel and offer a refund. Please see our Survey Cancellation Policy

Please note that cancellations of a survey with a voucher may make you liable to a larger payment as we have to cover our costs.

First we fit a blower door.  This is a frame with a cloth with a large fan in it. This draws air through the property and reduces the air pressure to mimic a winter wind and to ensure we find those cold spots and draughts. We survey all heated rooms and all areas within the rooms, i.e. doors, walls, windows, floorboards, etc. You will have a tablet screen so you can follow the survey as it happens. The survey is then downloaded to a USB memory stick together with all your questions and the surveyor’s answers. Thermal Imaging Surveys | THE CHEESE PROJECT CIC

New for Autumn 2025, The CHEESE Project will be offering airtightness testing via Pulse equipment. This equipment offers a much higher rate of accuracy than airtightness testing with a blower door. We will offer both certified and lower-cost non-certified testing, at a discount thanks to grant funding. This test involves measuring the volume/envelope of the home, checking and sealing any relevant ventilation, and taking measurements of pressurised air. It is an efficient and non-intrusive process, and can be booked in combination with our thermal imaging surveys to gain quantitative data about your home, to complement the qualitative information that a thermal imaging survey provides.

Register your interest in this new service here.

No. Our surveys are internal, using pressure-reduction, and every room and area of the home is surveyed, including the inside of cupboards. However, we also do a thorough visual survey of the outside of the house, pipework etc. as this informs the interpretation of the indoor survey.

Yes. Our surveyors provide you with a tablet screen so you can see what they see on the thermal camera as they move through each room of your home. This allows you to ask questions as you move through the home and understand each area in detail. If possible, it is best for all adult residents to be present

Yes. We recommend preheating for 24hrs to ensure the fabric of the building and the air temperature is a stable 8 to 10 degrees warmer inside. Walls and floors can take a long time (many hours) to heat up from cold. If you don’t leave the heat on for long enough, the temperature difference in the fabric may be too small and we may miss important details. We can’t deliver a survey to our usual standards if you don’t warm the fabric as we recommend.

The bigger the temperature difference between inside and outside, the better the results you will get from our thermal imaging survey. If the temperature difference is smaller than 8 degrees C we may miss important thermal details.

We can’t foresee this far in advance.  You can check the temperature via your local TV weather forecast or via the Met Office.

Once the outside temperature gets to 13C. or above we may have to rebook your survey or ask you to heat your home to a higher temperature.

Yes. We need a temperature difference of 8C. minimum. When it’s cold outside, the property can be heated internally and this enables the correct temperature difference, so we can capture vivid images of draughts, cold spots etc. When it’s warmer, unless a property has good air conditioning to lower the internal temperature during warmer weather, we won’t get the necessary temperature differences and the thermal images will not be clear enough.

We are able to offer airtightness testing year-round, depending on our surveyors’ availability.

Yes. If cold air can come in during the colder weather, then so can the warmer air during warmer months. The big difference is that solar gain also plays a large part in summer.

No. We record our survey as we go room to room and you will get a copy of the survey along with the surveyor’s recommendations and commentary, downloaded on a USB stick, at the end of the survey. This is for you to keep and to refer back to when you need it. The video of the survey contains far more detailed information than a written report can. It also contains digital information sheets on tips for remedial action. If you need the survey as evidence to show to a landlord, we will provide a free extra USB stick.

We do provide a paper sheet to that we can complete together with you on the day of the survey, which identifies faults and potential remedies. This can be completed digitally also if you ask your surveyor for a link.

Not usually. It takes as long as 4 times the length of the survey to write a report and this would put up the price. We find that our customers prefer an audio-visual survey report downloaded to a USB which is easy to store and refer to as and when required. In special circumstances, as with a commercial building, we can produce a written report but at a substantial additional cost.

It is very important that the manager of the maintenance of the building attends on the survey day. They need to see the images on the tablet screen as the survey is done.

No. Our surveys give you the knowledge and understanding of how your home is losing heat and suggestions to fix this. However, if you have done some draughtproofing or retrofitting you may want to mention this to your EPC assessor to see whether it does improve your rating.

From Autumn 2025 we will offer airtightness testing, which can improve EPC ratings by a few points.

Not from the CHEESE Project. We don’t recommend doing your own survey as you may not be able to interpret the images you see and understand the probable causes and potential ways to fix any issues. A CHEESE Project survey is ‘enhanced’, where our methodology produces clearer and deeper insights, and guided by a professional surveyor who can explain everything you are seeing and finding out about your home.

No. We have to be independent of commercial businesses. We give you the information about your home and offer suggestions and recommendations of what to consider to remedy your issue/s. You can then engage a handyman or contractor of your choice.

You can read about what you might like to do after your thermal imaging survey in our blog, or check out local resources for taking action here.

The CHEESE Project CIC can not make any judgment or statement on the quality of work carried out by a contractor for a survey customer, or who may be responsible for the conditions which may be revealed during your survey. Customers are welcome to use their CHEESE survey media as they see fit, but should not make any edits to the survey recording, nor attribute any judgements to CHEESE outside of the factual observations of the thermal conditions discussed within the survey, in its full context. Customers should always seek independent advice in such matters.

Yes. We have a comprehensive training course to CPD standard, and surveyors are CPD-accredited. Most of our surveyors return year after year and are highly experienced. We also carry out DBS checks.

The CHEESE Project CIC is a not-for-profit Community Interest Company with charitable and social objectives, based on and in communities. We consider it to be important to be independent of any outfit that carries out retrofitting commercially. You can trust our independent findings.

We are always keen to recruit volunteers who support our aims of warmer homes and a cooler planet. They can help with publicity stalls at events, surveying larger properties, etc. Please apply to info@cheeseproject.co.uk

Details are on our website. Training is free and we do not require qualifications other than a good knowledge of English and computer use.

Anyone who supports the aims of The C.H.E.E.S.E. Project CIC can become a member, whether an organisation or an individual.   You will be local to the Bristol area and interested in helping with our continued improvement and helping raise awareness of thermal surveys at a community level and city-wide. 

Membership