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A radiator from a photo: how Algo AI reads radiators from a photo, a design or a message

How Algo AI fills in radiators from a photo, an old heating design PDF or a message: what it reads, what you type and what happens to the photo.

Founder of HeatAlgo, author of the calculation engine to EN 12831 and EN 1264

You do not have to type every radiator by hand. Algo AI enters radiators into the Radiators module from a photo, from an old heating design PDF or from a message. Algo only reads and enters data - every number in the result is calculated by the module's algorithm. How the module itself works is in How to check radiators.

Three sources

  • A photo of a radiator (JPG, PNG, WEBP or HEIC from a phone). Algo reads the kind of radiator, its type and the number of radiators. It does not read sizes from a photo.
  • An old heating design as a PDF. Algo reads the radiator schedule: the room, kind, type, height, length and count.
  • A message, e.g. "Living room: type 22 panel, 600 by 1200, two of them". Algo adds the room and the radiator with what you write. It does not guess a size you leave out - the radiator waits for it.

How to take the photo

Photograph the radiator alone: close up, straight on, the whole radiator in the frame. One photo is one radiator. A photo may show the inside of the home and anything else in the frame - we do not blur faces or documents, so frame the radiator only. A panel radiator's type (22, say) is often on a label at the side or can be seen from its panels; when it cannot be seen, Algo leaves the type empty.

Step by step

  1. Open the project and Algo AI. Attach the file or drop it into the chat ("Drop the document here") and press "Read the documents". A description of the radiators you simply send as a message.
  2. Algo reads the file and says what it found. The chat's mode decides what happens next:
    • "Propose" - Algo proposes changes and you approve each one before it saves ("Put into the form" or "Discard").
    • "Automatic" - Algo saves changes at once, and you can undo each one with "Undo" for 30 days.
  3. Under the answer is the list "Radiators - to check:". For a photo you see, for example, "measure it - I do not read sizes off a photo" and "the photo does not say which room the radiator is in". For a schedule from an old design: "the schedule gives the output at the design temperatures - type the datasheet's output at 75/65/20".
  4. In the Rooms step, fill in what the list asks for: "Height", "Length" and the room. When you have the radiator's datasheet, tick "I have the radiator's datasheet" and type the output and the exponent.

Reading documents uses the same monthly Algo allowance as the chat.

What Algo does, and what the algorithm does

Algo AI reads and enters the inputs: the kind, type and count, and from an old design the sizes and the room too. It calculates nothing. The radiator's output at the chosen temperature, the room's balance, the house's flow temperature and the "What to swap to" list are calculated by the algorithm, from the same data you see in the form. A radiator with no datasheet has a "typical" output - where it comes from is in Radiator output: where the numbers come from.

Privacy of the photos

Before any AI model sees the photo, our server removes the EXIF data from the file, including the location (GPS coordinates) where the photo was taken, the camera details and the other metadata stored in the file; a HEIC photo is converted to JPEG. The photo goes to the same AI models as other document pages without a text layer. The file is deleted 24 hours after the reading starts, and earlier if you stop or discard the reading or it fails; the result of the reading is kept for at most 30 days from its start. The full text is in the privacy policy.

A HeatAlgo report follows EN 12831-1 and EN 1264, not ACCA Manual J, and is not accepted for permits or rebates.

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Got a similar question? Check the FAQ below ↓

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

What does Algo AI read from a photo of a radiator?

The kind of radiator, its type and the number of radiators - nothing more. It does not read sizes from a photo: you measure and type the height and length yourself. A photo does not say which room the radiator is in either, so you choose the room.

What happens to the photo after I send it?

Before any AI model sees the photo, our server removes the EXIF data from the file, including the GPS location where the photo was taken, the camera details and the other metadata; a HEIC photo is converted to JPEG. The file is deleted 24 hours after the reading starts, and the result of the reading is kept for at most 30 days. The details are in the privacy policy.

Does Algo AI calculate the radiator's output?

No. Algo AI only enters data into the form. The output at the chosen temperature, the room's balance and the swap list are calculated by the module's algorithm, exactly as for data you type by hand.

Can I load an old heating design?

Yes, as a PDF. Algo AI reads the radiator schedule: the room, kind, type, height, length and count. Such a schedule usually gives the output at the design's own temperatures, so Algo asks for the datasheet output at 75/65/20.

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