Blower Door Testing

You wouldn’t want a doctor to diagnose appendicitis based solely on your complaints of a stomach ache (your symptoms). Scheduling an operation based on pure guesswork would be considered ludicrous. Instead, doctors rely on the latest in medical technology to provide them with valuable information in the diagnosis and decision-making process.

Similarly, you wouldn’t want someone guessing why your energy bills are so high or your home is so uncomfortable. Advances in building science technology have led to a new tool to help diagnose the real causes for high energy bills and uncomfortable homes.

The Blower Door testing for home air leakage is a specially built, calibrated device that is used to identify the overall air leakage of a home and its Heating and A/C duct system. By depressurizing the entire house, specific leakage areas can be located.

The Blower Door consists of a large fan which is mounted in a frame. The frame is placed in an exterior door and used to calculate the leakage of the house and the Heating and Air distribution ductwork.

Home air leakage and duct leakage can have a significant impact on the heating and cooling costs of a home as well as the overall level of comfort.

Homeowners are always amazed at what they learn about their homes during a blower door test. Home air leakage sites are identified, the total air change rate of the house is determined, duct leakage is measured and located, and moisture, humidity, mold and mildew problems can usually be traced to their source.

Blower door testing greatly enhances our view of the whole house as a interactive system, a complex interplay of temperatures, humidity, air movement, convection and forced-air pressures generated by the air handler of the central duct system. Blower door testing also allows us to calculate your home’s unique heating and cooling loads in order to accurately size your heating and air equipment (rather than guessing or using some industry “rule-of-thumb” like most heating and air contractors).