Had a blower door test (energy audit) done on my house today!

[cabmandone]

Kind of an interesting thing. First the energy auditor walks around with a thermal camera to get a baseline for the home. Then they seal an exterior door. They strap this blower in the seal and put the house into a negative pressure situation. Then they walk around with the thermal cam looking for cold spots that weren't there or cold spots that get worse as the home goes into a negative pressure. I was told that the blower door test is putting the equivalent of a 20 mph wind load on the home from all directions.

It was a good learning experience for me. What I thought was well sealed ended up not being as sealed as it could be. I have spray foam in my crawl spaces but found significant air leakage in each crawl space where spots were missed. I found a few cold walls that need addressed. I was surprised how well my windows performed. The test confirmed my suspicions in some areas and alerted me to issues in others. The thermal cam was really handy but the two together really gave me some good direction in getting my home sealed from air infiltration.

I'd recommend anyone living in an older home to have one of these done. I knew my insulation was pretty good and that I wasn't losing a lot due to transfer. I always suspected my problem was air infiltration and the test confirmed it and showed me what to tackle.

Awe fliggin flaggin... I put this in PARF! ZEKE... little help here!!

[Reiver]

Stormy Daniels?

[RWebb]

I also had it done a few years ago - found a crevice letting outside air into an unheated room (wine storage) - sealed it up and helped a bit with heating/cooling too.

Where did you find the gaps for the air infiltration?

and... since you posted in PARF, were any commies infiltrating too?

[cabmandone]

Originally Posted by RWebb

I also had it done a few years ago - found a crevice letting outside air into an unheated room (wine storage) - sealed it up and helped a bit with heating/cooling too.

Where did you find the gaps for the air infiltration?

and... since you posted in PARF, were any commies infiltrating too?

I have an old farmhouse. My foundation walls are about 4 blocks high out of the ground. The exterior box sills are 8x8 beams but they did a terrible job sealing them to the foundation walls so I was pulling air in my crawl space where the box sill and wall joined and no foam insulation had been sprayed. In the insulation guy's defense, the one crawl space has some crevices that were hard to get to.

If mice are commies... yep.

[cabmandone]

Thanks Admin!!!

[john70t]

Originally Posted by cabmando

I have an old farmhouse. My foundation walls are about 4 blocks high out of the ground.

(afaik from a layman)
You need that gap to prevent carpenter ants from following moisture burrowing up through the walls and rotting sill plates.
They are only following warm easy food.

Exposed concrete block has it's own problems:
-It is moisture porous.
It really needs sealing on the outside as far down as possible. Preferably an entire envelope wrap under the slab. Which is of course not possible.

-It's not a heat barrier.
20% total loss is usually around the sill plate from top ground transfer. Like standing next to an open cooler.
Add insulation down to the frost line about 4ft down.
Inside or outside?...IDK.

-Block may not serve as structural, depending on shifting soils and what is under the foundation base.

[Baz]

This photo represents how porous my old house is.......



No sense in doing one of those tests until after I get around to replacing some windows and doors at least.

[wdfifteen]

That test sounds pretty interesting. I have a feeling my house would suck - or is it blow?

[A930Rocket]

We do every house before closing. Both the door blower and the duct blower test.

They don’t use the thermal camera though. It’s not required, but sounds like a good idea.

[RWebb]

thermal camera shows you where the insulation is lacking - well worth it (esp. if you can snag an inspection when they are free from your utility)

[island911]

While your house will lose energy with air leaks, those leaks also bring in fresh air.

Radon is a problem in many areas and is exacerbated by air tight houses.

Plus, you don't want to be living in a dutch oven after eating Mexican food.

[Rawknees'Turbo]

Originally Posted by island911

. . .

Plus, you don't want to be living in a dutch oven after eating Mexican food.

Don't be so sure about that, Island, as I hear that Nick has some strange kinks!

[cabmandone]

Originally Posted by island911

While your house will lose energy with air leaks, those leaks also bring in fresh air.

Radon is a problem in many areas and is exacerbated by air tight houses.

Plus, you don't want to be living in a dutch oven after eating Mexican food.

I live in the country. I have 3 hog barns (about to be 4) within 1-1/2 miles of my home plus 3 Turkey barns and a Chicken barn... as much air as I have entering my home, it would be a nice change of pace to only smell that.

[billybek]

I had used one of the thermal cameras from work to view inside the walls of my parents home before it was sold.
I wanted to make sure that my dad didn't wall up any treasures before the house changed hands.
Didn't find any treasure.

What the camera did do though was outline the framing in the house! On a very cold day I could see every piece of lumber that drywall was mounted to and the lack of insulation in some areas.

[beatnavy]

Anybody care to share how much this assessment would typically cost? I have a decent-sized older house (c. 1900) with a more modern addition, and a large garage with a little apartment over it (also old). There's zero insulation in the attic of the apartment (I'm looking to remedy), and there are large sections of our main house above living space that don't seem to be insulated. The cheap-azz, and fixer-of-problems, in me doesn't like either situation.

But, it would be good to prioritize my investments / cost.

[cabmandone]

Originally Posted by beatnavy

Anybody care to share how much this assessment would typically cost? I have a decent-sized older house (c. 1900) with a more modern addition, and a large garage with a little apartment over it (also old). There's zero insulation in the attic of the apartment (I'm looking to remedy), and there are large sections of our main house above living space that don't seem to be insulated. The cheap-azz, and fixer-of-problems, in me doesn't like either situation.

But, it would be good to prioritize my investments / cost.

I belong to an electric co op. I pay $200 for the audit. If I do any of the suggested improvements they credit the $200 provided the cost of the improvement is $200 or more naturally. The assessment takes about 4 hours if they're doing a full on systems check and blower door test. I've seen online that the average cost is around $350. You might check with your electric company to see if they offer any incentives for an energy audit.

[cabmandone]

Originally Posted by RWebb

thermal camera shows you where the insulation is lacking - well worth it (esp. if you can snag an inspection when they are free from your utility)

Combined with the blower door, you can actually see where cold air is being drawn in. It was really pretty cool. The gear geek in me has me looking for a thermal cam now.

[cabmandone]

Originally Posted by Rawknees'Turbo

Don't be so sure about that, Island, as I hear that Nick has some strange kinks!

The kink stops with the stink... just for the record

[URY914]

We had a problem with moisture and mold in a just completed building. We had the HVAC contractor set up negative pressure fans in the doors. Then they used canned smoke to see where the smoke was being pulled into the building. We found several penetrations at the roof and the bottom of the walls at the slab. I was a real eye opener.

[Rawknees'Turbo]

Originally Posted by cabmando

The kink stops with the stink... just for the record

Why limit yourself, bro?!?!