Professional Air Seal with Blower Door Testing
If you’re concerned about high energy bills, drafts, and allergens in your home, professional air sealing with blower door testing could be the solution you need. The US Department of Energy estimates that the typical American home has enough air leaks to create the same effect as leaving a window open all year round. At our company, we use the Building Performance Industry (BPI) standard of .35 air changes per hour at 50 paschals to ensure your home is properly sealed.
Benefits of Professional Air Sealing
- Reduced energy waste: When your home is properly sealed, you won’t waste energy on conditioning air that’s escaping through cracks and gaps in your home’s envelope. This translates to lower utility bills and a more sustainable household.
- Increased comfort: With fewer drafts and even distribution of heat, you’ll experience greater comfort in your home.
- Safety: A home that is too tightly sealed can be a safety hazard as it can trap unhealthy chemicals in the home from out-gassing, or create serious safety issues for fire and carbon monoxide poisoning. Professional air sealing can help to create a safer, healthier living environment for your family.
- Improved indoor air quality: Leaky homes can pull contaminated air from the attic or crawl space into your home, leading to increased allergens, pollen, dust, and even moisture problems that can cause mold and damage.
How Blower Doors Work
Our professional energy analysts use blower door tests to determine your home’s air tightness and locate any leaks. A blower door is a powerful fan that is mounted into the frame of an exterior door. The fan pulls air out of the house, lowering the air pressure inside. The higher outside air pressure then flows in through all unsealed cracks and openings, allowing analysts to use a smoke pencil to detect air leaks. Calibrated blower doors are the preferred option, as they can measure the amount of air pulled out of the house by the fan.
Preparing for a Blower Door Test
To prepare your home for a blower door test, be sure to:
- Completely extinguish any wood fires before the analyst arrives, and remove any ashes from open fireplaces.
- Plan to do a walk-through of your home with the analyst and point out any areas that are drafty or difficult to condition comfortably.
- Provide access to all areas of your home, including closets, built-in cabinets, attics, crawl spaces, and any unused rooms.
- Expect the analyst to close all exterior doors and windows, open all interior doors, and close any fireplace dampers, doors, and wood stove air inlets.
- Expect the test to take up to an hour or more, depending on the complexity of your home.
How Professional Air Sealing is Done
At our company, we use two effective approaches to air sealing:
- Best: Sealing the top plates: Our technicians remove insulation and can easily see to seal the top plates of the walls from the attic. While this approach is more costly, it provides the best resistance to air infiltrating from the attic into the living space.
- Good: Sealing from the interior of the home: A skilled technician can effectively seal a home without going into the attic by using a blower door, caulk, weather stripping, foam, and effectively isolating combustion appliances from the living space. While it’s difficult to achieve optimal air tightness in existing homes, our skilled technicians can get it as close as possible without going under the recommended air changes per hour.
Don’t wait any longer to enjoy the benefits of professional air sealing with blower door testing. Contact us today to schedule an appointment for your Tulsa, Jenks, Broken Arrow, Bixby, Owasso, Sand Springs, Sapulpa, or surrounding area home. Our team of expert Home Performance Professionals will analyze your home’s energy performance using building science principles, and provide you with personalized recommendations for air sealing and other energy-saving upgrades. We’re committed to helping you achieve a more comfortable, energy-efficient home while reducing your environmental impact and utility costs.
