Northern Virginia Home Energy Assessments

703-912-4710

703-328-4057

Serving the DC METRO area since 1998

Doing Energy assessments to save you money and fix your problems

Blower Door Tests

Professional energy assessmentors use blower door tests to help determine a home's air tightness.

These are some reasons for establishing the proper building tightness:

Reducing energy consumption due to air leakage
Avoiding moisture condensation problems
Avoiding uncomfortable drafts caused by cold air leaking in from the outdoors
Making sure that the home's air quality is not too contaminated by indoor air pollution

How They Work

A blower door is a powerful fan that mounts 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. The assessmentors may use a smoke pencil to detect air leaks. These tests determine the air infiltration rate of a building.

Blower doors consist of a frame and flexible panel that you can place in a doorway, a variable-speed fan, a pressure gauge to measure the pressure differences inside and outside the home, and an airflow manometer and hoses for measuring airflow.

Preparing for a Blower Door Test

Take the following steps to prepare your home for a blower door test:

1. Close windows
2. Open interior doors
3. Turn down the thermostats on heaters and water heaters
4. Turn off gas appliances
5. Cover ashes in wood stoves and fireplaces with damp newspapers
6. Shut fireplace dampers, fireplace doors, and wood stove air intakes.

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