Blower Door Test Results

A blower door test is a machine used to calculate airflow between the interior and exterior of a structure measure the airtightness of buildings and identify spots where air is leaking through a building envelope.

Blower door test results.

Blower door test during a home energy audit. The following will help you conduct your. Once he is done with his walk through your auditor will begin the test. Last year we built an energy star home for a customer and we used a blower door test to evaluate the houses air infiltration performance.

Air flow at 50 pascals is the preferred value for blower door testing the amount of airflow measured in cubic feet per minute cfm for a. The auditor will set up his blower door in an outer door facing outward to depressurize your home in most cases. During this test a calibrated fan is installed in an otherwise sealed door or window while all the other openings to the exterior are closed. Our energy saver 101 infographic explains the importance of a blower door test during a home energy audit.

A blower door test is used on buildings in order to quantify the amount of air leakage through its enclosure. Simply put a blower door is a diagnostic tool used to measure how much air infiltration air leakage occurs in a house. Blower door test results are standardized for an air pressure difference of 50 pa. Blower door tests are performed by trained and certified energy auditors but a homeowner can conduct a mini test to help pinpoint leaky areas of the home.

The test requires a few parameters be set to yield accurate results. I used to go in and do the blower door test first then set up and run the two duct leakage tests. Higher numbers are worse. Here is what a reading on the blower door looks like.

This test ensures a certain level of energy performance and is often used when a project team is aiming for a performance based. Don t do the blower door test first. A good rule of thumb is that your home should have a blower door number less than or equal to its square footage. Here are some things to know.

He will systematically move about your home setting up the house for the test. Understanding blower door test results. Better consistency and reproducibility occur at higher pressures. What does the blower door number mean.

Blower door test results can determine the airtightness of the building and can be presented in a number of different formats. These are some reasons for establishing the proper building. Cfm50 is the airflow measured in cubic feet per minute from the blower door fan needed to create a change in building pressure of 50 pascals. Jason payne taught me this one several years ago and it makes perfect sense.

Professional energy auditors use blower door tests to help determine a home s airtightness. It s a linear scale so 2000 is twice as bad as 1000. Holtkamp heating a c inc.