Your Home Energy Evaluation: Here’s Where The Blower Door Test Comes In

Winter is here again, and so are those heating bills. You want to take charge of your heating costs, don’t you? It makes sense to have a home energy evaluation to identify the areas that need to be tightened. A key part of the evaluation is the blower door test. It will help your energy auditor locate problem areas. This is how your energy evaluation and your blower door test works:

When your energy auditor comes to your home, he will fit the frame of one of your entrance doors with a special assembly, which contains a heavy-duty fan. He will slowly ramp up the fan to full speed to draw air out of your house. This will depressurize your home, and air from the outside will come rushing in, via all the vulnerable spots. Your auditor will identify those spots, which are typically areas where wires, cables and plumbing lines come in from the outside, door and window frames, around baseboards and kitchen soffits.

Your auditor will help you draw up an action plan, which will include not only the air leaks, but also areas that need extra attention, such as your attic. Small air leaks can easily be caulked and weatherstripped in a weekend or two. You might want to work with your HVAC contractor to handle additional projects, such as insulating your ductwork. Your auditor might even recommend a new heating and cooling system.

Whatever you’re doing to boost your home’s energy efficiency, contact Fred’s Heating and Air. We can help you make your home as weathertight as possible. We serve homeowners in the Omaha-Council Bluffs area. Like you, we live here, so we know just how cold it can get in the winter, and how hot it can get in the summer. Give us a call.