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Professional Home Energy Audits |
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A home energy audit is the first step to assess how much energy your home consumes and to evaluate what measures you can take to make your home more energy efficient. An audit will show you problems that may, when corrected, save you significant amounts of money over time. During the audit, you can pinpoint where your house is losing energy. Audits also determine the efficiency of your home's heating and cooling systems. An audit may also show you ways to conserve hot water and electricity. You can perform a simple energy audit yourself, or have a professional energy auditor carry out a more thorough audit. Professional energy audits generally go into great detail. The energy auditor should do a room-by-room examination of the residence, as well as a thorough examination of past utility bills. Many professional energy audits will include blower door and duct leakage tests. Most will also include a thermographic scan. |
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Professional energy auditors use blower door testing to help determine a home's airtightness. 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 It Works The Blower Door consists 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. - The Blower Door is mounted into the frame of an exterior door.
- The powerful 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 auditor uses the pressure gauge to determine the air infiltration rate of the home.
- The auditor may use a smoke pencil or thermal imaging to determine the size and location of air leaks.
 |  | | Source: U.S. Department of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy | Copyright ©1999-2007 The Energy Conservatory |
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