Blower Door Tests: What Exactly Do They Do?
If you’ve never heard of a blower door test before, you may be confused as to exactly what it does. However, scheduling a blower door test for your home can benefit you in many ways! Learn more about what the test does and how it can improve your quality of life.
What Is a Blower Door Test?
Simply put, a blower door test is designed to find tiny air leaks and cracks in your home that may be invisible to the naked eye. If your energy bills have gone up recently and you can’t figure out why, blow door testing can identify even the smallest of cracks that could be leaking air. When you and the air leakage testing technician know where the leaks are coming from, you can seal them effectively.
How Does a Blower Door Test Work?
The blower door itself is a specialized fan the analyst will temporarily install in one of your home’s exterior doorways. After calibrating and turning it on, the blower door will pull air out of the house and lower the air pressure indoors.
Then, the analyst will walk around your home, perhaps with an infrared camera, to identify spots where insulation is missing and air is leaking out. The blower door is connected to a laptop or tablet with software that will calculate your home’s air infiltration rate (the rate of air leakage).
If your home “fails” the blower door test, there’s no need to despair. Those results will show you where the problem is—the first step towards fixing it! The analyst will likely recommend air sealing such as AeroBarrier, which is a different process that uses an aerosolized water-based sealant to fill in even the smallest cracks.
How Does It Help You?
Having a blower door test done in your home can help you find the source of the draftiness in your home and the extra expense on your energy bill. Establishing proper sealing in your home can also:
Prevent condensation problems from excess moisture
Keep your home warm in the winter and cool in the summer
Thwart bugs and other pests before they invade your home
If you suspect your home isn’t as tightly sealed as it could be, call Blower Door Concepts to schedule a test and get to the root of the problem.
What exactly does blow door testing do? It’s a valuable process that can provide answers to your questions and guide you towards a solution to your draftiness problem. Save money on your energy bill in the long run by ensuring your home is insulated properly against the outdoors.
