ADVICE FOR HOME OWNERS: The Wind Inside Your Home

Do you have a place or room in your house where you feel a breeze? Most of us refer to these "winds" as drafts. A draft makes a room or particular spot uncomfortable in more ways than one. Cold air blowing into the room lowers the temperature. If some unlucky person happens to be sitting in a windy spot, they will be quite chilled.

Most of the time these chilly little breezes are felt but rarely do they give their location away. An occasional blowing curtain or a dust bunny gently tumbling along the floor like a tumble weed may be the only clue to the exact location of the winds source, but too often it is hard to pin down.

Locating air leaks is usually part of an energy audit. In the past and still today the tool of choice is a calibrated blower door fan and chemical smoke device. Progressive companies are now employing infrared cameras with or without the blower door.

Infrared is a much better tool than chemical smoke devices. Thermal imaging is visual and can scan large areas quickly and accurately. Any thermal anomalies can also be recorded by simply taking a picture with the IR camera.

In my opinion the blower door is unnecessary for an energy audit when using an infrared camera. Blower doors exaggerate and in some instances create air leaks. The air movement readings obtained from a blower door fan are documented to be fairly inaccurate (+/- 40 - 50%) especially in the context of an energy audit.

Scanning the home with an IR camera in its natural state will often reveal air leaks. The two infrared images here were taken without the use of a blower door fan. Both of these leaks are in air leakage terms massive. Additionally the value of the actual blower door reading to a homeowner is questionable.

The blower door fan is a good tool for air sealing a home. A baseline reading is taken before any work is begun. Once work is completed a second reading is taken to determine the effectiveness of the sealing.

Without question almost every home is leaky unless it was sealed during building or a renovation.  The first step in locating leaks should be through infrared scanning preferably during an energy audit. The audit and the energy professional can provide great insight into where the house leaks and ideas on how they may best be rectified.

If dust bunnies are softly rolling across your floors, it may be time to call an infrared professional.

 

 

James Quarello
SNEC-ASHI President
NRSB #8SS0022
JRV Home Inspection Services, LLC

To find out more about our other high tech services click on the links below:

Learn more about our Infrared Thermal Imaging & Diagnostics services.

Learn more about our energy audits, the Home Energy Tune uP®.

Ansonia, Avon, Bantam, Beacon Falls, Bethany, Bethel, Bethlehem, Bloomfield, Branford, Bridgeport, Bristol, Brookfield, Brooklyn, Burlington, Canton, Cheshire, Colchester, Coventry, Cromwell, Danbury, Darien, Deep River, Derby, Durham, East Hampton, East Hartford, East Haven, East Norwalk, East Windsor, Easton, Essex, Fairfield, Farmington, Gales Ferry, Georgetown, Glastonbury, Granby, Greenwich, Guilford, Haddam, Hamden, Hartford, Huntington, Kensington, Killingly, Killingworth, Litchfield, Madison, Manchester, Marlborough, Meriden, Middlefield, Middletown, Milford, Monroe, Naugatuck, New Britain, New Canaan, New Haven, New Milford, Newington, Newtown, Norfolk, Northford, Norwalk, Oakdale, Oakville, Orange, Oxford, Plainville, Plantsville, Plymouth, Portland, Prospect, Redding, Redding Ridge, Ridgefield, Riverside, Rockville, Rocky Hill, Roxbury, Sandy Hook, Saugatuck, Seymour, Shelton, Simsbury, South Windham, South Windsor, Southbury, Southington, Southport, Stamford, Stepney, Terryville, Thomaston, Torrington, Trumbull, Unionville, Wallingford, Washington, Waterbury, Waterford, Watertown, Wethersfield, West Hartford, West Haven, West Redding