The Blower Door: A Key Component of Your Home Energy Evaluation

It is hotter than usual in Houston this summer, and no doubt you are using your A/C unit at full blast to cool your home. You may already be feeling the pain of the power bill because of your cooling needs.

The best way to curb cooling costs is by ensuring your home is as energy efficient as possible. One way to do this is with an energy audit. These audits are performed by heating and cooling specialists who sometimes use a blower door test to determine the “air tightness” of your house. Blower door tests are one key tool auditors us and to improve your home’s energy efficiency.

Knowing the “air tightness” of your home is important because it shows how much air is leaking outside, wasting energy. There will always be some loss of cool air from your A/C unit this summer, of course, but your home will be much more efficient if you can cut down on air leakage. Blower doors consist of a flexible door-sized frame with a large fan that pulls air out of the house. As the air pressure decreases inside, air from the outside will rush in because the pressure outside becomes greater than that inside. This process usually takes about an hour. Auditors then typically use smoke pencils to locate air leaks in the house and determine the air infiltration rate of the house. Blower door tests essentially tell you how much air leaks from your home and at what rate.

A thorough audit is crucial to understanding your house’s energy efficiency. Energy auditors go into great detail when examining a house. They look at past energy bills and determine a house’s efficiency by examining the size of the house and how much air leakage there is.

Davis Air Conditioning and Heating conducts thorough energy audits for houses. Auditors discuss what energy-saving improvements need to be implemented, and can begin work on these improvements  immediately. Contact Davis A/C to schedule an energy audit and find out how to save money on your power bill.