ENERGY AUDIT

Robert O'Connor_3

I live in Connecticut any one know how much an energy audit would cost and is it worth the cost? My house is a 1973 2800 sf colonal.

Dale

1973

Good year for white wine, not so good for building construction, I would start out with a blower door analysis and go from there, before I got a little smarter I insulated alot of things only to find out the air leak was under the thick insulation I just crawled in to install. the Blower door test should cost you about $300 ( Midwest price ) which should include a retest after you get all the first stuff plugged up.

LEAD PIPE

Thanks for the info

once the blower test is done they will be able to tell where the air is escaping? How do they do that?

Greg Swob

We accompany the blower door test with

an IR (infrared) camera and a VHS film of the investigation. The film gives owners and contractors a view of the exact areas needing work and can be reviewed at their leisure. Ask the firms if they also perform such work along with their blower door tests. When the local fire dept. got their IR camera, to become more familiar with it, one of the officers investigated his home and found a lot of areas needing sealing and/or insulation. Greg

LEAD PIPE

wow

I have an infrared camera at work. what is the best way to check the house? turn up the heat and view it from the outside on a cold day?

Dale

Modern blower doors

the new ones have a computer hookup where the air changes per hour at the pascal wind formula, I think 40MPH, is computed, for a 1973 house if you can get down to 3 ACH at the blower negative you're doing pretty good. The experienced blower door people round up the usual suspects as far as air leaks, they use theatrical smoke to view the leakage and as the other post suggested an inferred camera. What you'll find is your ceiling can lights and fixture boxes really leak as well as the plumbing stacks and the trim arround the windows and sliding doors, attached garage walls are also usually bad, however with a bit of knowledge and alot of calk and expandable foam you can do alot of good.

LEAD PIPE

Is it possible to use the infered

with out the blower? or do you need to use both to be effective? Like I said I do have access to an infered camera.

Greg Swob

The IR camera is more effective

with a blower door test to emphasize air infiltration. Without the blower door, I would just recommend a cold evening/day with a good breeze for your test day. Greg

John_19

audit etc

You may be able to find an auditor through this network:

http://www.energyratings.org/

Bear in mind that the infrared camera will be a big help for walls but is not a complete picture. Equipment efficiency, and thermal by-passes, including around attic insulation, are things a pro can help with.

Dale

Blower door

The blower door simulates a 40mph wind anytime you want it to, sort of a worse case in most places south of Fargo. Heat loss and air infiltration are linked but not identical. Fiberglass passes quite a bit of air if there's enough pressure difference, and not much if static. The reason I like the blower door is I'm unwilling to crawl about in low attics much anymore and I'm willing to pay the blower door guy to stop up the big leaks, sometimes even before the first test, these guys know where to look for the commom problems, then the other's found are fixed, the ACH drop to a reasonable number and he leaves and I caulk a bit and call in the insulators for unpleasant areas. However, The hotter you make the house and the colder the ambient the more the infered will show you.