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Blower Door Tests
Professional energy auditors use blower door tests to help determine a home's air tightness.
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 They Work
A blower door is a powerful fan that mounts into the frame of an exterior door. The 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 auditors may use a smoke pencil to detect air leaks. These tests determine the air infiltration rate of a building.
Blower doors consist 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.

There are two types of blower doors: calibrated and uncalibrated. It is important that auditors use a calibrated door. This type of blower door has several gauges that measure the amount of air pulled out of the house by the fan. Uncalibrated blower doors can only locate leaks in homes. They provide no method for determining the overall tightness of a building. The calibrated blower door's data allows the auditor to quantify the amount of air leakage and the effectiveness of any air-sealing job.
Preparing for a Blower Door Test
Take the following steps to prepare your home for a blower door test:
• Close windows and open interior doors
• Turn down the thermostats on heaters and water heaters
• Cover ashes in wood stoves and fireplaces with damp newspapers
• Shut fireplace dampers, fireplace doors, and wood stove air intakes.

Minimizing Energy Losses in Ducts
In new home construction or in retrofits, proper duct system design is critical. In recent years, energy-saving designs have sought to include ducts and heating systems in the conditioned space.
Many existing duct systems lose a lot of energy from leakage and poor insulation; see the insulation section for information about sealing and insulating your ducts. Existing ducts may also be blocked or may require simple upgrades.
Lighting
Energy for lighting accounts for about 10% of your electric bill. Examine the wattage size of the light bulbs in your house. You may have 100-watt (or larger) bulbs where 60 or 75 watts would do. You should also consider compact fluorescent lamps for areas where lights are on for hours at a time. Your electric utility may offer rebates or other incentives for purchasing energy-efficient lamps.

Fresh Air Intake Installation

This chapter from the Energy Saving Edition book gives a detailed description of the Fresh Air Intake installation, which according to code must be an important element of your HVAC ductwork system. In the chapter you can find pictures of all necessary tools, materials and pictures of the Fresh Air Intake installation. There are 20 pictures. Installation is divided into six steps, which represent the entire project in the making.

This is a parent page. If you would like to read more you can buy an instant access to the secondary page for the price of only $2.50.You can pay right here on this page by using the "Buy Now" button below

Indoor Air Quality

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In-Forcer™ Fresh Air Intakes

Energy-conserving homebuilding materials and techniques minimize fresh air intake...a major cause of illness, discomfort and structural damage.

The IN-FORCER mechanically draws outside air indoors to dilute pollutants and replace stale air without sacrificing energy savings.

The automatic system to bring tempered make-up air into your home. The ideal companion to tightly sealed and insulated homes.

  • Affordably priced and installs fast. Plugs into electrical outlet
  • Automatic clock/timer accommodates various air change requirements and lifestyles
  • Temper incoming cold, fresh air by blending it with ambient room air before introducing it into home
  • Reduces negative pressure, a major cause of flue gas spillage and radon gas entry
  • Increases security--fresh air can be brought in even when windows and doors are locked
  • Reduces cold drafts through windows, doors, fireplaces caused by excessive negative pressure
  • Reduces moisture, mold mildew buildup
  • Helps replace air vented by exhaust fans, fireplaces, etc
  • Damper closes during off cycles to prohibit cold air entry and warm air loss

PAI-1T

The best price on the web for the In-Forser fan is $264.00 with S & H included. If you would like to save on purchase of the In-Forser at least 10% and/or have any questions please contact me on this page.

                                   


                                                How to Use a Fresh Air Intake

Homes need to breathe. Fresh air is needed for combustion in furnaces, fireplaces, wood stoves, gas water heaters and clothes dryers. As people make their homes more energy efficient by sealing cracks, adding insulation and doing other things to prevent heat loss, homes can become starved for air. This is especially true when you're using exhaust fans and vented appliances which draw more and more air from inside the house; air from the outside can be pulled into the home, possibly down the furnace vent or fireplace chimney. This is called "back drafting" and can cause carbon monoxide (CO) to form

CO is a colorless, odorless gas produced when fuel is not burned completely. Automobiles, charcoal or wood fires and improperly vented or air-starved coal, oil and gas furnaces can produce CO.

Be aware of these CO signals:

  • Headaches, nausea, dizziness
  • Excessive humidity, heavily frosted windows
  • Fireplace smokes, won't draw
  • Furnace vents back drafts (See Fresh Air Check below.)

To prevent homes from becoming starved for air, the Uniform Mechanical Code requires that all new homes be built with a special duct that brings outside air directly to the heating system. All furnace and boiler installations in existing homes are also required to have a combustion air duct.

To determine if your home is receiving sufficient fresh air:

1. Close all doors and windows.
2. If you have a fireplace(s), build a fire. Wait until the flames are burning vigorously.
3. Turn on all exhausting devices, such as:
o Kitchen and bathroom exhaust fans
o Dryers (gas and electric)
o Attic fans
4. Turn on all exhausting devices, such as:
o Heating equipment
o Water heater

5. Turn on all vented gas appliances, such as:
 6. Wait 10 minutes for drafts to stabilize.
 7. Hold a lit match below the heating system draft hood air intake (see illustration at right).
 
o If the match remains lit and the match flame pulls toward the draft hood, this indicates sufficient fresh air. Check draft hoods on all other equipment also (gas space heaters, water heaters and additional heating systems). Return appliances and exhausting devices to their original condition.

o If the match goes out, it means the vent may be plugged and/or the air supply in your home may be inadequate.
o Check for plugged vent connectors and chimneys. Repair stoppage and test again.
o If the match goes out even when vent is clear, additional air must be brought into the structure from outside. Refer to the Uniform Mechanical Code.

If your house is starving for air, a vent or fresh air intake needs to be installed directly to the furnace area; until it is installed, limit use of clothes dryers, fireplaces, furnaces, and mechanical exhaust fans. Operating more than one of these devices at a time can contribute to back drafting if your home doesn't have an adequate fresh air supply.
 Materials used for ducting must meet standards described in the Uniform Mechanical Code. Flexible ducting is not recommended because ridges create turbulence which reduces air flow. Before installing a duct, check with your local Building Codes office for size and materials. Here are examples of installations of fresh air ducts.

                          Duct Supplying Outside Air into the Cold Air Return

 This method is permitted by code. However, experience indicates potential problems such as shorter equipment life, poorer performance in unusually cold temperatures and possibly voided warranties.
Be sure the duct is sized in accordance with the Uniform Mechanical Code.
Place the air intake duct (A) at least one foot above grade level.
Cover the air intake duct with 1/4-inch mesh screen and weather hood.
Install duct in the return side of the heating system (B).
A register without a damper (C) must be installed in the plenum of the furnace. Its free area size must be at least one half the free area of the common vent.

So, if you already have a fresh air intake it’s important to determine how much fresh air you are really need. In order to do that you have to ...........If you would like to read more, please use the “BuyNow” button below and you will gain an in instant access to the fourth chapter of the Energy Saving Edition book dedicated to the energy conservation issues! In the chapter you will learn how to save energy by using a Fresh Air Intake and how to install it in your house. 
The chapter has 4 pages and 20 pictures in it. Price of the chapter is only $2.50.
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