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Home Performance Diagnostics.
Diagnostics
start with a comprehensive survey of the home, documenting obvious issues such
as clogged gutters and leaders to less obvious issues as leaky gas
plumbing.
Early in the
Comprehensive Home Assessment (CHA) an accurate drawing of the home is
made. From this we calculate square footage and volume, and document
insulation values, window and door performance etc.
CO readings are taken during the assessment at many points. CO readings will be
taken using an electronic carbon monoxide detector, which can read down to 1
part per million.
After a survey
of the home we would be able to decide if it is safe to use a blower door.
Possible reasons for NOT using the blower door would be deteriorated asbestos
to an active fireplace.
From the earlier
measurements, the "building air flow standard" can be calculated.
(.35 x volume / 60 OR bedrooms+1 x 15 which ever is larger)
That calculation
determines what the "natural" ventilation should be for the building.
All buildings act like a chimney, allowing warm humid air to exit towards the
top, and cool dry air to enter the bottom. Most buildings use this natural
stack effect to supply fresh air to the people, while a small percentage have
mechanical ventilation.
If we know the
natural target number, we can convert that to a target blower door number. The
Blower door depressurizes the home, and can measure the homes infiltration
rate.
Most homes leak
warm moist air, through the attic 2-3 times the preferred amount. This is why
for years attic ventilation was (and is) so important. Allowing all of the warm
moist air to exit into a cold attic causes mold, rot and mildew.
What this means
simply is that most homes waste more than 40% of there heat. For every
dollar you spend on fuel, you throw out $0.40 cents.
We always try to
find the worst areas first, using diagnostic tools as simple as a smoke pencil
all the way to thermal imaging.
- Zonal diagnostics is can be used to determine how connected rooms are to the
outside. Zonal diagnostics would be used to measure the difference in pressure
between the main body of the home and rooms while the doors to those rooms are
shut. With these measurements we can see how connected a room is to the exterior
of the home. We often find rooms more connected to the outdoors then the attic
!
Other testing might include a duct loss test. Duct losses can cause the most
losses in a home, as we see cooling or heating is sometimes directly wasted
into unconditioned spaces. More info on duct blaster or duct testing can be
found
here
Combustion
Safety testing is always done. During a combustion safety test we will look
for possible CO problems, back drafting, combustion efficiency and draft tests.
As heat rises in your home, the space in a typical boiler room is being
depressurized. We try to re-create the worst possible situation where a cloths
dryer could be running, maybe an exhaust fan over the cook top is on. All of
these "power venting" devices will compete with a typical boiler or
furnace flue and can cause a back draft of the furnace flue.
There are many
other tests, so many in fact that we use an 8 page checklist to ensure that we
can evaluate the house as a system.
Ultimately we
would find the most cost effective, energy saving measures and prioritize
repairs. This would be considered our scope of work. The home owner can
always adjust the scope of work to satisfy there own wishes. The only time we
cant be flexible is were we find health and safety issues. In order for any
work to be done, (In some cases that means even testing) health and safety
issues must be resolved first.
If your
interested in having your home tested, to see where and how much you might be
able to save, call or email us !
Contact us
Residential Energy Conservation
3771 Nesconset Hwy
Suite 101A
S. Setauket NY 11720
631-751-7925
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