Blower Door Testing

Homes with drafts and air leakage aren’t necessarily old — all structures shift and settle over time, and only a small amount of movement is necessary to create opportunities for air to move freely in and out of your home. This makes it difficult for your heating and cooling systems to work efficiently, compromises your indoor air quality, and has a major impact on your utility bills.

This is where blower door testing comes in. The blower door test is an important part of any home energy audit and provides critical information about the amount of air that is leaking out of your home.

When combined with thermal imaging, a blower door test can show you exactly where air leaks are so they can be sealed, keeping conditioned air inside where it belongs and outside air — which contains moisture and pollutants — out.

How a Blower Door Test Works

The blower door test consists of a large fan held in place by an adjustable mounting system that allows it to fit snugly into any door frame. This fan is placed in an exterior door. With all other exterior doors and windows closed and all interior doors — including closet and cabinet doors — open the fan creates negative pressure inside the home. This negative pressure causes air to enter from outside wherever there is a crack or gap, such as around doors, windows, or utility accesses.

A pressure measurement instrument on the blower door measures the overall differential in pressure. With a thermal imaging camera, an energy expert can go room to room and identify specific areas where there are air leaks or insulation gaps. Together, the blower door test and thermal imaging offer valuable information about which areas in the home need to be air sealed and insulated.

What You Can Do To Prepare

In order for the blower door test to be successful, there are a few things you can do to prepare:

  • Close all exterior windows and doors tightly

  • Open all interior room and closet doors

  • Make sure any fire in your wood or pellet stove is out, with the flue closed and any ashes or coals removed

Your energy audit professional will disconnect any combustion appliances (such as your gas stove, furnace or water heater) and reconnect them after the test is complete.

Discover How Your Home Stacks Up

Learn how you can improve your home’s energy performance with a home energy audit, including a blower door test, from Total Home Performance. This audit also includes an energy assessment of your home’s appliances and an inspection of your entire house, inside and out — including your attic and crawl space or basement.

After the audit, we’ll provide you with a full report that includes suggestions and strategies for improving your home’s energy efficiency, health, safety, and comfort.

Find out what a blower door test can tell you about your home. Contact us or call (410) 822-1390 to schedule your appointment today.

Air leaks stop here.

Schedule a blower door test for your home.

(410) 822-1390

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  • Total Home Performance was an excellent contractor. They were very knowledgeable and recommended solutions which were very helpful in improving the livability and energy efficiency in my home. They were extremely responsive and maintained…

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    Patrick

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    Joyce M. Fitzpatrick

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  • We were very pleased with Total Home Performance and the energy audit experience. All the employees were very professional, they showed up on time to perform the audit, which took about two hours, as they indicated. The work we had done, again…

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    ocjacobs

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    The Danns

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    David Turner

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  • Matt Hargrove and his crew were excellent, on time and completed the work as indicated with no additional ala carte charges. Matt came out on the evening of hurricane Irene after we noticed our sump pump not working. He and his crew arrived,…

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    Deb Rich

  • All went well. Very polite and professional. Finished work in timely manner. Hope it helps improve our heating costs!

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  • My experience with the Maryland Home Performance program was very good for the following reasons. 1. The use of a certified contractor in energy efficient methods. 2. Having a certified contractor company that employs a crew that does good work…

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  • The workers were experienced, fast, and neat. In addition they were polite. This is my first year in my home so I have no way of comparing my energy use this year with other years. I am satisfied with the work done.

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    Richard Covert

  • I can only say one word for the performance of Total Home Performance LLC is EXCELLENCE in all areas of work performed. Aside from a job well done, cleaned up working space at the end of each day, kept me informed as to what was taking place from…

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    Maryland Local

  • From start to finish a very good experience. Complete analysis of needed upgrading to implementation was very positive experience. Work crew was very responsible and personable.

    Maryland Local

  • The workers were experienced, fast, and neat. In addition they were polite. This is my first year in my home so I have no way of comparing my energy use this year with other years. I am satisfied with the work done.

    Maryland Local

  • Matt Hargrove and his crew were excellent, on time and completed the work as indicated with no additional a-la carte charges. Matt came out on the evening of hurricane Irene after we noticed our sump pump not working. He and his crew arrived,…

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    Maryland Local

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