Home Performance Testing
The single biggest cause of home performance problems is air leakage.
Puffin Mechanical’s Home Performance Testing shows how well your home performs at keeping the air from leaking both into and out of your home. Why is this important? Air leakage affects your comfort and health and makes your home less efficient. It can be the source of drafty rooms, odors, dust, allergens, moisture, and high energy bills.
Send us a message to schedule your Home Performance Test
Understanding Air Leakage in Your Home
When it comes to the air in your home, it’s a give and take. Because air flows from areas of higher pressure to lower pressure, each cubic foot of air that leaks into the house allows another cubic foot to leak out.
How can we tell how much air your home is leaking? We use tests, not guesswork!
Using state-of-the-art testing equipment, our specialists can detect your home’s energy efficiency issues with quantifiable information. Blower Door Testing & Infrared Thermography allows us to get to the source of energy efficiency issues and lay out effective solutions for your home.
Home Performance Testing with a Blower Door Test
The blower door test shows how much air is entering or escaping your home which determines a home’s air tightness. During the home performance testing, your Puffin Mechanical specialist uses a special calibrated fan as a diagnostic tool to depressurize your home to reveal air leaks and determine the overall airtightness of the home.
Essentially, it sucks the air out of your home, so we can see where outside air is rushing in to replace it!
Home Performance Testing with IR Camera
Infrared Thermography detects temperature variations in your home to determine air leakage and heat loss. It can pinpoint areas of weakness in your home’s air seal, insulation, duct systems, windows, and doors. The areas with leakage will show up as a more distinct color than the surrounding area. In addition, the camera measures the surface temperature.
The results of the test show the most cost-effective points for home improvement.
Contact us to ask about Home Performance Testing and schedule your test.
Steps
1. Blower Door Test
During the test, the blower door is temporarily installed onto the frame of an exterior door. This is typically the main entrance. We then close all exterior doors, windows, fireplace dampers, woodstove air inlets, and all exhaust devices while all interior doors are left open. While the fan pushes air outside, the air pressure inside your home is lowered. This causes air to be pulled in through all the cracks, penetrations and openings of your home revealing the overall air leakage of your home. The manometer in the fan box is used to record total overall air leakage in (CFM50) or (ACH50).
2. Infrared Camera
With the blower door running at a lower speed, our trained technician with walk with you through your home using an infrared camera. The IR camera will determine specifically where the air infiltration is occurring or where there might be insufficient insulation.
3. Home Performance Testing Report
You will receive a report with pictures and test results of your home’s performance. The test results are used to provide you with a roadmap to improve the home’s efficiency moving forward.
4. Recommendations and Energy Efficient Data
For homes with considerable air leaks, we recommend air sealing and, in some cases, installing attic insulation in the home for increased energy savings, indoor air quality, and comfort.
Once your home has been air sealed to prevent the infiltration of outside air and the exfiltration of conditioned air, the blower door test can be performed again to ensure the energy efficiency work was effective. We will show you the significant improvement in the tightness of the home, the increased energy efficiency and air quality, and your home’s overall performance.
As a homeowner, why would you want a Home Performance Test?
Air leakage contributes to air drafts, poor indoor air quality, and high energy bills, so it is important to know where air is leaking into and out of your home. You may also be thinking about installing new energy-efficient windows or making other efficiency upgrades. We recommend home performance testing before you make those big investments, so we can determine exactly how your home is using and losing energy.
Reasons to Test
Puffin Mechanical loves helping customers save money and the environment!
Our home AC went out while my wife and I were at work. My wife arrived home to the house at 90 degrees. We had another company come take a look. The tech looked around for 10 minutes and quoted us 11k for a new system. We called Puffin for a second opinion. Rob walked me through every step of the way, and after isolating each component, he determined with confidence that a new system…
I trust this company and I refer them often. (5 Star Google Review)
Robert takes care of my commercial HVAC system at my office. On-time, professional and thorough. I will always do business with this company. If you call the main number there is a great chance you will speak with his wife. A true sweetheart. Great family owned business. (5 Star Google Review)
This team is great. I had an ac emergency at a rental property on a weekend. They made time to get to the property and fix the issue so the tenant was super happy. I can't thank them enough. (5 Star Google Review)
Puffin mechanical ...extremely professional and were on time as promised. They helped me out with a few energy saving ideas and swapped out a few light bulbs. Crystal was friendly, personable, and very easy to talk to. Thank you for your time. (5 Star Google Review)
Crystal, Kelly, and the whole team at Puffin Mechanical were amazing to work with! I’m very satisfied with the LED lightbulbs that were installed in my new house! The process was quick and easy. Everyone should take advantage of this awesome program through Puffin Mechanical. (5-star Google Review)
This is a wonderful family-owned business that can do amazing things for your power bill. Their services will not cost you ONE DIME!! They are professional and prompt and all around a wonderful company. (5 Star Google Review)
We were so pleased with Bob and Lisa’s light bulb installation, as well as Carson’s energy assessment and pipe wrapping! They are very professional and prompt. We recommend them to anyone. Thank you!! (5 Star Google Review)