Category: Diagnostic Tools

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Blower Door Testing for Contractors, Should You Own One?

This post first appeared on the Green Building Advisor Website.

I had the opportunity to interview Gary Nelson, one of the founders of The Energy Conservatory and Minneapolis Blower Door a few years ago.  An Interview with Gary Nelson-NorthernBuilt.  During the interview, he made the comment that his hope for the blower door when it first started appearing in the market was that every contractor would own one and that testing both existing and new homes would become a common practice.  That was 40 years ago.

We haven’t got there yet, but there are more and more contractors purchasing the tool and there are many online videos and webinars showing how a blower door is set up and used.  In this blog, I’ll discuss how to perform basic diagnostics on a home using a blower door.  Methods used to find air leaks, a short discussion on zonal pressure testing, and different tasks that the manometer can perform, all topics I think a contractor that owns (or wants to own) a blower door should be familiar with.

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What is a Blower Door Test? An Introduction.

This blog post first appeared on the Andersen Windows ProViews Blog

We’ve known for a few decades that improving the air tightness of a home and installing a properly designed mechanical ventilation system can greatly enhance the performance of a home.  Having the ability to verify the airtightness of the structure is key, we perform verification by using a tool called a blower door.  This introductory blog will answer the questions; what is a blower door test?  Why do we perform blower door testing?  How is the test performed?  How do we interpret the test results?  What else can a blower door be used for?  Are there codes relating to blower door testing?  Before we dive into those questions, let’s start with that first question, what is a blower door test?

A blower door test is a test to confirm the continuity and integrity of a structure’s air barrier.

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Can Short Term Indoor Air Quality Testing be Effective?

This post first appeared on the Green Building Advisor Website.

I own a CPS IAQPRO Smart Air professional indoor air quality monitor that I use on nearly every energy audit and building investigation I perform.  The tool measures particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10), volatile organic compounds (VOC), carbon dioxide (CO2), temperature, relative humidity, pressure and dew point.  The question is, can short term air quality monitoring provide any useful feedback as to the indoor air quality of the home?  The answer, yes and no.

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Indoor Air Quality and Building Diagnostics

The post originally appeared on the Green Building Advisor website.

I recently purchased the CPS IAQ PRO SmartAir professional indoor air quality meter to use during energy audits and building diagnostics/investigations.  My intent with the purchase was two-fold, first to learn more about indoor air quality metrics by testing homes in my market, and second, to have a more accurate temperature/humidity/dew point estimation inside these homes.  I recently had the opportunity to use the tool on a building investigation, I’ll outline this case study later in this post.  First let’s talk about the features of the CPS IAQ PRO SmartAir.

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Diagnostic Tools-Indoor Air Quality

There are currently a few hot topics around the construction industry, the high efficiency heating and cooling system called a heat pump is one of the biggest.  Cross laminated timbers (CLT) are an engineered wood product that is getting a lot of attention in the commercial side of construction.  I’m hearing some noise about a few builders wanting to try the technology in the residential market as well.  And then there’s indoor air quality.  Since the start of the pandemic, there has been a lot of attention on how to make the air in our homes more healthy.

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Diagnostic Tools-Hikmicro Pocket 2 Thermal Imaging Camera

This post first appeared in the December 2022/January 2023 issue of Fine HomeBuilding Magazine.

Thermal imaging tools used to be so expensive, the only people to own them were researchers and specialty tradespeople.  That’s not the case anymore.  Anyone can get a decent thermal imaging camera for under a $1000, my latest camera is a good example.

I was introduced to Hikmicro at the most recent International Builders Show, a newer manufacturer to the industry, Hikmicro had several of their products on display where interested people could try them out on the show floor.  I gravitated towards the Pocket Series of cameras.  This style of camera looks closer to the traditional digital camera, or a smart phone than the pistol grip thermal imagers we are used to seeing.  Compact but filled with features, the Pocket 2 I purchased has the resolution of a more expensive camera (256×192).  By comparison, my first thermal imaging camera had a resolution of 60×60, and the Pocket 2 is one-third the price of that camera. Continue reading “Diagnostic Tools-Hikmicro Pocket 2 Thermal Imaging Camera”

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Diagnostic Tools-Monitoring Electricity Usage

Randy Williams and Travis Brungardt

This post originally appeared in the November, 2022 issue of Fine HomeBuilding Magazine.   You can read the FHB print version here:  Options for Smarter Home-Energy Tracking – Fine Homebuilding

A home’s electricity use is affected by many factors.  The efficiency of the home, the type of equipment in the home and the habits of the occupants all play a role.  Up until recently, monitoring electricity use took complicated equipment.  That’s all changing.  New technology allows for monitoring whole electrical panels or individual circuits through technology included the electrical panel or the overcurrent device (breaker).  Other technologies that have been around a while are aftermarket products that can be installed inside panels.  There are also options that include point of use metering or utility usage monitoring performed directly though the utility meter.  These electrical monitoring options can be installed in both new and existing construction. Continue reading “Diagnostic Tools-Monitoring Electricity Usage”

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Diagnostic Tools-Thermal Imaging-Interpreting the Images

This blog post originally appeared on the Green Building Advisor’s website.  www.greenbuildingadvisor.com

Thermal imaging has numerous uses and benefits many different trades.  Everything from surveillance and industrial maintenance to checking someone’s temperature.  For this post, I’ll discuss interpreting images in the residential construction field. 

It’s important to have at least a basic understanding of how the camera works and adjustments that can be made to the different camera settings, I’ll briefly discuss a few of the settings.  It’s also helpful that you have somewhat of an expectation when viewing a thermal image.  Outside environmental conditions can affect an image taken inside a building, the conditions typically present in a predictable way, but not always.  Sometimes something unexpected shows up, usually this requires more investigation, possibly confirmed using other diagnostic tools or may even require the disassembling of a building component.

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Diagnostic Tools-Thermal Imaging-The Basics

Thermal imaging is a wonderful tool that not too many years ago, was rarely used because of the high cost and complexity of the equipment.  Not the case anymore.  It’s still possible to spend tens of thousands of dollars on a high-end camera, but you can buy a decent unit for under $1000.  I own a very good camera I use all the time that retails for $600.  This blog post will cover the different cameras on the market and the terminology and other basic information needed to effectively use one.

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