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How to prepare – Home Energy Rating, Existing Home
Here’s what we’ll need:
1) A clear walking path through the house
2) Access to the electrical panel
3) Access to all doors and windows
4) Easy access to all supply and return registers – this may require that you move furniture
5) Access to the air handler
6) Access to the water heater
7) Access to the furnace if applicable
8) If you have small children, consider a baby sitter. (see the What to Expect section)
9) Please have all pets secured or removed. We will use a blower door which includes a large noisy
fan and is not pet friendly.
10) We will provide a full-color, comprehensive report, but feel free to have a pen, paper, post-it notes
or digital camera on hand for your own reference
What to Expect
When we arrive, we’ll ask a few questions to help us determine the thermal envelope of your home.
Once we know where the envelope boundaries are, we’ll walk around outside, take some pictures
and lots of measurements. We’ll come back in and take more pictures and many more
measurements. We’ll do some number crunching to determine the surface area and the volume of
your home’s thermal envelope. Once we’ve taken all the measurements we need, we’ll set up a
blower door. Basically, the blower door is a large canvas that fits around an aluminum frame and is
sealed into an exterior door opening of your home.
We will need to close and lock all exterior doors and windows (except the one we’re using of
course). We’ll also need to open all interior doors, so if you plan to use a spare bedroom for baby-
sitting or to keep a pet in, you should make other arrangements. You need to be aware that the fan
used with the blower door is noisy and could be frightening to small children. We highly
recommend that small children be kept at a baby-sitters house during the survey.
We’ll use the blower door to depressurize the house which will cause air infiltration through any
gaps, leaks, or penetrations in the thermal envelope. We’ll record the cubic feet per minute (cfm)
required to maintain the negative pressure and convert that into a couple useful numbers for you in
the report. This will be your opportunity to walk through the house and feel the air leaks with your
own hand.
Once we’ve completed the envelope leakage analysis, we’ll set-up a smaller fan unit called a ‘duct
blaster’, or 'duct blower', to test the leakiness of your ductwork. We’ll seal off all of your supply and
return registers with a special tape. We’ll then attach the duct blaster to the main return or the air
handler and pressurize the ducts to typical operating pressure. To compensate for any leakage from
the ducts into the envelope, we’ll use the blower door to pressurize the envelope to the same
pressure. By doing so, we’ll be able to analyze how much duct leakage you have into your
crawlspace or attic. Depending on their accessibility, we will attempt to locate the source of any
gross duct leakage sites to save your HVAC contractor some time when he repairs them.
When the test is complete, we’ll remove all the duct mask tape and start breaking down the
equipment. Depending on the size of your house, a Home Energy Rating should take three to five
hours. You will receive a full-color energy efficiency report that will include your home’s certified
HERS Rating, the air leakage analysis, duct leakage analysis, energy cost estimates, as well as any
recommendations we may have.
Here’s what we’ll need:
1) A clear walking path through the house
2) Access to the electrical panel
3) Access to all doors and windows
4) Easy access to all supply and return registers – this may require that you move furniture
5) Access to the air handler
6) Access to the water heater
7) Access to the furnace if applicable
8) If you have small children, consider a baby sitter. (see the What to Expect section)
9) Please have all pets secured or removed. We will use a blower door which includes a large noisy
fan and is not pet friendly.
10) We will provide a full-color, comprehensive report, but feel free to have a pen, paper, post-it notes
or digital camera on hand for your own reference
What to Expect
When we arrive, we’ll ask a few questions to help us determine the thermal envelope of your home.
Once we know where the envelope boundaries are, we’ll walk around outside, take some pictures
and lots of measurements. We’ll come back in and take more pictures and many more
measurements. We’ll do some number crunching to determine the surface area and the volume of
your home’s thermal envelope. Once we’ve taken all the measurements we need, we’ll set up a
blower door. Basically, the blower door is a large canvas that fits around an aluminum frame and is
sealed into an exterior door opening of your home.
We will need to close and lock all exterior doors and windows (except the one we’re using of
course). We’ll also need to open all interior doors, so if you plan to use a spare bedroom for baby-
sitting or to keep a pet in, you should make other arrangements. You need to be aware that the fan
used with the blower door is noisy and could be frightening to small children. We highly
recommend that small children be kept at a baby-sitters house during the survey.
We’ll use the blower door to depressurize the house which will cause air infiltration through any
gaps, leaks, or penetrations in the thermal envelope. We’ll record the cubic feet per minute (cfm)
required to maintain the negative pressure and convert that into a couple useful numbers for you in
the report. This will be your opportunity to walk through the house and feel the air leaks with your
own hand.
Once we’ve completed the envelope leakage analysis, we’ll set-up a smaller fan unit called a ‘duct
blaster’, or 'duct blower', to test the leakiness of your ductwork. We’ll seal off all of your supply and
return registers with a special tape. We’ll then attach the duct blaster to the main return or the air
handler and pressurize the ducts to typical operating pressure. To compensate for any leakage from
the ducts into the envelope, we’ll use the blower door to pressurize the envelope to the same
pressure. By doing so, we’ll be able to analyze how much duct leakage you have into your
crawlspace or attic. Depending on their accessibility, we will attempt to locate the source of any
gross duct leakage sites to save your HVAC contractor some time when he repairs them.
When the test is complete, we’ll remove all the duct mask tape and start breaking down the
equipment. Depending on the size of your house, a Home Energy Rating should take three to five
hours. You will receive a full-color energy efficiency report that will include your home’s certified
HERS Rating, the air leakage analysis, duct leakage analysis, energy cost estimates, as well as any
recommendations we may have.