Weatherization

What is a Blower Door?

A blower door is a large calibrated fan that is temporarily mounted in a house door to measure the “leakage” of the houses and to assist in finding the location of the leaks. With the variable speed fan sealed tightly into the door jamb, the pressure in the house can be adjusted. In order to measure the leakage of the house, the blower door lets the air flow through the fan and the pressure difference between the house inside and outside allows detection of leaks.

Why should you care about air leakage in your house?

Everyone knows that air leakage can cause uncomfortable drafts in homes, but energy researchers have discovered that sealing air leaks is one of the simplest and least expensive ways to save energy in homes. A typical house may lose up to one third of its heat through walls and ceilings, one third through windows and doors, and one third through air leakage.1 A few hours of air sealing with inexpensive sealants can often reduce the air leakage by about one quarter to one half, resulting in a savings of ten to twenty percent of the fuel bill.

1 Infeltec