The energy efficiency of your home can have a significant impact on your comfort level, your energy bills and the air quality in your home.  There are many steps you can take on your own to improve the energy efficiency of your home.  Or you may want additional assistance with determining problem spots in your home and advice on how to fix them.  We offer comprehensive services that include both a visual inspection of your entire home and testing with special instruments that allow us to pinpoint problems undetectable to the human eye.  The special tools include:

Infiltrometer "blower door" Test
An infiltrometer (blower door) is a variable speed fan that is mounted in your main doorway.  It is used to create a positive or negative pressure within your house to measure air leakage.  It allows us to pinpoint specific air leaks in your home and helps determine if your house is too tight or too loose.  It can also be used to measure leakage in your duct system. 

Flow Hood
A flow hood is a tool that measures the volume of air passing through a register.  This tool allows us to measure the air volume passing through your registers to determine if you are receiving the correct volume of air for a specific space.  It can also help us determine duct leakage.

Manometer
An instrument that measures the pressure differences between two locations.


Below is a picture (provided by energystar) that portrays where many typical air leaks occur in a home.  You can see that some air leaks let air in while others let air out. 

Photo Courtesy of Energystar.gov
 

The following information is provided
by the Energy Star website.
 
Please visit their website
for more information.

 

Sealing Leaks
Many air leaks and drafts are easy to find because they are easy to feel — like those around windows and doors. But holes hidden in attics, basements, and crawlspaces are usually bigger problems. Sealing these leaks with caulk, spray foam, or weather stripping will have a great impact on improving your comfort and reducing utility bills.

Homeowners are often concerned about sealing their house too tightly; however, this is very unlikely in most older homes. A certain amount of fresh air is needed for good indoor air quality and there are specifications that set the minimum amount of fresh air needed for a house. If you are concerned about how tight your home is, hire a contractor who can use diagnostic tools to measure your home's actual leakage. If your home is too tight, a fresh air ventilation system may be recommended.

Adding Insulation
Insulation keeps your home warm in the winter and cool in the summer. There are several common types of insulation — fiberglass (in both batt and blown forms), cellulose, rigid foam board, and spray foam. Reflective insulation (or radiant barrier) is another insulating product which can help save energy in hot, sunny climates.

When correctly installed with air sealing, each type of insulation can deliver comfort and lower energy bills during the hottest and coldest times of the year.

Insulation performance is measured by R-value — its ability to resist heat flow. Higher R-values mean more insulating power. Different R-values are recommended for walls, attics, basements and crawlspaces, depending on your area of the country. Insulation works best when air is not moving through or around it. So it is very important to seal air leaks before installing insulation to ensure that you get the best performance from the insulation.

To get the biggest savings, the easiest place to add insulation is usually in the attic. A quick way to see if you need more insulation is to look across your uncovered attic floor. If your insulation is level with or below the attic floor joists, you probably need to add more insulation. The recommended insulation level for most attics is R-38 (or about 12–15 inches, depending on the insulation type). In the coldest climates, insulating up to R-49 is recommended.

Sealing Ducts
In houses with forced-air heating and cooling systems, ducts are used to distribute conditioned air throughout the house. In a typical house, however, about 20 percent of the air that moves through the duct system is lost due to leaks and poorly sealed connections. The result is higher utility bills and difficulty keeping the house comfortable, no matter how the thermostat is set.

Because some ducts are concealed in walls and between floors, repairing them can be difficult. However, exposed ducts in attics, basements, crawlspaces, and garages can be repaired by sealing the leaks with duct sealant (also called duct mastic). In addition, insulating ducts that run through spaces that get hot in summer or cold in winter (like attics, garages, or crawlspaces) can save significant energy.  Learn more about improving your ducts.
 

2001 Hideout Lane  Bowie, Maryland 20716
301-249-3543  ∙ 410-741-9340 ∙ 301-218-5945 (Fax)
customerservice@thomasrowens.com