The Following Services Are Offered

Home Inspection

Home Energy Audit

Air Leakage Testing

Infrared Imaging

Air leakage costs Canadian households a hefty part of our annual heating bills and makes our homes uncomfortable and unhealthy.Cold air leaking into your house can make some rooms – particularly in the basement, on the main floor or with a windward-facing wall – drafty, uncomfortable and difficult to heat, even with the thermostat turned up

The opposite can be even worse. If your home is too tight with insufficient ventilation, then the very air you breath can lead to medical problems. And of course if your home does indeed have this problem then there can also be a back drafting issue. This problem can occur when use use your exhaust fans. The exhaust devices create a difference in pressure between the inside of your home and the outside which may cause emissions from your gas and wood burning devices to enter your home, which can of course be deadly!!

Air leakage is an important consideration when improving home energy efficiency because it can reduce the effectiveness of insulation and significantly reduce the energy efficiency of your home through direct air intrusion. Even with the recommended insulation levels, air leakage can account for 50% of a homes heat loss. Locating air leakage sites can be complex. While windows and doors are often the focus of air sealing efforts, typical air leakage sites include plumbing, wiring, chimney chases, duct work, ceiling lighting, overhangs as well as knee walls and interior wall partitions.

To test for air leakage we depressurize your home through use of a blower door. A blower door will depressurize your home to -50 pasquals of pressure which simulates a 35 mile an hour wind on all sides of your home, the kind of conditions you will see on a windy winter day. It forces air to enter your home wherever possible. Then using Thermograpic technology and other tools we examine your entire home for potential air leakage sources.

Your Garage can be a dangerous source for carbon monoxide. As part of our test we will use a fog emitter to locate Infiltration points from inside your garage. If the fog can get into your home then so will carbon monoxide.

Educational video from Clean Nova Scotia

Air Leakage Faq's

Why is air tightness important?

Uncontrolled air leakage in a building makes them more expensive to heat.

Aren’t buildings supposed to breath?

Yes, but in a controlled way. Uncontrolled air leakage is not an appropriate way to ventilate a building. An air tight property, combined with controlled ventilation is much more comfortable and energy efficient. This can be achieved through extractor fans in ‘wet’ rooms and trickle vents or better still by incorporating a whole building mechanical ventilation system with heat recovery.

What is involved in an Air Leakage Test?

The on-site test involves depressurizing the property using a computer controlled fan fitted into a temporarily sealed door opening. We take a number of readings at various pressures to give a final accurate result. The pressure changes in the building are small and therefore should not cause any structural damage.

What does an Air Leakage Test measure?
An Air Tightness Test measures the number of cubic meters of air that are lost through each square meter of envelope area per hour, at a pressure difference of 50 Pascal’s. The lower the figure the better, leading to a better environmental energy rating (improving a property’s sales appeal).