blower door test?

[jpcjguy]

Hi all,

So this is more about my house than garage. I am thinking about doing an energy audit on my house because the master bedroom, closets and bathroom are considerably colder than the rest of the house. To be fair the closets and bathroom are above the unheated garage(insulated and drywalled though).
But I am looking to improve - within cost reason.
Anyone hire "energy audit" experts and feel like the value was there?

Thanks
Joe

 

[Autorotica]

I would try to come up with a thermal imager and take a look at your cold rooms with that first.

Chris

 

[zmaxmotorsports]

Check your garage doors and seals.

 

[revamp]

Funny timing, I just had an energy audit conducted on Tuesday and received the results today. My audit was performed by one guy and took around 2 hours. It cost me $400 and the report was 22 pages long.

In short, I thought I knew the information I would get in an audit report, but at least in my case I received at least double the amount of information and guidance I was expecting.

For instance, he mapped out my floor plan for all 2 floors + basement from side and top view with all ventilation/chimney routes mapped.

He tested furnace and water heater drafting (fumes and CO) under "normal" conditions and again after turning every single bathroom and kitchen vent fan on (which can create a "suction" in the house and sometimes can cause fumes to spill into the local space instead of drafting up the flue.

The blower door test was done, pictures (regular and thermal) were taken from outside of the house, inside the house, and inside the attic.

Recommendations for ventilation, roofing, windows, insulation, etc was given as well as general impressions of the performance of the house.

The inspector also pointed out things that were done very well in my house, as well as areas of concern like "pinched" flex air return ducting.

I was hoping to spend closer to $300 than $400, but I feel I got more than my money's worth and found that in my case, my house performed much better than I thought it would and that some of the issues I had with comfort in a couple rooms have easy fixes.

EDIT: Oh, it might be helpful to know where I am...I'm in the far suburbs of Chicago

 

[zmaxmotorsports]

Funny timing, I just had an energy audit conducted on Tuesday and received the results today. My audit was performed by one guy and took around 2 hours. It cost me $400 and the report was 22 pages long.

In short, I thought I knew the information I would get in an audit report, but at least in my case I received at least double the amount of information and guidance I was expecting.

For instance, he mapped out my floor plan for all 2 floors + basement from side and top view with all ventilation/chimney routes mapped.

He tested furnace and water heater drafting (fumes and CO) under "normal" conditions and again after turning every single bathroom and kitchen vent fan on (which can create a "suction" in the house and sometimes can cause fumes to spill into the local space instead of drafting up the flue.

The blower door test was done, pictures (regular and thermal) were taken from outside of the house, inside the house, and inside the attic.

Recommendations for ventilation, roofing, windows, insulation, etc was given as well as general impressions of the performance of the house.

The inspector also pointed out things that were done very well in my house, as well as areas of concern like "pinched" flex air return ducting.

I was hoping to spend closer to $300 than $400, but I feel I got more than my money's worth and found that in my case, my house performed much better than I thought it would and that some of the issues I had with comfort in a couple rooms have easy fixes.

EDIT: Oh, it might be helpful to know where I am...I'm in the far suburbs of Chicago

Pinched flex duct work,say it aint so!

 

[jpcjguy]

Funny timing, I just had an energy audit conducted on Tuesday and received the results today. My audit was performed by one guy and took around 2 hours. It cost me $400 and the report was 22 pages long.

In short, I thought I knew the information I would get in an audit report, but at least in my case I received at least double the amount of information and guidance I was expecting.

For instance, he mapped out my floor plan for all 2 floors + basement from side and top view with all ventilation/chimney routes mapped.

He tested furnace and water heater drafting (fumes and CO) under "normal" conditions and again after turning every single bathroom and kitchen vent fan on (which can create a "suction" in the house and sometimes can cause fumes to spill into the local space instead of drafting up the flue.

The blower door test was done, pictures (regular and thermal) were taken from outside of the house, inside the house, and inside the attic.

Recommendations for ventilation, roofing, windows, insulation, etc was given as well as general impressions of the performance of the house.

The inspector also pointed out things that were done very well in my house, as well as areas of concern like "pinched" flex air return ducting.

I was hoping to spend closer to $300 than $400, but I feel I got more than my money's worth and found that in my case, my house performed much better than I thought it would and that some of the issues I had with comfort in a couple rooms have easy fixes.

EDIT: Oh, it might be helpful to know where I am...I'm in the far suburbs of Chicago

revamp - thanks for the info! That helps on what to expect roughly for the money. Any chance you would share the report (privately)?