Testing

The big news today is that we had the blow test performed. To give a sense of what the numbers mean, MOST American houses leak 3 to 5 THOUSAND CUBIC FEET A MINUTE. This means that every minute an average American is paying to heat about 4,000 cubic feet per minute. The standard for Energy Star is 669 for a house our size (~2000 ft2) The standard for a very good result is 446 for a house our size. The toughest standard, from Germany called Passiv House, is 268 CFM. Our test involved putting a temporary door in the opening and exhausting the air in the building and attempting to suck the air INTO the building. The tester used a thermographic camera to identify where the air was leaking into the building. Our result, first try, was 328! We identified where we can tighten the building performance by caulking and yet even more red tape. We are convinced we can hit the Passiv House standard on the next test in a few weeks. We did not know if our work and attention to detail would work but it appears that it has. Passive solar and air sourced geothermal only work when the building is tight, tight, tight. I would recommend getting this test done for everyone. The cost is about $250 and is hugely informative. Matt