The Tools

Before these tools were available, home performance as an industry did not really exist. It was the invention and availability of the following equipment that created the industry. These tools allow us to see into the inner workings of the house and track the movement of air, moisture & heat throughout the house. Now that we can measure it, we can fix it , and then measure it again to verify the fix. Like a Sherlock Holmes with magnifying glass we can troubleshoot the root cause of almost any comfort, health or energy issue in the home.

Testing

• Blower door — Used to determine how much air is leaking in and out of the building envelope
• Duct blaster — Tells us how much air is being lost through leaks in the HVAC ductwork
• Monoxor Is used to test the safety of the furnaces, water heaters and other combustion appliances. It samples the air and determines the amount of carbon monoxide present.
• Infrared camera — Is a heat detecting camera used to "see" into walls to identify moisture problems and insulation deficiencies. With it we can see the heat signature given off by the assembly in question. This helps to identify missing batts of insulation and places that may be leaking air to the outside such as recessed light can.
• Hygrometer — Measures the amount of relative moisture in the air.
• Lo flow balometer — Is used to measure air flows coming out of forced air registers.
• Gas leak detector — Also called a "sniffer" this tool will signal the presence of natural gas leaks in and around appliances and gas piping.
• DG 700 Manometer — This versatile tool has several applications. It is used in conjunction with the blower door, the duct blaster and other pressure sensing devices. Its main function is to measure changes in air pressure. It can then use that information to tell us how much air is being lost by a house or duct system.
• Exhaust fan flow hood — Measures the amount of air that a bathroom exhaust fan is actually moving.
• Pressure pan — Used in conjunction with a blower door, it guides duct repair efforts by telling us where the biggest duct leaks are.
• Hobos — Small data collection devices that collect temperature and humidity information from a particular location over a set period of time.