Services

Thermal Imaging

Residential infrared heat loss scanning, cutting edge technology can help you fight against escalating home heating and cooling cost.

Locate heating and air conditioning losses with pinpoint accuracy
Identifying insulation deficiencies and air infiltration
Fast non-invasive and safe with minimal disturbance to occupants
Full written report containing thermo & digital images providing visual documentation

Thermography measures surface temperatures by using an infrared camera. These tools see light that is in the heat spectrum. Images on the film record the temperature variations of the building's skin, ranging from white for warm regions to black for cooler areas. The resulting images help determine whether insulation is needed. They also serve as a quality control tool, to ensure that insulation has been installed correctly.

A thermographic inspection is either an interior or exterior survey. Interior scans are more common, because warm air escaping from a building does not always move through the walls in a straight line. Heat loss detected in one area of the outside wall might originate at some other location on the inside of the wall. Also, it is harder to detect temperature differences on the outside surface of the building during windy weather. Because of this difficulty, interior surveys are generally more accurate because they benefit from reduced air movement.

Thermographic scans are also commonly used with a blower door test running. The blower door helps exaggerate air leaking through defects in the building shell. Such air leaks appear as black streaks in the infrared camera's viewfinder.

Blower Door Testing

Getting Started – Blower Door Tests

If you’re not sure where to start weatherizing, a Blower Door Test can be a great investment in tightening up your home.

How It Works

Blower door tests are performed by certified energy auditors using special variable-speed fans.
All windows and doors are closed, and the fan is installed in the front door with a special air-tight seal.
As the fan is turned on, the energy auditor will monitor the flow of air through the fan, as well as the air pressure inside your home.

The Benefits

Because your home is sealed and evenly pressurized, it’s easy to find out exactly where air leaks are occurring.
In most cases, you can feel air leaks with your hand or see them with the use of a tissue or smoke pencil.
While you’d probably expect to find drafts around windows and doors, you might be surprised to learn how much air can leak around electrical outlets and plumbing pipes.
Blower door tests can also help identify sources of indoor air quality problems, such as carbon monoxide.

Heating and Air Conditioning

Boiler / Furnace Efficiency Testing

A heating system is a large user of fuel (natural gas or fuel oil). Old or inefficient heating systems can be very costly. At best, oil systems may be 87% efficient and on average they are probably 65 to 75% efficient. This means that upwards of 30% of the energy in your heating fuel is wasted (goes up the stack). It also means that upwards of 30% of your heating bill is also wasted.

Combustion efficiency testing should be performed before costly capital improvements are undertaken, Modern combustion efficiency is measured with sophisticated test sets that can simultaneously measure oxygen, carbon monoxide, excess air levels in the flue gases. The old time method of “eyeballing the flame” could be costing you money.

Before buying a new furnace or boiler or modifying your existing unit, first make every effort to improve the energy efficiency of your home, then have a heat loss calculation done. A heat loss calculation with determine the proper size furnace for your home. Energy-efficiency improvements will save money on a new furnace, because you will need a smaller furnace. A properly sized furnace will also operate most efficiently.

EnergyStar® Home Ratings

To earn the EnergyStar®, a home must meet guidelines for energy efficiency set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. These homes are at least 15% more energy efficient than homes built to the 2004 International Residential Code (IRC), and include additional energy-saving features that typically make them 230% more efficient than standard homes.

With homebuyers increasingly interested in building "green", energy efficiency is the place to start. That's because the energy used in homes often comes from the burning of fossil fuels at power plants, which contributes to smog, acid rain, and risks of global warming. So, the less energy used, the less air pollution generated. And the easy way to make sure a new home is energy efficient is to look for the blue EnergyStar® mark, the government-backed symbol for energy efficiency. Learn more about how Green Begins with EnergyStar® Blue.

This label identifies a home as
having earned the EnergyStar®.

Any home three stories or less can earn the EnergyStar® label if it has been verified to meet EPA's guidelines, including: single family, attached, and low-rise multi-family homes; manufactured homes; systems-built homes (e.g., SIP, ICF, or modular construction); log homes, concrete homes; and even existing retrofitted homes.

EnergyStar® qualified homes can include a variety of 'tried-and-true' energy-efficient features that contribute to improved home quality and homeowner comfort, and to lower energy demand and reduced air pollution:

Effective Insulation

Properly Installed Insulation

High-Performance Windows

Qualified Windows

Tight Construction and Ducts

Efficient Duct Systems

Efficient Heating and Cooling Equipment

Efficient Products

EnergyStar® qualified products

Third-Party Verification

Independent Inspection and Testing

Read our
Consumer Brochure

Benefits

ADDED CONFIDENCE

Home buying is complex enough without having to know all the details of energy-efficient construction. Instead, look for the government-backed EnergyStar® label to easily identify homes that are truly energy efficient. Find the house of your dreams and enjoy peace of mind knowing that it also meets strict energy efficiency guidelines.

LOWER OWNERSHIP COST

Compared with standard homes, EnergyStar® qualified homes use substantially less energy for heating, cooling, and water heating-delivering $200 to $400 in annual savings. Over the average 7 to 8 years you may live in your home, this adds up to thousands of dollars saved on utility bills. Additional savings on maintenance can also be substantial. Financing your home purchase using an energy efficient mortgage can also lead to savings.

BETTER PERFORMANCE

Properly installed energy-efficient improvements deliver better protection against cold, heat, drafts, moisture, pollution, and noise. An energy-efficient home helps ensure consistent temperatures between and across rooms, improved indoor air quality, and greater durability.

SMART INVESTMENT

To date, more than 8,500 home builders have partnered with EPA to construct more than 1 million EnergyStar® qualified homes. The trend is clear. By choosing a home with the EnergyStar® label, you can be confident that it will have an increasingly valued feature when the time comes to sell.

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

Did you know that your home can be a greater source of pollution than your car? In fact, 16 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions are generated from the energy used in houses nationwide.

Energy used in our homes often comes from the burning of fossil fuels at power plants, which contributes to smog, acid rain, and global warming. Simply put, the less energy we use in our homes, the less air pollution we generate.