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HVAC Air Leak Inspections

The document discusses using thermal imagers and blower doors to inspect buildings for air leaks. It describes how blower doors are used to create pressure differences to make leaks more visible in thermal images. Common locations for air leaks are described, such as attics, basements, around pipes and fixtures. Sealing leaks can save homeowners hundreds of dollars annually in energy costs.

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26 views2 pages

HVAC Air Leak Inspections

The document discusses using thermal imagers and blower doors to inspect buildings for air leaks. It describes how blower doors are used to create pressure differences to make leaks more visible in thermal images. Common locations for air leaks are described, such as attics, basements, around pipes and fixtures. Sealing leaks can save homeowners hundreds of dollars annually in energy costs.

Uploaded by

AN.ADAMMS
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Applications for

Thermal Imagers

Air Leak
Inspections
Application Note
In energy audits of homes and other buildings, technicians
use blower doors in conjunction with thermal imagers.
The blowers create positive or negative pressures within
interior envelopes, making leaks much more apparent in
thermal images.

Inspecting to locate air leakage requires a 4 F or higher temperature difference between inside and outside air, in order to
get accurate readings. Air leakage can be into the building, as
in the cold air shown leaking through the floor, or out of it, as
in the warm air leaking out alongside the roof peak.

For nearly 30 years, the U.S.


Department of Energy (DOE) has
helped low-income families save
energy by weatherizing their
homes. Called Weatherization
Assistance, the program is funded
by DOE but administered by individual states. In July of 2005, the
DOE announced awards to 19
states for home weatherization
totaling $92.5 million. The programs total budget for FY 2005 is
$288 million.
Todays Weatherization
Assistance Programs include a
comprehensive series of energy
saving measures based on
audits of residential units. They
take a whole-house approach
that includes a wide variety of
energy efficiency measures and
are leading the way in founding
a growing industry that makes
energy efficient homes available
to everyone. Among the tools
they use in conducting residential
energy audits are handheld
thermal imagers.
Fluke thermal imagers now
include IR-Fusion, a technology that fuses a visual, or visible
light, image with an infrared
image for better identification,
analysis and image management.
The dual images are accurately
aligned at any distance heightening details, making it much easier
to spot where further investigation is needed.

What to check?
Blower doors consist of a frame
and shroud that fit inside doorframes. Mounted in each blower
door is a variable-speed fan that
allows it to induce pressure on
the inside of a dwelling. Instrumentation that accompanies a
blower door includes pressure
gauges with which a technician can measure the flow of air
through the fan as well as the
pressure differential between the
living space and the outdoors.
With a blower door in operation, a technician armed with a
thermal imager and a pressure
gauge (to verify the pressure differential in various parts of a
dwelling) can find areas that contribute to the loss of conditioned
air by convectionheat in the
winter and cooling in the summer.

What to look for?


Even before turning on your IR
camera, you will have a general
idea of the relative leakiness of
a dwelling. The greater the airflow required to reach a certain
pressure differential the more
leaky a living unit is.
The most effective thermalimaging work in an energy audit
will occur indoors when a living
space is being heated or cooled
(winter or summer), not in the
spring or fall when there is little
discernable difference between
inside and outside temperatures.

For more information on Thermal Imagers go to www.fluke.com/thermography

Conventional wisdom would


have you concentrate your imaging on windows and doors.
However, windows and doors,
typically located mid-height in
a home, contribute very little to
total air leakage in most dwell-

insulation contractor could have


left air space between the insulation and the floor allowing the
floor to cool by convection.
Heating and cooling losses
occur by conduction as well as
convection. Conduction losses
can happen, for example, at floor
slabs that extend outdoors and
have no thermal barrier between
the indoor and outdoor portions.
Conduction can also happen
in conjunction with convection
when insulation is missing from
an outdoor wall.

What savings are


possible?

ings and therefore account for a


relatively small percentage of the
total heating and cooling losses
due to convection. In fact, the most
serious leaks in most housing units
occur at the top and bottom of the
conditioned building envelope - in
attics and basements.
Large gaps are often found
around plumbing pipes, recessed
light fixtures, chimneys, eve soffits, chaseways and basement
rim joists (where the foundation
meets the wood framing). Look
carefully at the tops and bottoms
of plumbing runs and plumbing vents, especially in attics
and basements. Also scan the
places where utilities such as
electricity and TV cable enter the
conditioned-air space. Look for
uncharacteristically cold floors in
winter, especially floors above
garages and crawl spaces. Even
if these floors are insulated, the

Given rising electricity prices,


follow-up actions based on the
findings of an energy audit are
almost certain to save at least
15 % of the energy a household uses. Figures available on
the DOE Energy Efficiency and
Renewable Energy website
illustrate what savings are available from even modest energyconserving investments.
DOEs Weatherization Assistance Program has weatherized
more than five million homes
since 1976 and expects to do
92,500 in 2005 at an average
cost of US$2,672 per home. On
average, weatherization reduces
heating bills by 31 percent, and
overall annual energy costs by
US$275 (in 2003 dollars). Based
on heating savings alone, the
average payback on a weatherization project takes less than
10 years. Similar results can be
expected for any housing unit
that experiences an audit and
appropriate follow-up measures.

Follow-up actions
The remedy for energy-wasting
leaks is to seal them. Seal plumbing runs and plumbing vents at
tops and bottoms. Seal utility
access holes and recessed lighting fixtures as required. (Warning: If not done properly, sealing
recessed lighting cans that
are not rated ICAT - insulationcontact-air-tight - will create a
fire hazard. Seek expert help.)
At a minimum, if you cannot fill
suspected air gaps between walls
and floors and insulation seal
the ends of the gaps. Also, create
thermal barriers where there are
conduction losses.
Sealing materials for specific
applications might vary from
aluminum flashing to fiberglass
insulation to reflective foil insulation and include standard or
high-temperature caulks and
expanding spray foam. Whatever
the materials required, a 30 %
decrease in energy use can save
a homeowner US$450 or more
per year in energy costs.
bag in place.

Fluke. Keeping your world



up and running.
Fluke Corporation
PO Box 9090, Everett, WA 98206 U.S.A.
Fluke Europe B.V.
PO Box 1186, 5602 BD
Eindhoven, The Netherlands

An imaging tip:
The 2005 Energy Bill, passed by the US Senate, took effect January 1, 2006.
This bill provides a tax credit off the bottom line of their 2006 or 2007 taxes,
equal to 10 % of their energy savings purchases (limited to $500). Have your
home air sealed and insulation added for the best improvement in both energy
savings and comfort, and save money from your taxes all at the same time.

For more information call:


In the U.S.A. (800) 443-5853 or
Fax (425) 446-5116
In Europe/M-East/Africa +31 (0) 40 2675 200 or
Fax +31 (0) 40 2675 222
In Canada (800)-36-FLUKE or
Fax (905) 890-6866
From other countries +1 (425) 446-5500 or
Fax +1 (425) 446-5116
Web access: http://www.fluke.com
2005-2010 Fluke Corporation.
Specifications subject to change without notice.
Printed in U.S.A. 7/2010 2531322C A-EN-N

2 Fluke Corporation

Thermal Applications: Air leak inspections

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