Blower-Door Preparation & Setup

Blower door testing involves: preparing the home for the test, setting up the blower door in a doorway, connecting the gages, turning on the blower door and reading the pressure and airflow rate from gauges.

Home preparation include:

  1. Closing primary windows and storm windows.
  2. Opening all interior doors.
  3. Disabling and water heaters by turning down their thermostats.
  4. Covering ashes in wood stoves and fireplaces with damp newspaper to prevent the ashes from being sucked into the home.
  5. Shutting fireplace dampers, fireplace glass doors, wood-stove dampers and wood stove air intakes.

    6. The blower door operator slowly brings up the house pressure to 50 pascal's using the fan's variable speed control. The operator inspects the home interior during the tests first moments to insure that dusk is not being pulled in through fireplace, wood stove or other dirty area. With the house pressure at exactly 50 pascal's, the operator notes the CFM50 from the air flow gauge or digital display.