Blower Door Testing New Orleans
Ensuring Energy Efficiency and Home Comfort in New Orleans, LA
What Is Blower Door Testing in New Orleans?
Blower Door Testing in New Orleans is a key part of energy efficiency and home performance evaluations. During this test, professionals temporarily seal off all openings in a home except for one door, where a powerful fan is mounted. The fan depressurizes the home to create a controlled pressure difference between the inside and outside.
This process helps identify where air is leaking through the building envelope—such as around windows, doors, or attics. Using specialized equipment, inspectors measure the amount of air leakage and calculate the Air Changes per Hour (ACH). A lower ACH means your home is more energy-efficient, airtight, and comfortable—important for New Orleans homeowners who face high humidity and energy costs.
What Is Air Duct Testing?
While Blower Door Testing in New Orleans measures overall home air leakage, air duct testing focuses on leaks within your ductwork system. A device called a Duct Blaster pressurizes the duct system, allowing technicians to measure how much air escapes through cracks or loose connections.
The results are compared to industry efficiency standards to determine how well your duct system performs. Identifying and sealing duct leaks can greatly improve indoor comfort, air quality, and HVAC efficiency—especially in humid climates like New Orleans.
Benefits of Blower Door and Air Duct Testing
Reduced energy costs: By identifying and sealing air leaks, you can improve the efficiency of your HVAC system, lower your energy bills, and save money on heating and cooling costs.
Enhanced home comfort: A tightly sealed duct system ensures that conditioned air is delivered evenly throughout your home, eliminating hot and cold spots and improving overall comfort levels.
Improved indoor air quality: Leaky ductwork can allow dust, pollen, and other contaminants to enter your home, affecting indoor air quality and potentially triggering respiratory issues. Sealing leaks helps prevent these contaminants from circulating through your HVAC system.
Extended HVAC system lifespan: By reducing the strain on your HVAC system, you can prolong its lifespan and minimize the risk of breakdowns.
Choosing a Qualified Contractor
For accurate and reliable blower door and air duct testing, it is crucial to choose a qualified and experienced contractor. Knockout Inspections employees are certified by the Building Performance Institute (BPI). We have the necessary equipment and expertise to conduct thorough testing and provide you with detailed reports.
Why Pressure Testing Matters
About New Orleans, LA
Located along the Mississippi River, New Orleans, Louisiana, is a city rich in culture, history, and architectural charm. Known for its vibrant neighborhoods, Creole cuisine, and world-famous festivals like Mardi Gras and Jazz Fest, New Orleans offers residents a unique blend of tradition and modern living.
However, the city’s warm, humid climate makes maintaining a comfortable and energy-efficient home a year-round challenge. High humidity and seasonal storms can lead to air leaks, higher energy bills, and poor indoor air quality if a home isn’t properly sealed. That’s why Blower Door Testing in New Orleans is so valuable. It helps homeowners identify air leakage, improve energy efficiency, and create healthier indoor environments.
Whether you live in a historic home in the French Quarter, a modern build in Lakeview, or a family home in Metairie, blower door testing ensures your property performs at its best in New Orleans’ unique climate.
PRESSURE TESTING FAQs
A Blower Door is a machine used to measure the airtightness of buildings. It can also be used to measure the airflow between building zones to test ductwork airtightness and to help physically locate air leakage sites in the building envelope.
1. The 2015 IECC has several new requirements for verification of air sealing in new construction and additions. These new requirements apply to new construction, additions, and alterations where adopted by states and local jurisdictions. www.energycodes.gov/states/
2. This is also a tool to effectively assess the air leakage in existing homes that were built prior to these requirement. By doing so, you can identify where the air leakage/infiltration is occurring and be remedied to save energy in your home.
A duct leakage tester is a diagnostic tool designed to measure the airtightness of forced air heating, ventilating and air-conditioning ductwork. A duct leakage tester consists of a calibrated fan for measuring an air flow rate and a pressure sensing device to measure the pressure created by the fan flow.
1. In new construction, we test duct work to make sure it meets that area’s requirements for the Energy Code; this is measured in CFM (cubic feet per minute) per 100 sqft (square feet).
2. A duct system is an extremely important component of a home’s HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning) system meant to transfer conditioned (heated or cooled) air to various rooms. If it is leaking and not properly sealed, you are paying to heat and cool unconditioned parts of your home…and you may be sacrificing comfort at the same time. Stay comfortable and save money with duct pressure testing and a properly sealed duct system.
According to the 2015 IECC the air tightness of a newly constructed home in Zone 2 is required to have less than or equal to 5 ACH’s. (Air Changes per Hour). The duct leakage allowed is less than or equal to 4 CFM (cubic feet per minute) / 100 sqft.