Tiny House Blower Door Test: #TinyLab Test Series #1

Watch as Corbett and Grace test their airsealing work on the Tiny Lab with a Retrotec blower door! They fire up the new Model 5000 fan and find that the house has approximately 160 CFM@50 of air leakage, which is 4.7 ACH50 and 0.14 CFM per sq. ft. of enclosure surface area- and that's with stupid tarps over the window holes! We're going to test again when the windows are in.

Thanks to Julie Tolliver of Energy Fitness for Homes for the idea, to Retrotec for making awesome equipment, to 475 High Performance Building Supply for supplying America with awesome airsealing kits, and to Hewlett-Packard for creating awesome video editing stations that we work on every day.

KEYNOTE: Thermal Imaging Conference Sept 18-21

Corbett is PUMPED to be keynoting the 2016 Thermal Imaging Conference in San Diego this September- join us and the Tiny Lab as we make it one of the most important events on the Proof Is Possible Tour! 
For more info and to register for the conference visit:
http://www.thermalimagingconference.com/

Infinite Toolbox: OCT 2015 Building Forensics Mastermind Webinar

Join Corbett as he shows off the advanced building performance testing and data gleaned from the past month's projects.  This month, focus on simple, inexpensive tools that can help get your brain in shape to master building performance- HOBO dataloggers, theodolite photo app and roomscan app, and a great graphical weather forecaster.
Be sure to SUBSCRIBE! http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=greendreamgroup

Field Check a Flow Hood Using a Duct Leakage Test Fan

Learn to quickly and easily check the accuracy of a flow hood (in this case, a TSI AccuBalance) using a duct tightness testing fan (in this case, a Retrotec DucTester 200). If your diagnostic equipment isn't giving you accurate readings, no amount of experience will save you!

How to Test a Kitchen Exhaust Hood

Let's do building diagnostics! Watch me demonstrate the commissioning of a kitchen exhaust fan in a big new apartment building. Just because the label says it sucks air doesn't make it so. Proof Is Possible- ask for it. Using a Testo 417 large vane anemometer.

The Blower Door Bucket

Sounds like a caveman tool, but it's actually the height of technology. I think this might be my favorite futuristic development of the 21st century so far. Take that, Apple!

Basically, when you're testing the air tightness of new construction multifamily buildings, you'll be moving fast and light (ideally), and getting your testing tools very, very dirty. It's a construction site. So why not rig up a toolkit that fits the purpose? Like a bucket, for example?

Corbett's Toolkit: Anemometer & Flow Hood

Performance testing guru Corbett Lunsford shows you how to find the grille K-factor for every supply register in the house, by using a CFM measuring device like a passive flow hood on just one. Learn to use a $500 large vane anemometer to the fullest by pairing it with a bigger, more expensive instrument selectively.
Tools shown are Testo 417 large vane anemometer and TSI residential flow hood.

Coolest Infrared Video Ever Made!

Seriously, I challenge the world to throw down another video that uses infrared thermography that's slicker than this one!  Any guesses on how we created it?  HINT: You have to know a bit about thermal cameras to think through this technically.

Which Infrared Thermal Camera Should I Buy?

Hi Corbett,
Besides being fun and cool, can the Flir ONE infrared camera be helpful in assessing wall cavity insulation, attic insulation consistency or detect air leakage in a home, with or without the aid of a blower door? I'm a general contractor and I'd like to get an inexpensive IR camera- what are your thoughts on this matter?
thanks so much,
Matt

Hey there Matt-
Thanks for writing! The short answer is a big fat NO- any pocket infrared camera has very low resolution, and while they're great at demonstrating the simple fact of heat fluctuations, I wouldn’t trust it for QC and inspection of homes. The resolution on a Flir ONE is 80 x 60- that means, incredibly, there are 5,400 infrared thermometers embedded in it, but that's not enough to give you a clear, colorful picture most of the time. See here, in these three images taken of a big bunch of flowers, using the Flir ONE, a Fluke TiR110, and a Testo 885.

Flir ONE flowers: 80 x 60

Fluke TiR110 flowers: 160 x 120

Testo 885 flowers: 320 x 240

While the Flir ONE's 5,400 sensors (80 x 60) are assisted for clarity by combining with the visual camera's outlines, you can see that the Fluke TiR110's 19,200 sensors (160 x 120) mean four times as much resolution!  And the winner here is the Testo 885's 76,800 sensors (320 x 240), which give your eyes the clearest picture yet- that means this >$10,000 camcorder-style infrared camera has almost 15 times as many sensors as the Flir ONE. That being said, bang-for-the-buck-wise, I got my ONE for $250, 1/40th the price of the big mother.  That's a good deal.

I carry the Flir ONE in my pocket, where it stays connected to my iPhone 24/7 so I can shoot infrared photos of whatever is cool on a daily basis. The Fluke TiR110 I take on all my building forensics jobs.  And the Testo 885 I'm using to shoot a high-def video in infrared.  Each has its own special uses.

Here's another example of the resolution and 'color pop' difference when you're choosing an infrared camera: the wire shelves in my oven...

Flir ONE oven: 80 x 60

Fluke TiR110 oven: 160 x 120

Testo 885 oven: 320 x 240

The wire supports are almost completely invisible in the Flir ONE's 80 x 60 resolution, even WITH the added outlines from the visual camera. You get more resolution and snap in the other two cameras, again with an obvious winner in the 320 x 240 resolution. And by the way, anytime you use the infrared camera for home performance testing, you should DEFINITELY always use a blower door to reveal the air leakage- otherwise, you're at the whim of stack effect, wind, and HVAC pressurizations.

I hope this helps with your decision- being a building performance analysis ninja means having the right equipment, and there's probably a reason why the nice tools don't get carried around with you everywhere (hint: $10,000)- that's why it's nice to have a range, if you can swing it!

To find out more about how to use infrared to understand home performance, watch this:

PODCAST #66 RIGHT TOOL FOR THE JOB: Spohn & Bergmann on the Evolution of Test Equipment

Today Corbett talks with Bill Spohn of TruTech Tools and James Bergmann of Stride Tool about where testing tools have been, where they're going, and how contractors are using them to prove they kick the competition's butts. This special episode is from the 2014 Fall Fast Track- learn more at HomePerformance.training

To download this episode or hear more, subscribe in iTunes or visit BuildingPerformancePodcast.com

When Performance Testing Goes Weird: BUILDING FORENSICS MASTERMIND APRIL 2015

Are you sure your home performance diagnostics are giving you accurate information? Join building forensics guru Corbett Lunsford in slapping foreheads when things don’t turn out quite as we expect in a number of home improvement projects in Chicago.

PODCAST #55 AIR LEAKAGE LOVE AFFAIR: Colin Genge on All Things Blower Door and Duct Testing

Today we talk with Colin Genge, founder and CEO of Retrotec, about the history of air leakage testing, how the tests really work (and what they doesn't actually test), and using home performance diagnostic techniques for playing competitive poker.

To download this episode or hear more, subscribe in iTunes or visit BuildingPerformancePodcast.com