Behind the Scenes at the Blower Door Factory: Fan and Manometer Calibration

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cu2m0GP6v38

Peek behind the curtain at Retrotec, into the calibration process for new and old blower doors and duct testing fans. Thanks to Alex Peelle and Jay Edmonds for the technical tour.

More about these systems at: https://retrotec.com

Get trained and certified on blower doors and duct testing in 1 day with me: https://buildingperformanceworkshop.com/det-verifier

Become a member, support our work, and get behind the scenes access: https://Patreon.com/HomeDiagnosisTV

Watch the first-ever TV series about the science of homes: https://HomeDiagnosis.tv

How Air Pressure Can Screw Up Your Home: the House of Pressure

Take a tour of the dynamics of home pressure with Jake Nuckolls at the Building Performance Center in Bellingham, WA. This training tool has made the invisible visible for thousands of home performance professionals, and we thought everybody else should get to see it in action too!

Thanks to Jake and the BPC- check them out at: https://buildingperformancecenter.org/

Become a member and help support our work exploring the science of homes: https://Patreon.com/HomeDiagnosisTV

Watch the first ever TV series about the science of homes: https://HomeDiagnosis.tv

Building an Affordable Airtight Home: Sheathing Sealed (Will It Work?)

We got called in to test this before/after on one of Matt Hoots’ projects at Sawhorse in Atlanta (https://sawhorse.net/). It was an interesting blower door test series with some surprising results. Also featuring Tommy Sharp, co-inventor of ThermaCote (https://thermacote.com/). More details on Matt’s channel: https://youtube.com/c/SawHorseDesignBuild Join and help generate more education around the science of homes: https://Patreon.com/HomeDiagnosisTV

Fire Resistant Homes: Testing Vulcan, Silica, and Baffled Intumescent Vents

We found these vents at the International Builders' Show, and were excited to test their performance (partly so that Grace could use her flamethrower). We test the three main types of fire-resistant venting for homes: an intumescent honeycomb vent, a silica vent, and an intumescent baffled vent.

Airflow testing was performed with an airtight box made of plywood and acrylic, using a DU300 fan and DM-32 and DG-8 digital pressure gauges. For the fire, we used a propane weed torch you can get at any hardware store. The chart of our airflow testing shows the square inches of opening inside the metal frames, the airflows, and the pressure drops of all three vents.

For the 'Net Free Vent Area' (NFVA), visit the manufacturers' websites. Brand names of these three vents are Vulcan Vents, Embers Out, and Brandguard. For more on the vents that performed best: https://VulcanVents.com

Watch the first-ever TV series about the science of homes: https://HomeDiagnosis.tv

Static Pressure Testing for Home HVAC: What, Why, and How in 2 Minutes

If the ductwork of an HVAC system is not designed, installed, and maintained properly, your home may start to have problems in comfort, humidity control, dust, noise, and equipment failure. Here's the basics you should understand before asking your HVAC installer or service tech to run static pressure testing. From 'Home Diagnosis' episode 209- watch the whole episode: https://homediagnosis.tv/episode-209-opening-the-ice-box-cooling-and-drying

Join our Patreon membership and get behind the scenes with us making the next season of the show! https://Patreon.com/HomeDiagnosisTV

Tools used are Retrotec DM-32 gauge and Minneapolis 300 blower door, available at: https://TruTechTools.com

Duct Leakage Test: Pass or Fail?

When you build a duct system, if you want it to work correctly you run a tightness test. See how Corbett did on his home’s first of 5 duct systems for different purposes. Using a Retrotec Duc Tester 300 with DM-32 manometer, available at: https://trutechtools.com

Watch the whole episode, and the whole season: https://HomeDiagnosis.tv

How to Use Infrared Cameras (in Under 3 Minutes): Tutorial from 'Home Diagnosis' TV season 2

OBVIOUSLY there's more to it than this, but if you're picking up an IR thermal camera or hiring someone to do it for you to test your home, you need to understand these basics.

We get all our tools (and hope you do too) from the amazing folks at: https://www.trutechtools.com/thermal-imager.html

Watch the first-ever TV series on home performance testing: https://HomeDiagnosis.tv

Join our team and help steer our work! https://Patreon.com/HomeDiagnosisTV

Best of 2022 Nat'l Home Performance Conference

We were deep into this year's National Home Performance Conference in Nashville, and in addition to giving classes on ventilation, advanced testing, and a screening of 'Home Diagnosis', we checked out what's cool and new on the trade show floor. Here are our favorites:

Broan Ventilation Components: https://Broan.com

Rockwool Insulation: https://rockwool.com

AirCycler Ventilation Controls and Sensors: https://aircycler.com

Retrotec Instruments: https://retrotec.com

TruTech Tools: https://trutechtools.com

TEC Instruments: https://energyconservatory.com

Check out 'Home Diagnosis' and the other incredible companies who are investing in educating the public on building science: https://homediagnosis.tv/season-3

6 Case Studies for Crafting Modular Ventilation Systems: Radon, Filtration, ERV, Make Up Air, & Dehumidifiers

Not only do we usually misunderstand the causes of problems in our homes, we often miss the mark in our attempts to fix them. #Ventilation is not a piece of cake, but it’s certainly not brain surgery.

Learn the hows and whys behind six specific, unique situations where air quality was an issue for families. Thanks to @aprilaireco for teaming up with us on this!

Watch the first-ever TV series about the science of homes at: https://HomeDiagnosis.tv

Consult or Train with Corbett at: http://BuildingPerformanceWorkshop.com

Check out Aprilaire modular ventilation components at: http://Aprilaire.com

Builder Show Best and Worst: IBS 2022 Healthy Home Highlights

LOTS going on in the air quality space during this show (and not just the sky high CO2 or the combustion gases)- from new sophisticated controls for ventilation, components and plans to protect against disasters like wildfire, earthquake, and tornadoes, to more evolved HVAC systems and the overall direction of builders for the mainstream.

Learn more about the science of homes at: https://HomeDiagnosis.tv

Train or consult with us at: https://BuildingPerformanceWorkshop.com

AHR EXPO 2022: Tour and Testing the Ventilation at the Biggest HVAC Tradeshow in the US

Lots to see at this HVAC trade conference, here are my favorite pertinent bits to what we're seeing evolve within heating, cooling, ventilation, and testing.

When HGTV Starts Copying 'Home Diagnosis'...

Children Building Homes for No Pay on National Television: Science of Homes for Cable Networks

We shot a pilot episode for the Shark Week version of our show on PBS, and we think this could win awards. Not for science though. For slapstick. Are there awards for that?

Our children ‘design’ and ‘build’ a ‘high performance home’ that we then ‘test’ with ‘scientific diagnostics’ so that we can ‘educate the public’. Including ‘HVAC diagnostics’, ‘comfort analysis’, ‘pressure balancing’, infrared thermal photography, and a ‘blower door test’ that does not bode well.