Below you can see clearly where the hot air in summer and cold air in winter gets inside this tree house. The window is wide open to the environment and one can almost see the cracks between the wooden planks. The homes we live in aren't quite so obvious in revealing how air that we pay to heat escapes through cracks and holes that we can't quite see but when these apertures are added up by volume it's surprising how large a "hole" is created. Reducing air leakage is usually the most cost-effective measure a home owner can undertake. The leakier the home, the greater the energy savings when the leaks are stopped. It's not unusual for air leakage to account for 35% of the heat loss in a home.
When an energy auditor/advisor comes to your home, one of the tasks performed is a blower door test. A variable-speed fan is mounted on an adjustable panel that fits into any exterior door opening. When the fan is turned on, the pressure inside your home is gradually reduced to allow outside air to flow into the house through unsealed openings or cracks in the house's structure. Pressure gauges connected to the fan measure the rate of air flow reaured to keep your home at a constant pressure so that the energy auditor/advisor can calculate your home's resistance to air infiltration. The results are incorporated into your home's energy efficiency rating.
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