I use a blower door and an infrared thermal imaging camera during home energy audits throughout the Portland, OR and Vancouver, WA area. The use of the thermal camera allows me and you to “see” air loss. The use of the blower door depressurizes or pressurizes your home allowing me to analyze how “leaky” it is, with this data I can calculate how much you may save performing an air seal up. Without the blower door test it would be just a guess. The blower door resembles a heavy wind blowing over your home making the air leaks “POP” out to be seen with the Infrared camera.
Some of the most common areas you can do yourself is to seal around your window trims. Take a look at how well sealed your windows are to the window sills, how well the sills are sealed to the trims, and how well the trims are sealed to the wall. Take a good look at where the walls meet the ceiling, are there small separations? Next time you paint a room caulk the wall to the ceiling, you would be amazed at how much these small cracks leak. On a slightly windy day feel the interior door plates and phone/data plugs.
These are just a few locations of common air leaks I see during a home energy audit, they leak all the time you just never know it. For a complete list of what you can do and how much you will save give me a call.
James Fronsdahl – Associated Inspection Firm, Inc. MY GOAL: Is to provide complete inspection services to give every buyer peace of mind with their purchase or investment. To help current home owners save money, increase comfort, and add value to their homes by reducing their energy consumption. We perform Full Home Inspections, Commercial Building Inspections, Infrared Thermal Imaging, Radon Testing, and Home Energy Audits throughout all of the Portland Vancouver Metro area. Check us out on the web @ www.portlandorhomeinspection.com or give me a call Portland, OR (503) 774-1916 Vancouver, WA (360) 772-3336.
Do you get smoke that rolls out of your fireplace when you first start it? I found this article by the Chimney Safety Institute of America, it was quite interesting. I had to retrain myself on how to build a fire. What they say makes sense and actually worked. Start with the large logs on the bottom and smaller ones as it goes up with the kindling on the top. The fire once started will be closer to the flue with less chance of smoke rolling out, it also heats up the flue quicker which allows for better draft, faster. The smaller wood will catch the larger pieces of wood under it on fire as it burns.
Almost all of the clients I perform an energy audit for had no idea their exterior door threshold was adjustable. Most have approximately 5 screws, they usually have decorative caps that allow the doors threshold to adjust up or down against the doors lower weather stripping. Go check your front door to see if there is light under it, if so adjust the threshold by removing the decorative caps. Then turn the screws counter clockwise to raise the threshold. Start by only turning the screws 1/4 turn at a time. continue to do this until there is no more gap. Keep in mind that over tightening the threshold can prematurely wear out the lower weather stripping.
Clothes dryers can cause all kinds of damage to your home. Generally it’s the lack of maintenance that is culprit. Dryers cause an average of 15,000 fires, 20 deaths, 300 injuries and Millions of dollars in property damage every year. 
After finishing the home inspection on a beautiful home in Tigard Oregon I began to perform an infrared thermal scan. This allows me to “see” issues that are not visual. When scanning the walls in the foyer I noticed a hot dimmer switch, dimmer switches are known to run warmer than most switches due to their design. During the home inspection I operated the switch and didn’t feel anything out of the normal, although the switch was off when I show up. When I got closer the surface of the wall plate above the switch was 187 degrees, enough to burn. Switches this warm can cause the insulation on the electrical wires within the junction box to deteriorate over time. The cause of the issue is the 300 watt dimmer was undersized for the updated chandelier that was designed for a 600 watt switch. When replacing your light fixture be sure to check the switch to make sure it is rated for the new fixture.