Hi everyone greetings from England
Can I ask how many of you inspectors are performing home energy audits and using blower doors?
Here in the UK I am struggling to find anywhere that supplied blower doors or equipment and I’m trying to work out how and if I can perform home energy audits without one.
Any advice or comments welcome please.
I see a lot of them for sale Jon. Either some do not know how to market or there is not a market, yet. I know more and more counties are requiring a blower door test to get a certificate of occupancy.
Oh, and, welcome to our forum from England!..Enjoy! 
In my experience and research (from the Pacific Northwest) the companies providing energy audits including blower door tests typically also perform the energy efficiency upgrades as well.
I do not typically see it accompanied with an inspection, or performed by a home inspection company.
Doesn’t mean you can’t though!
Good luck man
You know this is something that I’d love to get in to but there’s remodeling and home building companies that do these for free in my area (Alaska) as part of an energy upgrade. It sucks.
The cost of equipment, marketing and time, we’d have to charge a good amount per audit anyways.
I’ve seen some inspectors in the states though that include them in their inspections and just include that in their price per inspection. So instead of a $400 inspection they charge $550+. That’s probably how I would do it.
Unfortunately not many for sale over here, i just can’t seem to track one down.
Here in England we can offer a hone energy audit as a stand alone inspection with recommendations, definitely a market but I can’t find the equipment
Are there restrictions on shipping overseas on something like that?? More than a few places here in the States that make them
No restrictions I can think of, I just can’t seem to find any websites other than retrotec and tec to compare pricing etc.
Retrotec is the top of the line. I used it for a couple of years (2010 and 2011) and sold it for more than I paid for it. As far as doing an energy audit without a blower door … if you are not able to accurately measure the air exchange rate before and after your recommended improvements, your audit is of little value. Spend the money but don’t be afraid to charge a decent price and you’ll get your investment back quite quickly.
There are always blower doors on eBay. Might be worth contacting some sellers and see if they would ship overseas.
Thank you James, that’s where my thinking is right now, I appreciate your reply
That’s definitely the way forward from what I am seeing, it will be worth the shipping costs to get the right equipment.
Morning, John.
Hope this post finds you well.
England> Blower door test equipment
InterNACHI has software that is easy to use Free Home Energy Report Software based on US statistics as well as other training material that might help.
Fantastic thank you,
I have taken the interNACHI courses on energy audits and blower door.
It’s just finding the equipment here now.
Really appreciate your reply.
Happy I could help.
Things you can do.
In your area, within a 100 kilometer radius or wider, ‘look at the competition.’
See how they market, SEO, and target your marketing message.
Look at the equipment they use and what they offer.
Remember “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness.”
Other equipment.
Decent Infrared Thermal Camera. Seeing you are situated in the UK, Testo. Best bang for the buck IMO.
Crossover HVAC inspection equipment. You can use the equipment during home inspections.
Good Hygrometer. You can use the equipment during typical/usual home inspections.
See what it costs to Rent by the Day, Week and Month.
Line up prospective inspections to meet rental needs. Offer a 25 pound discount to get prospective clients lined up for a week of blower door tests.
I remember when many a new home inspectors were targeted by equipment sales manufacturers with blower door purchases. If you were looking at IR the sales pitch for a blower door equipment was not far behind. The spam came every day. InterNACHI member’s lists were used as targets as were new web site addresses.
This is a stand alone inspection.
Charge more!, Give more!, and go make a name for yourself if you feel that fits your business model.
Very physical process. I would not want to be doing blower door energy audits at my age.
Good luck.
Regards.
Robert
Thank you Robert so much for this.
I have a Fluke thermal camera.
Temtop air particle meter,
Precision gold Temp and RH
Tramex moisture meter.
Digitron manometer.
I am slowly building up the equipment list as I go.
I am struggling to find an air sample pump, I liked the one Ben used in the advanced mold course.
The competition luckily at present in the UK is low for blower door testing but the buzz around energy audits and green initiatives is huge so I am trying to catch the wave.
I will take everything you have said on board and do some more research.
Many thanks again
Kind Regards
Job