Can anyone figure out whats going on here?
Ceiling, walls or blinds?
Exactly :shock:
Beat me to it!
Yep! Pest…
No, I’ll give you a hint.
House is under de-pressurization.
PS. We don’t have much in the way of bugs up my way.
Is the chandelier part of the equation?
Air leaks near top of window showing cold air going across inside of blinds.
No but I usually include objects like that in my images, any idea why?
John that’s the obvious observation, what’s really going on though.
My friend BA fron TX sent me a PM and he nailed it !!
Let my reflect on it for awhile.
Screws are missing from the replacement windows allowing for air to be pulled in.
Good source of air leakage.
Ha ha
That reminded me of the awesome sci-fi movie!
Loved it.
So here’s the answer, thanks for your input, I know alot of guys hate guessing games which is pretty much what it this is with limited information.
As I said, Barry nailed it in a PM to me. John M was close but it was obvious it was air infiltration around a window. Ken R was damn close but these aren’t replacement windows, but a great observation.
This home, over 9K sqr ft, was built in the 1800s and went through a 2 1/2 year restoration and the owners complained of not being comfortable. The general contractor brought us in to use a blower door and TI to find areas of air infiltration and boy did we.
Didn’t need a blower door or TI for this as all the original windows are still in place and will remain so for the originality of the home. Most of the weight pockets are empty and the pulleys have been removed. In the image I posted you can see the path of cold air coming out of the weight pockets, where the pulleys were, which have cooled the wood blinds. Using the blower door was like having a fan installed inside the window jamb, just pulling cold air in from outside. You can also see the air infiltration across the ceiling, we were unable to determine the cause as there’s a wrap around porch with a roof, there’s some thermal bypass of the building envelope which will need further evaluation, which will require some shingle removal to access the porch roof.
As far as adding the chandelier to the image. This is something I learned from Scot Woods when I took his building science class in 2007 at Flir, also met Dave Anderson at this class and I’m always amazed at how far he has come with TI and his knowledge. So Scott told us to use objects in the room to help us focus on a target, sometimes when your working under difficult conditions this object may be your only reference point. Over the years I’ve also found it helps my clients understand the image better, what room we are in and it gives the image some depths.
Here are some digital images, this was a very cool house and the restoration was beautifully done, except for some much needed air sealing.
Also, I hope more will post images like this in the future. I think it’s a great exercise no matter what the image is of.
I also just finished my level II at Flir’s headquarters and man the stuff we’ll be doing in the next five years is mind boggling. And, there is a great market for TI if your properly trained and have a decent camera, here’s a few of the jobs I’ve been asked to bid on so far this year.
Firewood business that kiln dries it firewood. Insurance company mandate.
Sawmill, electrical survey of panels and motors. Insurance company mandate.
Town offices in a small VT town including the post office. Pre-insulation evaluation.
Electrical panel scans in two apartment buildings for HUD refinance, actually completed this one and made 1K for scanning 10 (100 amp) panels, was home by 2PM.
Hospital in VT, 23 electrical panels, 9transformers, 14 enclosed switches, 1 generator.
Monday we are doing a full home inspection with TI, including blower door, for a brand new energy star rated modular.
Peter
Great image and thanks for posting, this is great mind work. I hope others will post as well.
I thought about the air going through the ceiling, and should have said something and thought about it in my first post but then got focused on the window.
But here is a thought as I see it here on older homes. This being an older home it is most likely a balloon frame and the floor joists sit on a rib band so that floor is open to the wall cavity. Correct me if I am wrong.
Thanks again.
You are correct, our recommendation included spray foam along the perimeter foundation walls, injection foam around the window jambs and some sort of air barrier under the porch roof, yet to be determined.
Check out this image of the floors. Note the corner of the bed and table 
The second floor joist bays always seems to be forgotten on these older homes when insulated.
On the 1st floor when I would have a wall opened up I would put a block in between the studs on the floor of the 1st floor level and seal / caulk it as the wood floors often go into the wall cavity.
That’s a beautiful home from just the few shots.
Thanks again.
Great learning experience.