Get the facts. The Infiltrometer IAQ test pinpoints air quality problems in your home that can affect you or your family's health, as well as their comfort and safety. Hardin, your HVAC professional, places a computerized infiltrometer IAQ monitor in your home for a few days where it measures temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and airborne particles in one-minute cycles. Then once a day it transmits the data via the phone line to AirAdvice® for analysis.
Information you can understand and use. The Infiltrometer uses the data to generate personalized reports about your home's indoor air quality. You'll receive a seven to nine page report, which contains large, easy-to-read graphs that make it easy to see how pollutant levels changed over the duration of the test. This information can help to determine the source of the problem. The report also suggests ways to solve your air quality problems. Using the report, you and Hardin Heating & Cooling can work together to select the best solution. View an example report. For more information on the AirAdvice® monitor, visit http://www.airadvice.com.

A whole house comfort checkup is a thorough evaluation of your home's comfort system.

During your Whole House Comfort Checkup, you will learn how to:

Achieve even, comfortable temperatures throughout your home.

Maintain healthy, comfortable humidity levels year-round.

Reduce dust, system noise, and repair bills.

Save money on your utility bills (between 10% - 15%)

A specially-trained ENVIROtech professional will use advanced diagnostic instruments and testing procedures to identify problems that affect your indoor living environment. We will then provide you with a personalized plan to solve these problems, permanently.

Step 1: Your checkup starts with an initial interview with an ENVIROtech professional. Your input provides valuable information, such as whether any rooms feel clammy when the air conditioner is running, or if any parts of the house need to be dusted more often than others. We encourage all the adults in your home to participate in this initial consultation since everyone's perception of comfort and indoor air quality is unique.

Step 2: The inspection begins with your heating and cooling equipment. Is it efficient, dependable, and safe? We'll visually inspect your equipment for any signs of deterioration, improper installation, and or insufficient maintenance. We'll inform you of the average life span of your type of equipment and evaluate your system's air filtration and purification efficiency to determine if improvements would better clean your indoor air.

Step 3: Even the best heating and cooling system will have trouble keeping you comfortable or will cost more to run if you don't have enough insulation. We'll visually inspect insulation levels throughout your home and determine if they meet currently recommended levels. More importantly look for hidden defects such as hollow wall cavitites that allow air and heat to bypass your insulation. Attic ventilation levels will also be checked.

Step 4: All houses have some air leakage. Symptoms of excessive leakage include uneven temperatures throughout the house, wasted energy, excessive dust, cold drafts, dry air in winter, and clammy air in summer. On the other hand, some homes are too airtight and may have unhealthy indoor air. To measure a home's air tightness, Department of Energy scientists at Princeton University invented the blower door instrument. Using an Infiltrometer™ (a computerized blower door system) your ENVIROtech professional will evaluate how leaky or airtight your entire home is, and where improvements can be made.

Step 5: Not all air leaks are created equal. From an air quality standpoint, those around your windows and doors are good leaks, since they let in fresh outdoor air. Bad leaks let in dusty, moldy, or polluted air from your attic, garage, or crawl space. Leaky air ducts often bring in dirty air, and cause your heating and cooling equipment to perform well below peak efficiency. As part of the Infiltrometer™ blower door test, your consultant will pinpoint where your home's worse air leaks are, and where improvements can be made.

Step 6: If your air duct system has hidden design flaws or blockages, your air flow will be restricted or unevenly distributed. This wastes your money and can make your home uncomfortable. Studies conducted for electric utilities nationwide show that over 66% of heat pumps and air conditioners suffer from this problem. Your ENVIROtech professional will conduct "static pressure" tests - like a blood pressure check for your ducts - to reveal any hidden blockages or design problems.

Step 7: Do you have rooms that are hard to heat or cool? There are economical solutions. Your consultant will use an air flow capture hood to measure precisely how much conditioned air is getting to those rooms (provided the supply vents are accessible). If air flow is low, the causes will be determined, and appropriate solutions will be prescribed.

Step 8: Once the inspection and testing are complete, we will explain the results, and give you a prioritized plan of recommended improvements. Many such as adding insulation or weather-stripping can be performed by homeowners as weekend projects. Other improvements may require professionals. Upon request, we will prepare a proposal for repairs and we can recommend other contractors for services we do not offer.