Airtightness Testing in Malahide
Blower-door testing that measures how much heat your home leaks through gaps, and shows exactly where. Covering Malahide village, Malahide marina, Robswall and the surrounding area.
Airtightness Testing for Malahide homes
Malahide's two housing stocks need different tests. Period homes by the village and seafront leak through sashes, floors and chimneys, with the estuary wind making it noticeable. The 1990s and 2000s estates through Robswall and Yellow Walls are tighter but commonly lose air through recessed downlights, unsealed attic hatches, and gaps around pipework under baths and kitchen sinks. Those homes are often close to heat pump ready, and an airtightness result is a useful step in confirming it.
How homes in Malahide lose heat
The period and pre-war homes lose heat through solid walls, suspended floors and sash windows, and the seafront ones are exposed to wind off the estuary. The 1990s and 2000s estates were built with partial-fill cavities and modest attic insulation; they usually rate C and respond well to attic top-ups, cavity checks and airtightness work.
Typical housing: Period stock around the village and marina, pre-war seafront semis, and 1990s and 2000s estate housing inland through Robswall and Yellow Walls.
How airtightness testing works
An airtightness test pressurises or depressurises your home with a calibrated blower-door fan fitted into an external doorway. By measuring how much air the fan has to move to hold the pressure difference, we can put a number on how leaky the house is, expressed as air changes per hour or cubic metres per hour per square metre of envelope.
Airtightness Testing in Malahide: questions
Do you carry out airtightness testing in Malahide?
Yes. We cover Malahide and the surrounding Dublin area, including Malahide village, Malahide marina, Robswall. Period stock around the village and marina, pre-war seafront semis, and 1990s and 2000s estate housing inland through Robswall and Yellow Walls.
Is there a grant for airtightness testing in Malahide?
Airtightness work carries a €1,000 SEAI grant when it is part of a home upgrade through an SEAI One Stop Shop. We can advise whether that route suits your project. Grant amounts are set nationally by SEAI and change from time to time, so check seai.ie before applying. We confirm what your home is likely to qualify for during the survey.
What does an airtightness test involve?
A calibrated fan is fitted into an external door frame and used to pressurise or depressurise the house. The fan measures how much air is needed to hold the pressure, which gives the leakage rate. We then trace where the air is getting in with smoke and, where useful, a thermal camera.
Do I need to prepare my home?
Close external windows and doors, leave internal doors open, and make sure we can reach the attic hatch. Fires and stoves need to be out and cold. Allow two to three hours for a typical house.
Can a house be too airtight?
A house can be airtight without being stuffy, as long as ventilation is planned. Airtightness controls uncontrolled draughts; ventilation then supplies fresh air where and when it is needed. We advise on ventilation whenever a test shows the house is getting tighter.
Is an airtightness test needed for a heat pump?
Heat pumps work best in well-sealed, well-insulated homes, and many retrofit projects measure airtightness before and after the works. A test tells you whether draught-proofing is needed before a heat pump goes in.
Book a free survey in Malahide.
We cover Malahide and the surrounding area. Tell us about your home and we will arrange a visit, usually within a week.