Airtightness Testing in Mount Merrion
Blower-door testing that measures how much heat your home leaks through gaps, and shows exactly where. Covering Mount Merrion, UCD, Stillorgan and the surrounding area.
Airtightness Testing for Mount Merrion homes
Mount Merrion's 1950s and 1960s semis share their construction, so test results are fairly predictable: leakage through the original suspended or part-suspended ground floor, the attic hatch, chimney breasts and the stair wall. Because so many houses here are the same type, we have a good idea of where to look, but each house has its own history of rewiring and refits that opens new gaps. A test turns that into a specific list for your home.
How homes in Mount Merrion lose heat
Because the estate was built to a small number of house types, the same weaknesses come up again and again: walls that may be early cavity or solid block depending on the phase, attic insulation from a later top-up that has settled, uninsulated floors and draughty original hatches. Ratings are typically D1 to E1.
Typical housing: 1950s and 1960s estate housing on consistent layouts, mostly semi-detached, with generous gardens.
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 Mount Merrion: questions
Do you carry out airtightness testing in Mount Merrion?
Yes. We cover Mount Merrion and the surrounding Dublin area, including Mount Merrion, UCD, Stillorgan. 1950s and 1960s estate housing on consistent layouts, mostly semi-detached, with generous gardens.
Is there a grant for airtightness testing in Mount Merrion?
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 Mount Merrion.
We cover Mount Merrion and the surrounding area. Tell us about your home and we will arrange a visit, usually within a week.