Blower door testing in Halifax

Halifax gets about 3,870 heating degree-days a year, a measure of how much heating its climate needs, and its winter design temperature, the cold day heating systems are sized for, is −15.9°C. Those figures come from the climate data for Shearwater in HOT2000, the home-energy software Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) gives energy advisors. That's right around the middle of the 70 cities we cover. A moderate heating season with warm summers: fixes should cut heating bills and keep the house cool.

Halifax also gets hot spells and heat waves, so plan how the house will stay cool: air sealing, attic insulation and shading help, and a heat pump adds efficient cooling. Wildfire smoke reaches Halifax in some summers. The Government of Canada's advice is to keep windows and doors closed, limit exhaust fans and use the best filter your system can handle, so ask the advisor what your furnace or HRV can take.

Of Halifax's 121,700 houses (single-detached, semi-detached, row houses and duplexes), 22% were built before 1961 and 63% before 1991, according to the 2021 Census. Older houses usually test leakier than newer ones, and an EnerGuide report compares your result with homes of the same era, so you can see whether your house is typical or a problem.

• Combustion safety. In the Halifax area, the main heating energy is oil for 23% of households. A tighter house changes how fuel-burning appliances vent, so the spillage check should be repeated after serious air sealing. Combustion safety testing in Halifax
• Radon. Sealing shifts the pressure balance between the house and the soil. Health Canada's 2012 survey found 13.6% of 103 homes tested in the Zone 6 health region above the guideline. The larger 2024 Cross-Canada survey reports 38.7% (1 in 3) of houses at or above the guideline for the Halifax, NS (Halifax CMA) metro area. Test before and after big air-sealing jobs. Radon testing in Halifax

A blower door test is part of every EnerGuide evaluation rather than a separate purchase. Efficiency Nova Scotia's Home Energy Assessment program charges a $199 program fee, waived for households under its income threshold, and covers the initial and final assessments. Moderate Income Rebate participants who paid up front get the $199 back when their rebates are issued.

• A calibrated fan is fitted into an exterior door and pulls air out until the house is at 50 pascals, the standard test pressure.
• The result is air changes per hour at 50 Pa (ACH50): how many times an hour the whole volume of air would leak out and be replaced at that pressure.
• While the fan runs, you and the advisor walk the house and feel for leaks at the attic hatch, rim joists, pot lights, trim and plumbing and wiring penetrations.
• A second test after the work shows what changed, and it is what most rebates pay on.

The blower door test in detail.