Section 1000 General Information

SECTION 1000 GENERAL INFORMATION

1010 SUMMARY OF STANDARDS

Zone Leakage Testing

·  Attic leakage - Target of 200 CFM50, total leakage path, testing is recommended but not required, if testing is done it should be documented in WAMS.

·  Attached or tuck-under garage leakage - Target of <200 CFM50, house wrt garage, testing is required, and is to be reported in WAMS.

Carbon Monoxide

Carbon monoxide alarms are required when:

·  Stove top burners are producing 25 - 49 ppm of carbon monoxide.

·  Ovens are producing 100 - 499 ppm of carbon monoxide.

·  A water heater has minimal draft and/or very slight spillage and no carbon monoxide is being produced.

·  A site built home contains a fireplace or wood burning stove.

·  A mobile home contains a fireplace or wood burning stove drawing combustion air from outside.

·  A home has an attached garage or tuck-under garage.

Carbon Monoxide Limits

Table 1 shows testing locations and action levels.

·  Water heaters and heating appliances – 100 ppm.

·  Ovens – 500 ppm.

·  Stove top burners – 50 ppm.

·  Open gas fire places – 25 ppm.

Table 1

Heating Unit Type / Probe Location / Action Level for Carbon Monoxide
Gas-fired open combustion heating equipment / Each heat exchanger port / Up to 100 PPM - may weatherize dwelling
Over 100 PPM - problem must be corrected before weatherizing
Oil-fired open combustion heating equipment / Vent pipe before
barometric damper / Up to 100 PPM - may weatherize dwelling
Over 100 PPM - problem must be corrected before weatherizing
Gas-fired boilers / Vent pipe before
draft diverter / Up to 100 PPM – may weatherize dwelling
Over 100 PPM - problem must be corrected before weatherizing
Sealed combustion unit with PVC / Exhaust vent termination / Up to 100 PPM – may weatherize dwelling
Over 100 PPM - problem must be corrected before weatherizing
Induced draft / Above furnace cabinet / Up to 100 PPM – may weatherize dwelling
Over 100 PPM - problem must be corrected before weatherizing
Open gas fireplaces / Ambient air around fire box / Up to 25 PPM – may weatherize dwelling
Over 25 PPM – problem must be corrected before weatherizing
Water heater / Each side of baffle
of fire tube / Up to 100 PPM – may weatherize dwelling
Over 100 PPM - problem must be corrected before weatherizing
Stove tops burners / 2’ above flame / Up to 25 PPM per burner - may weatherize the dwelling
25 up to 49 PPM per burner - may weatherize dwelling without lowering CO level - must install a carbon monoxide alarm
Over 50+ PPM - problem must be corrected before weatherizing
Ovens / In the oven vent / Up to 100 PPM -may weatherize dwelling
100 up to 499 PPM - may weatherize dwelling without lowering CO level - must install a carbon monoxide alarm
500 + PPM - problem must be corrected before weatherizing

Smoke Detectors

Installation required when:

·  It is a mobile home.

·  Space heaters are replaced by another space heater.

·  The local code requires it.

Draft Pressures

Below 20°F -5 Pascals

20°F - 40°F -4 Pascals

40°F - 60°F -3 Pascals

60°F - 80°F -2 Pascals

Above 80°F -1 Pascals

OR

Temperature ¸ 20 - 5.5

Duct Sealing (Normal blower door set-up @ 50 Pascals)

·  1 Pascal at each register when the basement/crawlspace is open to the house (includes mobile homes).

·  3 Pascals when the crawlspace/basement is a separate zone.

Duct Sealing (Furnace fan running)

·  -5 Pascals or greater combustion appliance zone (caz) with reference to (wrt) outside with the baseline being subtracted and when both or either water heater and furnace are atmospheric draft.

·  -10 Pascals or greater when both the water heater and furnace are induced draft wrt outside with the baseline being subtracted.

Pressure Testing (Furnace fan running)

·  (Required) Room wrt main body (furnace fan running all interior doors closed). Reading must be between 3Pa. + or -.

·  (Optional) Dominant duct (furnace fan running and all interior doors open), less than 1Pa. + or -, house wrt outside subtracting baseline.

·  (Optional) Master bedroom (furnace fan running, interior doors open except master bedroom) -target of less than 5Pa. + or - main body wrt outside subtracting baseline.

·  (Optional) All interior doors closed (furnace fan running), main body wrt outside should be 5Pa. + or -.

Furnace and Mechanical Systems

·  Combustion air - Total Btu's ¸ 20 = required volume of combustion air or, 50 cubic feet required for every 1000 Btu's.

·  Make-up combustion air - 1square inch for every 5000 Btu's.

·  Heat rise - listed on nameplate or under 90°F.

·  High limit - 275°F maximum, should be below 250°F.

·  Gas pressure - Natural gas = 3.5 inches water column.

Liquid propane = 11 inches water column.

·  Fan off temperature - 90°F.

·  Fan on temperature - as close to fan off temperature as possible.

·  Return air - 2 square inches of net free vent for every 1000 Btu's of output.

·  Round duct sizing - 3.1416 x radius squared. Example 7" duct (3.1416 x 3.5 x3.5).

·  Minimum ventilation level is determined using the Zip Test Pro™ software in the TI-86 calculator.

·  Air free carbon monoxide - A = carbon monoxide reading x 20.9 (oxygen O2 in air), B = 20.9 - oxygen content of flue gas, A ¸ B = air free CO.

Formulas

·  Square feet or area = Length x width.

·  Cubic feet or volume = Length x width x height.

·  Converting inches of water column to Pascals.

-  .1" water column = 25 Pascals.

-  .2" water column = 50 Pascals.

-  .5" water column = 125 Pascals.

-  1" water column = 250 Pascals.

·  U-value = 1 ¸ R-value.

·  R-value = 1 ¸ U-value.

Calculations

The computerized programs utilized by weatherization have different methods to calculate volume, surface area, floor area, conditioned stories, building height, story height, number of occupants, and number of bedrooms. The following is a brief description for each of these items.

House Volume

·  For the blower door and BTLa:

Enter the building volume in cubic feet. Include the basement of the house in the volume (when running the blower door test, leave the door open between the basement and the upstairs). Include the crawlspace in the volume if the foundation walls are to be insulated and considered as the thermal boundary. If there is a door between the basement and crawlspace, keep the door open. If the crawlspace ceiling is to be insulated and considered the thermal boundary, don’t include the crawlspace in the volume. If there is a door to the crawlspace, keep the door shut during the blower door test.

House Surface Area

·  For the blower door:

Enter the above grade surface area (square feet) of the exterior envelope of the building. Include all attic surfaces and floors over unheated and vented crawlspaces. This would mean floors above basements would not be included.

Floor Area and Building/House Square Feet

·  For the NEAT audit:

Enter the number of square feet of the conditioned living area. The value is total floor area, not foot print area. Enter the floor area for each floor (1200 square foot two story would have 2400 square foot total).

·  For the blower door, BTL and BTLa:

Enter the floor area of the building in square feet. Include same floors as the volume calculation.

Number of Conditioned Stories

·  For NEAT audit:

Enter the number of conditioned stories. Include a finished attic if heated and include a basement if the majority of the wall area is above grade. Decimal entries such as 1.5 may be used for split level or one and a half story upstairs.

·  For blower door:

Enter the number of stories, which are above grade for the building being tested. For buildings with uneven above grade heights, walk-out basements, one and a half story buildings, enter the average number of stories by calculating the average above grade height (in feet) divided by 8’. For unheated crawlspaces do not include the above grade crawlspace in the height calculation.

Building Height

·  For BTLa:

Enter the building height above grade in units of feet. For buildings with uneven above grade heights, walk-out basements, and one and a half story buildings, use the average height of the building.

Story Height

·  For BTLa:

Enter the average height of one story of the building.

Number of Occupants

·  For the blower door:

Enter the number of occupants living in the building.

·  For BTLa:

Enter the number of occupants or the number of bedrooms plus one, which ever is greater (minimum of 5).

Number of Bedrooms

·  For the blower door:

Enter the number of bedrooms for the building being tested. The program uses the number of occupants or the number of bedrooms plus one, which ever is greater (minimum of 5).

1011 TI-86 Calculator Tips

To lighten or darken screen – press 2nd key then up arrows to lighten or down arrow to darken.

To set decimal – press 2nd key and mode/more key, arrow down to float, arrow over to number of decimals wanted then press enter, exit to quit.

Other tips and procedures are listed in the Work Standards Appendix.