This Woodbridge, VA homeowner was concerned that their family room was very cold a drafty in the winter. Comfenergy visited and performed a home comfort and energy evaluation and found something we had never seen before!
Solution
Check out the following pictures and find out what we discovered.
Project Summary
Evaluator: Mike Estrada
This vent cover on the exterior of the home was noticed by the Comfenergy evaluator. It just didn't seem to be right, as it was on the upper level of the home and was made for drawing air INTO the home, nit for exhaust!
You can see more closely there is not even a damper or flap to stop air from coming in. This is not abnormal, but they are typically found on the lower level of the home where the foundation meets the first floor rim joist.
Upon further inspection, we took what we thought was the return grille off of the wall of the first floor family room to find something absolutely CRAZY!
We stepped up onto a ladder and look what we saw. What we thought was a return duct was actually connected to the outside at that vent location!!!
There was literally a 7" diameter hole in the side of the house dumping freezing cold air into the living room making it cold and drafty! It was also allowing hot/humid air into this family room in the summer. 24/7/365.
A closer look basically reveals a hole in the side of the house that dumps the air into the family room. It's like having a window open in the house 24/7/365.
