Cascade Highlands Neighborhood Association

Free Duct and Home Performance Inspection

Energy Efficiency Services is part of Clark County Community Development and Building Safety departments.

We are funded by an Energy Efficiency Block Grant from the Department of Energy as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The program started in April of 2010 and will run until September of 2012.

The Duct and Home Performance Inspection service performs the following:

• Does a visual inspection of the furnace and duct system.
• Pressurizes the house to measure the leakage rate.
• Pressurizes  the duct system to measure the leakage rate
• Measures the Minimum Ventilation Rate of the house
• Tests exhaust fans to see if they are doing their job of removing water vapor and pollutants
• Inspects insulation levels in attic, wall and floor.
• Provides a detailed inspection report, list of utilities incentives

We have done 384 inspections to date, well over a half million square feet of residential property. 80% of the homes we have tested have a leakage rate high enough to qualify for duct repair incentives from either NW Natural (through Energy Trust) or Clark Public Utilities.

Besides loosing energy leaky ducts can pressurize your home drive water vapor into exterior walls potentially causing rot and or mold. Leaky ducts can also bring fiberglass dust and other pollutants, even radon gas into the air you breathe.

If a customer is found to have leaky ducts they can contact a duct repair contractor and get bids, have the work done or does the repair work themselves (do it yourself repair does not qualify for incentives). Most people will hire a qualified repair contractor to do the repair, duct repair contractors need to be certified in duct repair through the PTCS program in order to qualify for incentives from the utilities.

The repair contractor usually files the paperwork for the utility rebate, Clark Public Utilities will provides $500.00 and Energy Trust of Oregon (NW Natural Gas customers) receive 50% of the cost of repair up to $325.00, our program adds a $100.00 rebate. The general range of repair cost is $800.00 to $1,000.00 depending on the size of the house and type of repair required to get the leakage rate to down to an acceptable level for the rebate.

To schedule a Free Duct and Home Inspection please call Steve Alexander at 397-2375 ext. 4752 or go to  http://www.clark.wa.gov/development/inspections/ducts.html.