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Some of the best selling pet dog doors waste more energy than you may think. A FLIR testing system can test your dog door’s energy efficiency and help you make an informed decision. An energy efficient pet dog door not only enhances your dog’s movements in and out of the house but also benefits you in more ways than one.
What Does a FLIR Testing System Do?

Let us see exactly how a FLIR testing system works and what it helps to check. FLIR thermal imaging cameras help to view and record the thermal distribution and variations in temperature in real time. This helps you check the heat patterns, leakage or dissipation and other temperature-related factors in products, equipment and processes. Simply stated he FLIR testing system is used to show exactly where energy waste occurs.

What we did was use this system to check the energy efficiency of the Freedom Pet Pass dog door. An energy efficient pet door should be able to block air leakage and help maintain the temperature within the home.

When you perform a thermal imaging test, you can not only detect but also visualize air infiltration and exfiltration. The visuals depict cold spots or areas from where the air may be leaking, in sharp bluish purple color tones. A dog door that has minimum cold spots is the most energy efficient door.

FLIR (Forward Looking Infrared Radiometer) uses infrared technology to identify missing insulation, loss of energy, radiant heating and inefficient HVAC systems. The FLIR infrared camera helps identify patterns of energy loss that may otherwise be invisible to the naked eye. The property and measurement data is compiled into a report and air leaks are easily identified.

How Did Freedom Pet Pass Fare on the FLIR Testing System?

We are proud to announce that Freedom Pet Pass passed with flying colors. And most of these colors were not even close to the bluish purple we were dreading! This energy efficient dog door proved to be the most energy efficient pet doors available today. Little wonder then that Freedom Pet Pass is the only pet door brand Energy Star Partners endorse.

Pioneering a pet flap that seals airtight has made us the #1 energy efficient pet door brand in the world.  But, what also makes us unique, and in great measure has made us the #1, is the credibility we have earned in the arena of home performance and energy efficiency. Unlike our major competitors we are the first and only pet door Energy Star partners and home performance experts recommend for your home. These expert endorsements bypass the usual energy efficiency claims made by our competitors and thus ensure we offer the best energy efficient pet door you will find.

Air Leakage is the natural enemy to a pet door truly claiming to be energy efficient. Our philosophy is it takes an airtight pet flap to engineer an energy efficient pet door.

Trusted energy efficient product specialists including home performance experts, aerospace engineers, and Energy Star partners tested the sealing ability and thermal resistance our pet flap provides and determines precisely how energy efficient this pet door really is.

Freedom Pet Pass pet doors allow zero air infiltration and provide an R – Value better than many exterior windows and doors installed in residential homes. Passive House, the ones who build airtight; energy smart homes of the future have tested our pet doors and now recommend them to their clients. If this pet door is good enough for the leading home energy organization in the world you can trust it will be the last pet door you purchase for your special pet.

Passive homes have arrived in North America. Learn more here:Could It Revolutionize the Way We Build?

Air leakage tests and thermal imaging were conducted on the Freedom Pet Pass and the “World’s Best Selling Pet Door”. The temperature and air leakage test conditions were identical for the dog doors tested. Ambient air was 65.7° F and test pressure was +50Pa.

 

The Freedom Pet Pass dog door did not have any detectable air leakage while performing the air leakage test, and the multi- layer of SBR rubber and two layers of marine grade canvas with a total R-value of approximately of 0.35 did provide a decent thermal barrier.

 

The “Worlds Best Selling Pet Door” had significant air leakage while performing the air leakage test and the single layer of plastic with an approximate R-value of .25 did not provide a good thermal barrier.

Preliminary Test Results

Air leakage tests and thermal imaging were conducted on the Freedom Pet Pass, and the “Worlds Best Selling Pet Door”. The temperature and air leakage test conditions were identical for the dog doors tested. Ambient air was 65.7o F and test pressure was +50pa.
The Freedom Pet Pass dog door did not have any detectable air leakage while performing the air leakage test, and the multi- layer of SBR rubber and two layers of marine grade canvas with a total R-value of approximately of 0.35 did provide a decent thermal barrier. The “Worlds Best Selling Pet Door”  had significant air leakage while performing the air leakage test and the single layer of plastic with an approximate R-value of 0.25 did not provide a good thermal barrier.

The preliminary test results indicate that the Freedom Pet Pass out preformed the competitive “Worlds Best Selling Pet Door” in air leakage test.

The main goals of air leakage control are to:

♦ Save energy.

♦ Increase comfort.

♦ Protect insulation’s thermal integrity.

♦ Reduce direct cooling or heating of people and building components by outdoor air.

♦ Avoid moisture migration into building cavities.

♦ Reduce vermin’s access to indoors.

♦ Reduce flow of air pollution from external sources.

♦ Reduce rainwater leakage.

♦ Enhance fire safety.
The energy savings through infiltration when comparing the Freedom Pet Pass to the “Worlds Best Selling Pet Door”; the unique magnetic seal of the Freedom Pet Pass  design reduces the infiltration by 190% when compared to the “Worlds Best Selling Pet Door”. Air leakage in buildings represents from 5% to 40% of the space-conditioning costs. Controlling air leakage is one of the most important functions.
The Freedom Pet Pass pet flap multi- layer design incorporating SBR rubber and two layers of marine grade canvas with a total R-value of approximately of 0.35 did provide a decent thermal barrier. The Freedom Pet Pass design reduces the thermal loses by 25-30% when compared to the “Worlds Best Selling Pet Door”.

Some dog door manufactures make claims that a double movable flap provides additional R-value due to a dead air space between the door flaps. When you talk about “two flaps” being more effective than one flap by creating dead air space, there are many factors to consider. In the case of a pet door, heat will be lost or gained anytime the door is used. How well the door is sealed will affect how much air infiltrates around the edges while it is closed, and how well-insulated the pet flap is will affect how much heat is transferred by conduction through the door. How fast the wind is blowing, the temperature difference between warm and cool areas, and the frequency of use will impact how fast heat is transferred as well. If you have a pet that prefers to stand or lay in the doorway keeping it open, you are back to a “hole in the wall” regardless of how well it works when closed. Testing indicates that due to the air leakage around the flaps of a double flap pet door; a dead air space is not truly created and therefore additional R-value cannot be substantiated.