Skip to main content

​
General information

View our brief overview video on how Pulse works.
Much like other air permeability testing methods, only a guideline can be offered as to the suitability of Pulse for a given application. Due to varying levels and leakiness of buildings, results may not be obtainable even for properties within the guidelines.To ensure successful testing, it is imperative that you use a sufficient number of air receivers for the space being tested.

Pulse Air Receiver Estimator

Use our handy tool to estimate the number of air receivers required to perform a successful Pulse test based on a building’s envelope area or volume and anticipated leakiness.
On occasion, very airtight spaces may result in a warning that the achieved pressure range was too high. Whilst the typical solution to this is to lower the pressure in the tank, there are scenarios where this will not suffice.Under these circumstances, there is an option in the test setup process on the Settings screen that will allow you to change the Building profile to “Very airtight”. This will trigger a 3-second burst of air for both steps.

​
Low Pressure Pulse (LPP) method

A blower door fan compromises the doorway and tests air leakage rates at much higher pressures than Pulse (typically 20-70 Pa). These factors make it hard to compare results directly.However, through extensive validation whereby both technologies are forced to measure air leakage directly within the same 10-20 Pa range, the methods are known to agree to within ±6%.
A full detailed independent methodology for low-pressure Pulse testing is documented in CIBSE TM23 (2022). CIBSE is the Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers and TM23 is available under ISBN 9781914543173.TM23 Testing buildings for air leakage (2022)

​
Using the equipment

Pulse controllers contain either a 16GB SD card or 16GB of eMMC flash memory. This is sufficient capacity to store up to 100,000 tests locally on the device.Test files can always be uploaded to your cloud account for permanent storage and reporting purposes.
It is recommended that in accordance with any applicable pressure regulations, your Pulse equipment be visually inspected by a competent person once every 24 months to assess for damage, corrosion or any faulty parts.During this inspection, a sensor calibration is also performed using temperature and pressure calibration instruments that are traceable to national standards.Refer to servicing and calibration for more information.

​
Pulse results

All results displayed by your Pulse controller and on Pulse Online are presented at both 4 and 50 Pa pressure differences for each of the result metrics.Low pressure airtightness testing, using Pulse, is a comparatively new concept compared to the traditional high pressure testing carried out using a blower door fan.The Pulse equipment measures the air leakage directly at 4 Pa. This is a pressure level most representative of day-to-day conditions, making it well suited to assessing background leakage or to more reliably determine an infiltration rate for energy performance calculation purposes with minimal extrapolation.The 50 Pa result has been extrapolated based on a standard equation derived from a large sample of previous Pulse tests.

Air Leakage Pressure Converter

Use our calculation tool to easily convert air leakage rates between 4 Pa, 50 Pa and infiltration (ACH).
Refer to conversion factors for more information on the relationship between different high and low pressures.
A building or enclosure will present itself as being more leaky when a higher pressure is exerted upon it. Additionally, higher pressures can also force what are termed as ‘convoluted leakage paths’ which would not be present in either low pressure testing or during normal conditions or in gusting winds.Other differences include that the fan requires an external doorway to be open with the fan mounting placed inside it which might form a poor seal and create a potential leakage path during the test.

​
Test reports

No, a Pulse test report is a web-based record of your Pulse test that we provide as a handy document that you can keep for your own records or to give to customers.Whereas an airtightness test certificate is an official document proving a new build or renovated property complies with building regulations, such as Approved Document L.An airtightness test certificate can only be obtained by airtightness testers registered with an approved competency scheme.
Adding your logo or branding to a Pulse test report is an additional service that is available to customers carrying out a large number of Pulse tests.Contact our sales team to request a quotation.