A ventilation balometer (or airflow capture hood) is a portable device used to directly measure the volume of air flowing through ceiling, wall, or floor diffusers in a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system.
A balometer is accompanied by different measuring hosts to be applied according to the size and shape of the air vents in a room, both supply and exhaust. This system allows to calculate very precisely the airflow that passes through a vent, and therefore the total airflow that enters or leaves a room.
The balometer is precisely the only instrument capable of providing a reliable and accurate measurement on a certain type of air vent: diffusers, whose omnidirectional airflow is very difficult to measure with a conventional anemometer.
Sufficient airflow facilitates the maintenance of the temperature and humidity levels targeted by the professionals in charge of managing the building’s ventilation system.
Note that as modern balometers are primarily pressure measuring instruments, they can also be used as micro-manometers by connecting Pitot tubes or simple silicone tubes to them.
