Details about Energy Audits and Home Efficiency Checkups
The Right Service and Equipment: Energy Auditors and Home Effciency Consultants can help you determine which testing equipment and service levels are most applicable to your home. When conducted correctly, energy audits are one of the most cost-effective ways to save money on your utility bills and also create a healthier home environment. Connect with a trained professional in your area to get a free quote. Energy Audits typically cost between $300 and $600, while Home Efficiency Checkups range from $200 to $400. You can save more on your energy bills than the cost of the audit or checkup - in the first year! Surveys typically cover your current energy use, finding potential areas for savings, and also recommendations on ways to increase the overall health of your house.
Blower Door: For Energy Audits, a blower door test is conducted with a powerful fan used in conjunction with a sensitive airflow sensor. The blower door is placed in the opening of your front door and blows out to create a vacuum in your house. By using the airflow sensor and by altering paths for airflow in your house, your auditor can identify air leaks. As the air leaks in or out, your heating and cooling system must make up for these losses by conditioning additional air. By repairing such air leaks, your heating and cooling system will run less, potentially saving you hundreds of dollars or more each season.
Thermal Imagery: Using thermal energy detectors, energy audit technicians can literally see gaps and holes in the insulation inside your walls. Hot spots that develop on your interior walls are signs of energy lost and significantly increase the on-time for your air conditioning unit. In the winter time, patches of warmth on exterior walls and on your ceiling and roof are places where money is literally flowing out of your house.
Audits & Checkups also include:
- Findings related to poor insulation and any compromises to your heating and cooling system, give you the opportunity to specifically see where the most cost effective repairs can be made.
- Return On Investment calculations for the recommendations give you the perspective that you need to see what works best within your budget. Not only will you learn what you can expect to pay for each suggestion, you will learn what that fix will save you and how long it will take to pay off the repair itself. You can use this information to determine which repairs to make and in what order. Many auditors will either offer to make the repairs or refer you to a qualified installer.
