Why An Energy Audit Is A Good Thing 

The concept of energy efficiency has become a trend in recent times, as it is geared towards saving you money and helping the environment. To upgrade to a whole-house energy efficient home, one should first schedule a home energy audit. 

The use of the word “audit” is not your typical application of the word. A home energy audit is designed to save you money by pinpointing the exact areas in your home that are prone to be energy deficient. This is achieved by a team of professionals evaluating the inside of your home with advanced technologies like infrared cameras. 

Benefits: pinpointing energy deficient areas in your home will help assure that you are not paying for unneeded services. A home energy audit can reveal a variety of things depending on the style, make, year, and geographical location of your home. Some of the major sources of energy deficiencies are windows, attic insulation, lighting, HVAC Systems (Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning), ductwork, and even your water heater. 

Windows  

20% of your home’s total heat loss is attributed to deficient windows. Energy efficient windows help reduce the four types of heat loss (conduction, radiation, convection, and air leakage) because of their advanced technologies like low-E glass, quality frames, multiple paned glass, gas fills, and warm edge spacers. These technologies work together to lower the “U Value” which is the rate at which a home loses heat. 

• Low-E coatings are used to reduce overall radiative heat flow. 
• Quality Frames help to insulate the window and reduce heat transfer. 
• Multiple panes work together to provide greater insulation. There are at least two panes of glass in an energy efficient window. 
• Gas fills, which are generally argon or krypton, reduce the conductance between the two or more windowpanes. 
• Warm Edge Spacers insulate the window, prevent condensation, and hold the glass panes the proper distance apart from one another. 

Attic Insulation 

The greatest amount of energy loss occurs in the attic. Many attics are already insulated, but they were done improperly or using improper insulation. Knowing the right type of insulation and how much of it you need is dependent upon your geographical location. Your local energy savings expert can help to give you an idea on what options are best for your home. 

Lighting 

In many homes lighting accounts for 15% of the total electric bill. CFLs (Compact Fluorescent Lights) are 75% more efficient than incandescent lights. In addition, they will give you ten more years of life than a traditional incandescent light. 

HVAC System 

Nearly half of your energy bill will be spent on home heating and cooling costs. A home energy audit can help you discover what size HVAC system will be right for your house as a system that is too big/too small will be very inefficient and will ware faster. 

Ductwork 

Up to 40% of your furnace/air conditioner’s energy use is wasted by a leaky duct system. A leaky duct won’t be able to carry all of the air that your furnace/air conditioner is producing to the rest of your home. This will not only reduce comfort, but also take your furnace/air conditioner longer to heat your home which results in higher energy costs. A leaky duct tends to take “dirty air” from your crawlspace, basement, or attic and circulate it throughout your house. 

Water Heater 

Installing a tankless water heater can reduce the cost of heating water by 45%. A traditional tank-type water heater will continuously heat the water in your tank regardless of if you use it or not, meaning you are paying to heat something that you may or may not use. 

Instead of storing water in a tank, a tankless water heater heats water en-route to its destination. The heating mechanism will only turn on when you turn on your dishwasher, operate a washing machine, or open a hot water tap. 

Recap: 

Home energy audits aren’t scary like tax audits. These are designed to save you money by identifying the precise locations in your home that need to be upgraded with energy efficient appliances. 

Many people are satisfied with their energy bills, but their bills could be so much less after conducting a home energy audit. Home energy audits will definitively reveal what areas of your house are costing you the most money on your energy bills.