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What is an Energy Audit?
A residential energy audit is an inspection of a home that identifies where energy losses are occurring. The customer receives a report after the audit describing problem areas that should be fixed and changes that will save them money and increase their comfort. That's the short story, but let's look more closely at the "whys" of energy audits.
The most common reason to have an energy audit is to increase comfort in the home. In the dead of winter many people will walk from one room to another and feel a temperature change. Your home should be a place of comfort, so it can be frustrating to feel a loss of control over something as basic as temperature. An energy audit can show you why there is a temperature difference and how to fix it.
The next reason to have an energy audit is to save money. By finding and fixing air leaks or insulation insufficiencies in a home, the homeowner will see a savings in their heating or cooling bills. An audit can also pinpoint appliances that are energy hogs. A good auditor will locate such things and suggest ideas for solving the problem. Audits may also identify any bad habits of the home's residents that are wasting money, although you might not want to hear about them!
The last reason is to save valuable natural resources. An energy audit shows the homeowner ways to use less electricity and gas, thereby making their home "greener". Some homeowners are also interested in installing renewable energy systems, like solar arrays or wind turbines. An energy audit will help determine the type and size of system that is best for them. Plus, if they make their home more energy efficient then they'll need a smaller renewable energy system.
Those are the big "whys", so now let's look at what really happens during an audit.
First, the only person you should pay to perform an audit is a qualified auditor who is certified in an industry standard, such as Building Performance Institute (BPI) or Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET). They have attended training and proven their knowledge with written and field tests. Plus, most government rebates require that the audit be done by a BPI or RESNET auditor. The auditor should also be impartial without any interest in selling you other products, such as windows or insulation.
The most basic type of audit is a "walkthrough" audit in which the auditor will look closely at the home both inside and out. He views the home as a system, so he will walk around the house, through the house, and even go into the attic and crawl space. He will consider many things as he looks at the home: the home's overall construction, wall and attic insulation, windows and doors, heating and cooling systems, appliances, and the habits and goals of the residents.
Although a walkthrough audit is usually inexpensive, most home owners are willing to pay a little more for the use of a blower door. A blower door is a machine with a fan that is placed in an exterior doorway to create a slight vacuum throughout the home - equivalent to a 20-plus mile per hour wind on all exterior surfaces. The use of a blower door along with a walkthrough inspection will identify more subtle leaks than can be found with the naked eye. The auditor will have a smoke stick that he will hold up to windows, doors, and along the ceiling to see where air is moving between the outside and inside. He will calculate the amount of air leakage to determine how it affects the home's heating/cooling efficiency.
The most sophisticated tool that an auditor can use is an Infrared (IR) camera, which allows the auditor to view temperature differences throughout the home. For example, warm things show up in hues of red and orange while cool things show up in blues and greens. Imagine an auditor using both a blower door and an IR camera in your heated home on a cold day. When he looks through the camera, most of your home should appear orange because it is warm, but he may see a blue streak coming from a window that isn't sealed properly. Or he may see a green area on a wall where there is no insulation inside it. The auditor will take IR pictures of these problem areas and include them in your report as a valuable visual reminder.
After the audit is done, the auditor will compile a report with a description of the home and areas of improvement. The report should be thorough and the suggestions laid out in a clear way for the homeowners. The goal of a good auditor is to help you find the most cost-effective way to make your home more energy efficient. It is up to the homeowner to follow through on the "fix-it" list in order to see the results.
Most people would love to have an energy audit done on their home, but believe the cost is greater than the worth. The good news is that there are many programs that are making energy audits more affordable. For example, in Colorado the Governor's Energy Office currently has rebates of up to $100 on home energy audits. They also provide valuable lists of other local rebates, qualified auditors, and contractors who can do the fix-it work. To see this information, go to www.RechargeColorado.com, click on Energy Action Planner, then go to "Find Rebates, Incentives, and Contractors", fill in the information about your home and click "Find Results" (this action in no way binds you to having an energy audit). If you don't live in Colorado, chances are that your state provides similar information if you're willing to surf their website.
An energy audit is the best starting place to make your home more energy efficient in order to be more comfortable, save money, and go green, so take a moment to research it for yourself!
About the Author
Susan Pfaltzgraff is a freelance writer in rural northeast Colorado. She writes The Laughing Mom column for two local papers, the Sterling Journal Advocate and the Holyoke Enterprise. Her and her husband are also very passionate about energy efficiency and renewable energy, which led to the creation of their small business, Chinook Energy, www.ColoradoWindTurbines.com. She has a hobby blog at OurHaxtunLife.com.
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