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Home Energy Audit

What is A Home Energy Audit?

Energy audits identify areas in homes where energy losses are occurring. They aim to increase the comfort of the home, reduce energy consumption, and identify potential health and safety concerns. An audit will look at movements of heat, air, and moisture through buildings.

Energy audits cost between $300-400. Over time, these costs will be recovered in energy savings.

The home improvement recommendations made by an energy audit are based on a comparison of dollars spent on improvements to dollars saved on energy and are cost effective if they will be paid back in 10 years or less. Recommendations with shorter payback times or with health and safety implications will be prioritized.

You can also do a rough home energy audit yourself by closing windows and exterior doors, turning on ventilation fans, and feeling where there is cool air coming in fromthe exterior of the house. An Energy Star Qualified Home must be 15% more energy efficient than what is required by the 2004 International Residential Code.

Keeping out the cold during winter and the heat during summer is one of the best things you can do to reduce your energy costs.

In Oregon, here where we live, we can get assistance to determine which energy-saving measures will save us the most money in the shortest time. And there are rebates to help us pay for them.

You can do your own home energy audit if you have the time and a few simple tools and techniques. Once you have figured out your home energy usage and where you need improvement, then weatherization is the first step.

If you have put off weatherizing your home just because you can't afford the costs involved, now might be the time to jump on that bandwagon.

The Weatherization Assistance Program provides for up to $6,500 per home in energy efficiency upgrades and will be available for families making up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level -- or about $44,000 a year for a family of four.

Weatherization reduces energy bills an average of 32 percent and overall energy bills by hundreds of dollars per year, according to the press release.

The energy component of the stimulus package is exactly what many were fighting for, It was long overdue, and now is the time to take advantage of all that it offers you once you weatherize your home. Here are some simple ideas to get you up and running with the easy things you can do.

So where we go.....basically Weatherization equals= air sealing, duct sealing, insulation, doors, windows.

Air sealing is the lowest fruit, and the cheapest way to save money.

How it important it is to do a professional Audit to find out how much energy you are losing every month- Alot of illness are caused from outside pollutants, mold, etc.

The best improvement people can do.......the lowest of the low hanging fruit.

Weatherization your homes allows you to permanently reduce your energy bills by making your homes more energy efficient.

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