New homes, existing homes, or refurbished homes...most are wasting energy! The typical American home, eight years or older, loses a minimum of 20% of the energy used to heat and cool it. A Home Energy Audit is the exact place to start when planning to make your home more energy efficient, or before adding renewal energy resources. An Audit will highlight the key areas that downgrade your home energy performance and more importantly affect you and your family's comfort.
Symptoms of a home that is not energy efficient are drafty rooms, moisture around the windows, inconsistent temperature between rooms, excessive dust, and of course, high energy bills. A Home Energy Audit will find the source of these issues which is usually unwanted air infiltration into the home. The Audit documentation takes out the guess work and allows you to fix what is wrong the first time rather than by trial and error.
So you are ready for a Home Energy Audit? The audits come in two forms: A Self Assessment or an In Home Audit. A self assessment is one that you, the homeowner, can do using online programs provided by several resources. You can usually find these on your local utility's website or through local, state and federal government energy websites. The Pros for these types of tools are that they are usually free and quick to administer. Cons are that the information provided by these DIY home audits is very general (they cannot give specific details about where you are losing energy) and only as accurate as the data the homeowner enters. In Home Audits are performed by a certified professional using tools such as a Blower Door, Duct Blaster and an Infrared Camera. The Auditor will do a series of diagnostics on the whole house and enter the information into energy audit specific software that gives you accurate information on how leaky your home is and can provide infrared pictures showing exactly where those leaks are located.
An Energy Auditor by State Law is required to be licensed in the State of Nevada, and be certified by either RESNET (Residential Energy Service Network) or BPI (Building Performance Institute). These Organizations directly partner with the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency to provide ongoing training. The advantage for having a certified audit is that that you will get a complete understanding of where your home is inefficient, you will get a detailed report showing the findings, and the satisfaction of knowing you will have a healthy and safe home. An audit usually ranges from $400 to over $600 depending upon the size of your home, its age, and the exact information you are looking to find. It is usually fairly easy to save at least 20% in energy costs in a typical home, and you will get the savings back after making the suggested energy improvements.
A professional Home Energy Audit will help you Stop Wasting Energy and Start Saving!
Leon Mills is a new residential/commercial development consultant, having moved to Reno in the mid-1990's. Leon became a certified RESNET/HERS Rater and a Building Performance Institute (BPI) Building Analyst in early 2009. He also is an NAHB Research Center Accredited Verifier and an Energy Star Version 3 Certified Auditor. Leon can be reached at energyinsight@nvbell.net or call 775-857-1039.
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