Keen on saving money in the long run? Like playing your part to conserve energy? Like answering “yes” to questions posed by the Internet?
Having an energy audit done on your home can give you all of this. There are a number of ways to get and do an energy audit – a series of tests to see how, where and how much energy and heat are being needlessly wasted in your home – which can include the DIY version, asking your energy supplier to test or hiring an outside auditor.
The point isn’t simply to make you feel ashamed for your home’s wasteful ways, but to discover solutions that will save you money in lower electric / hydro / heating bills.
Usually the most thorough energy audits are performed by an independent auditor, who might charge between $200 and $500. They can perform a number of various tests which may include:
– a room-by-room inspection to investigate drafts or heating fluctuations
– an inspection of the furnace and any centralized air / air conditioning units
– the blower door test
– a thermographic scan
– a PFT Air Infiltration Measurement
From there, your energy auditor will provide you with a detailed report of how your home is doing, where weaknesses are, ways to correct them and estimated costs to do so. They’ll also analyze roughly how much money you might save on your energy bills by doing so.
To find an energy auditor in your area and reviews from fellow customers, consider joining Angie’s List. A membership at Angie’s List can be worthwhile if you discover you need additional services (insulation experts, window replacement and so on) in order to get your home up in top shape.
Great advice and something that applies to so many homeowners, whether you’re in a pre-1975 house or a more recent build. There are also free programs out there that help those who are more financially in need. Here in the state of California, the Department of Community Services and Development offers the free “weatherization assistance program” for low-income property owners and renters. At a time when all our incomes are more strapped than expected and the government has pledged to weatherize a million homes… something worth checking into!
Thanks for the tip Karim! Good to hear from you. The additional upside for HomeFixated when it comes to weatherization is that it gives us an opportunity to make more jokes about caulk. Caulk jokes are obviously higher priority than green energy savings and government leadership, right? Just checking.
i live in shafter ca and had my house tex coated about 6 mo.ago. salesman said as \a house insulation we could deduct some of the cost on my income tax as it does insulate . do you have any info re this inquirey. thanks bw
Hmm, I haven’t heard of tax credit for an exterior coating, but that doesn’t mean it’s not valid. I did a little research online and couldn’t find a real definitive answer. My guess (sadly) is that you’ll need to contact “the man” directly to get a solid answer. The closest I came to finding specific details on these energy related tax credits was on the government’s Energy Star page. Good luck with it and let us know what you find out.