Wednesday, October 7, 2009

ZZZZZZZap !! Do you need an energy audit?


With the ceconomy what it is, many people are looking to save money of course, and lowering utility bills is an easy way to save some money, and be more comfortable living in your house.

Barak Obama understands the value of an energy efficient home, and has pushed for legistlation to help homeowners with this. The weatherization program provides money to qualified homeowners for such things as insulation, smoke detectors and furnace and air conditioner repair or replacement. The Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) estimates that residents save about $400 to $500 on energy costs in the first year after just weatherization improvements. And there's so much more...
A home energy audit can assess how much energy your home consumes and evaluate what measures you can take to make your home more energy efficient. An audit will show you problems that may, when corrected, save you money. Pinpoint where your house is losing energy, and determine the efficiency of your home's heating and cooling systems. An audit may also show you ways to conserve hot water and electricity.

You can perform a simple energy audit yourself, or have a professional energy auditor carry out a more thorough audit.
A professional auditor uses a variety of techniques and equipment to determine the energy efficiency of a structure. Thorough audits often use equipment such as blower doors, which measure the extent of leaks in the building envelope, and infared cameras, which reveal hard-to-detect areas of air infiltration and missing insulation. You will need a professional energy audit and a HERS rating to get an Energy Efficient Mortgage where you can finance the cost of the improvements you need to make to improve your HERS rating score and thus your utility bills, and even get a better interest rate.

On the U.S. Department of Energy web site, there is lots of information on - Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, as well as instructions on Do-Yourself Home Energy Audits
You can easily conduct a home energy audit yourself. http://www.energysavers.gov/your_home/energy_audits/index.cfm/mytopic=11170?print

1 comment:

  1. A home energy audit, done right, helps you determine the most cost effective ways to solve the comfort and energy issues in your home, dramatically reduce your utility bills, and ensure your home is healthy and safe. Lots of contractors are offering them; however, it’s important to get a comprehensive audit that is accurate and actionable. For an idea on what that entails, check out the short video at http://www.greenhomesamerica.com/video_library.html and a quick description of key element at http://www.greenhomesamerica.com/home-energy-audits.html
    Thanks,
    Mike

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