DIY home energy audit
There is lots of press recently about hiring a home energy auditor—those folks who come into your house with calibrated measuring tools, such as blower doors and duct blasters, then tell you that your old house has more air leaks than last summer’s air mattress, and that will be $500 for the service, please. Not to belittle auditors. They are making a valiant effort to make the country’s housing stock more efficient.
Before you pick up the phone, you might want to spend some time at the online DIY home energy audit done by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. It's the best of the online audits, and it's a very robust application with lots of excellent recommendations about getting the most bang for your energy bucks. Start by entering your zip code and you’re on your way. And if you don’t finish in one visit, you get a session number to input the next time you’re at the site, and it will take you right back where you left off.
Posted by Jefferson Kolle | Categories: Green Home | Permalink
(5) Comments
I am an energy auditor your survey wAS WAY OFF. GETTING
an energy audit is more than this survey . what most of us auditors do is more than the survey. Iuse the infrared camera and blower door. I find the probems and give a report tell where the problem are and how to fix. and most of the fixing is AIR SEALING.
Getting an energy audit done and do the air sealing recommendation will give you the biggest bag for the $$$$.the pay back can be in less than 6 months. Getting a energy audit done will show you where and how.. CALL an energy auditor and discuss it with them. Or are you afraid of what they might FIND
An energy auditor that uses a thermal camera will audit will probably cost you less. Call one up and discuss you problem... or are you afraid they will find you have problem.or keep paying the high cost of heating your home the choice is yours
OK, so how do you find an energy auditor? There is no listing in the yellow pages.
I'm going to give this online audit a shot but I will vouch for the energy audit. I paid the $400-$500 for the blower door/thermal imaging audit and it was worth every penny. Specifically, it turned up 1 very significant loss area that I would have never found with other methods. They are worth the money.
If you're looking for an auditor you might find someone through www.resnet.us. My auditor was a member and that gives them the ability to do LEED certifications, etc.