This entry was posted on Monday, July 6th, 2009 at 11:11 am and is filed under Energy Audits, Home Energy, Home Solar Panels, Home Solar Power, Renewable Energy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Home Energy Audits Professionally Done
If your like me, busy all week at work and just want to relax on the weekends or just not patient enough to do your own energy audit, then consider hiring a professional energy auditor. The professional will do a room-by-room check to make sure your home is operating efficiently. There will be a cost of course, but liklley less than $200, check with your utility company they may offer to pick up part or all of the cost for you. But know that the money saved should more than make up for anything you spend on the audit in the longer run.
If you hire a pro, you will still need to do some preparation to get ready for him or her. Prepare a list of any problems you already think you might have. Have copies of your energy bill over the last 12 months (call your utility company for copies if you don’t have them on hand), so the auditor can track potential problems that may show up on your bills.
You can ask neighbors or friends to recommend an auditor or look in the Yellow Pages under “energy” , you can also call your local government energy office or utility company. When it comes time to select a contractor, make sure the company and the service rep are fully licensed and insured. Look for references and do check them. Call or look up the Better Business Bureau and find out if there have been any complaints made against the company.
During the audit, the contractor should use a calibrated blower door test to check how well your home is sealed off against outside drafts, and a thermographic inspection to detect leaks. A professional audit should also include a check of leaks in the duct system, and a test of the heating and air conditioning units.
HSW 2008 as shown in the above diagram:
The test attaches a fan to the outside door. The fan pulls air out of the house to lower the inside air pressure. Air from the outside flows in through any openings. While the air is being pulled out, the auditor can see where the leaks are occurring.
Thermographic inspections use infrared cameras to identify where heat is escaping from your home. The heat shows up on the camera as white, yellow and red. Sometimes this test is done together with the calibrated blower door test.
As a reminder, if your reading this, then I would assume your interested in” Going Green” to help reduce the carbon Footprint left behind by mass energy production. While your inspecting your house, you may also wish to consider Solar Home products for your home and garden. Possibly even learn to build your own solar panels, to replace the costly monthly electric bills. Just a thought.
So the audit is done and you’ve identified your problems. What next? ……. let’s see what tomorrow brings…..
