5 Reasons to Have a Home Energy Audit

A new year has arrived and it has gotten cold outside.  I know this is not news to anyone in Chicago but the good news is that if the cold air outside has gotten to your inside there is something you can do about it.  Most homes in this country are not as energy efficient as they could be but the average homeowner can make relatively inexpensive fixes to improve their homes performance. 

If you have read any of my previous posts I have discussed how buying new expensive windows and doors is usually not the answer.  I have discussed the signs and effects of air leakage and how this can be resolved relatively quickly and inexpensively and I have discussed home energy audits and what can be discovered during these audits. 

What I would like to share with you now is the reasons why you may want to take these steps.  Some may hit home while you may not care about others, but I would imagine that most homeowners will read something here that will hit home.

Besides being a home energy auditor and wanting everybody to get an energy audit, the following are what I see as the top five reasons to take steps to improve your homes energy efficiency.

1. Improved comfort – when your home is working the way we hope all homes will work in the future, you will find a greater sense of personal comfort in your home.  Many homeowners complain of drafts and cold zones around their home.  Typically the problem is not in the area where the symptoms are noticed but rather somewhere else in the home.  In many cases the problem starts in the attic or basement or other hidden areas where the typical homeowner does not know to look.
2. Improved air quality – By improving the way your home is receiving ventilation and controlling where “fresh” air comes in and bad air goes out you will improve the indoor air quality of your home which will reduce allergens and the chances of breathing problems such as asthma.  In some cases we also discover gas and carbon monoxide caused by leaky pipes and improperly combusting appliances
3. Lower utility Bills – By creating an energy efficient home you will also receive the comfort of lowering your utility bills.  I am not going to make the grand claims that you see in some advertisements about saving thousands of dollars or reducing your heating bill by 90% but I will say that every home has savings potential and in some homes it can be rather substantial.  I recently audited a home that had multiple opportunities for improvement and the payback for the retrofit improvements as well as the cost of the audit was calculated at less than 2 years.  The payback may not be this quick for all homes but your investment will be paid back and you will be in a more comfortable, safer environment.
4. Reduced chance of damage to your home – Problems in your homes performance can have some rather dramatic effects that may end up costing the homeowner hundreds or thousands of dollars.  If conditioned air leaks into the attic and is not properly ventilated it can cause mold growth as well as deterioration of the structural elements of the home.  A poorly ventilated attic will also lead to an expedited deterioration of the homes shingles.  If you have ever driven by a house where the shingles are curling up and disintegrating you have witnessed the effects of heat buildup in the attic.  Another major problem that can occur is frozen pipes that have the potential to break and cause thousands of dollars’ worth of damage. 
5. The last item on my list is one that I hear about all the time and I feel that I could have prevented if only I had gotten the word out sooner.  Spending alot of money on fixes that have little or no effect on the homes performance.   - I see ads all of the time promising great savings if you buy the advertisers product but many of these just don’t have any substantial backing.  They use a lot of technical talk to convince the consumer that this is a wonder product but most homeowners find out later that there is little change in their comfort or utility bills.  As an inherently cheap person myself I hate to see homeowners spending thousands of dollars that they will receive little or no benefit from.

I hope this gives everybody something to consider on these cold winter days and I hope that more people take advantage of the opportunities their homes have for improvement.  Even if you decide that a home energy audit is not for you and you want to “do it yourself” and you seal up some air leaks or add insulation (wait a week or two before adding insulation as that is my next topic) take a step to improve the comfort of your home and help the environment.