17 Impressive Reasons To Have a Home Energy Audit Today

A home energy audit is a home assessment to determine how much energy is used in the household and to come up with measures to reduce energy consumption. A home assessment identifies problems within the home that when corrected may save significant amounts of energy. It is usually done by an energy auditor using methods such as blow door test, infrared camera, and thermography or through computer simulation. Here are 17 impressive reasons for conducting an energy audit today.

Conduct a do-it-yourself energy audit. With a simple walk-through, you can spot many problems on your own.
~ Anonymous

  1. To save on energy usage

Conducting a home energy audit is useful in determining the energy consumption in the household. The audit reveals the sources of energy loss and identifies areas to cut down energy usage in order to save on costs. The audit report provides the home owner with information about the possible ways to cut down energy usage and appliances to use so as to minimize on energy usage. Installation of insulation by the energy auditors is a good way of saving on energy usage within the household.

  1. To evaluate the performance of the building envelop

The building envelop is the barrier that separates the interior and exterior of the building.  The building envelop consists of a series of systems safeguarding the interior of the building from the environment and from aspects such as wind, temperature, precipitation, and humidity. The main components of the building envelop are walls, doors, roofing systems, foundation, and windows. Conducting a home energy audit may reveal any inefficiencies with the building envelop that may result to energy loss. Conducing a blower test may identify whether there is too much airflow at the door and rectify the problem to reduce the loss of energy.

  1. To understand energy consumption and utility bills

A home energy audit consists of an energy consumption analysis that analyses the household energy consumption. Through computer simulation, the expert can identify the current energy load and provide a report on the energy consumed by each home appliance. This is a way of understanding where energy is being used too much and ways to make adjustments to use lower energy. In case of home appliances, it gives a recommendation of the appliances to replace in order to cut down on energy usage.

  1. To make the home more comfortable

Making adjustments within the home not only save on energy consumption but also helps to improve the comfort of your home. The audit can reveal any crevices that may cause air to escape or getting in causing the home to be uncomfortable. The leaks may be the reason why the home owner finds the heating and cooling system inefficient in winter and summer. The expert hence provides recommendations on how to seal the air leaks as a first step towards ensuring comfort of the home. Installation of proper insulation will ensure that energy is not lost and the comfort of the home is maintained.

  1. To increase the resale value of the home

A home that is energy efficient is worth more value that one without. For every dollar reduced in the energy bills, the value of the home increases annually with about $25. This means that if the annual energy consumption is cut down by $300 the home’s value will rise by $7500. Conducting a home energy audit will mean that the home owner will install energy efficient  thus anyone seeking to purchase the home may need to buy it at a higher price. It also makes the home attractive for many buyers.

  1. To boost energy efficiency

About 12% of greenhouse gases produced in the Unites States come from residential areas and businesses. Conducting a home energy audit can let the home owner understand the efficiency of the boiler, heating and cooling system,and lighting. Using some older versions of heating and cooling system may mean that there is too much energy wastage in the home. As such, upgrading to efficient lighting systems, heating and cooling system will conserve resources without compromising the home’s comfort.

  1. It is a way of ensuring safety of the home

One important element of a home energy audit is conducting a combustion safety testing. This test is done on heating equipment to identify gas leakage, carbon monoxide levels and exhaust leakage. The exposed gas pipes are also tested to ensure that there are no crevices that would result to gas leakage. The exhaust is also tested to identify the carbon monoxide levels. The moisture in the house is tested to ensure there is no mold in the house that would compromise on the health of the home owner.The test comes along with a recommendation on how to reduce production of carbon monoxide and safety precautions to ensure there is no gas leakage.

  1. Provide a report on the  repairs to give priority to

A home energy audit provides a detailed report on the issues occurring within the home. The report in turn helps in making plans to repair the house in a cost friendly manner. The audit report speeds up the decision making process since the home owner can understand the saving projection from the recommendations provided by the expert. The home audit reveals issues in the home that the owner of the home could not have easily determined. The home audit thus provide a simplified way to make repairs within the home as the faulty areas have already been identified.

  1. It identifies thermal irregularities

Thermography conducted during a home energy audit detects any thermal irregularities in the home. It also measures the efficiency of the electrical and heating systems in a more reliable manner. Reports from a thermography tests act as way of knowing how to reinforce the building envelop. Other thermal irregularities that may be noted include air infiltration problems and thermal bridges. All this can be rectified by following the recommendations from the energy audit expert.

  1. It’s a way of taking into consideration the environmental impact of the home

Homes are one of the largest producers of carbon that depletes the ozone layer. Most of the energy used at home today is produced by burning fossil fuels. However, using fossil fuels is harmful to the environment as it produces carbon dioxide which when released to the atmosphere contributes to global warming. Conducting a home energy audit serves as a good way to increase energy efficiency and a way of mitigating the effects of climate change.

  1. To improve the home’s indoor air quality

Blower door tests identify any sealing issues within the home. It seeks to monitor the air tightness to ensure proper air control in the interior. Identification of the leakage points assists in identifying solutions that are aimed at improving air quality.

energy-audit
  1. It saves money

An energy audit allows the home owner to develop ways aimed at reducing energy consumption in the household. An energy audit alerts the home owner on the areas that are resulting in energy wastage and the energy auditor will in turn assist the home owner in coming up with  cost efficient ways. Cutting down on energy use will mean that less money will be spent on energy bills and hence save money.

  1. It helps prevent damage to the house

A home energy audit takes a whole house approach thus is able to detect any defects of the home both in the interior and exterior. Early identification of problems allows the home owner to fix them before they become worse. It also reveals aspects such as ventilation of the air conditioner which may otherwise cause damage to the home if not rectified on time. Other possible hazards such as carbon monoxide production, moisture that may damage house and environment can be identified.

  1. It provides the home owner with insider knowledge about their home

An energy specialists can easily pin point the relation of the different energy systems in the house. The experts act as a source of information as they provide information about aspects such as how the heating system works and understand how the house systems are interconnected. The home owner can take advantage of the information given by the energy specialist and use it to formulate efficient measures to reduce energy consumption. The knowledge gained may come in handy when the client is conducting a home upgrade as they will know where to start.

  1. It provides a roadmap  of how to upgrade the home

The home energy audit report provides recommendations on what systems to install to reduce energy consumption in the household. It is relatively easy for a home owner to upgrade their home when they have a home energy report since it acts as a good planning tool. Proper planning will in turn save money and make the upgrade less complicated.

  1. Home owners can learn how to provide a cool atmosphere without needing an air conditioner

To successfully create a comfortable indoor environment, the energy specialist may recommend the use of insulation as a way of controlling radiated heat. Installation of attic vents and fans may control convectional heat. These recommendations are eco-friendly and will reduce the use of air conditioners.

  1. It is a way of determining home performance

Home performance is the efficiency, durability, and comfortability of the home. It provides solutions to any problems that may reduce the comfortability of the home.

Image credit: Ryan , USDA
Share on:

About Rinkesh

A true environmentalist by heart ❤️. Founded Conserve Energy Future with the sole motto of providing helpful information related to our rapidly depleting environment. Unless you strongly believe in Elon Musk‘s idea of making Mars as another habitable planet, do remember that there really is no 'Planet B' in this whole universe.