Energy Evaluations Equals Savings
Looking to reduce your home’s cooling and heating costs? For many homeowners, it’s smart to start with a home energy evaluation. That’s when a certified auditor comes to your home to evaluate your family’s energy use as well as the home itself, searching for areas where air could be leaking and money wasted due to inefficient systems or appliances.
Energy evaluations help to spell out what is needed to make the home a more energy-efficient place to live.
Before engaging an energy evaluator, prepare a list of topics you are concerned about. That gives the auditor a few things to be on the lookout for. Problems to bring up could include:
- Stuck windows.
- Cracks in the walls.
- Drafty rooms.
- An older air conditioner.
It also helps to gather your utility bills from the past year or two for the auditor to review. That helps the auditor detect whether something has gone wrong — an appliance has begun to malfunction or a major leak has occurred — and when that might have happened.
Once at your home, a good auditor should interview you and your family in addition to performing the physical inspection of your home. Questions you should expect:
- How many people live in the home?
- Is someone home during the day?
- Do you leave the computer on all the time, the TV on while you’re sleeping, or other appliances on at unusual times?
- How do you usually set the thermostat during the summer and winter months?
A good energy auditor might also use a blower door test, infrared cameras and combustion safety tests to determine the amount of leakages and exact energy efficiency of your home.
Energy evaluations can allow homeowners to make changes to save money and live more comfortably. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the professionals at All Year. We’re glad to be of service throughout the Greater Sacramento area.
All Year services the Greater Sacramento area. To get started, check out our website.