Energy Audit is a broad term and can encompass a wide vareity of diagnostic measures. A meaningful audit must include an infiltrometer test. A thermal scan is the second most important tool for identifying energy problems An audit must quantify and prioritize problem areas or it has no real value.
We prefer to call our energy audit a "Whole House Comfort Checkup". It includes an infiltrometer (blower door) test and compares the infiltration results to the level recommended by The Society of Heating Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers. (ASHRAE 62.2). The checkup also includes a thermal scan. This is done with an infrared camera. It shows any missing or incorrectly installed insulation in walls, ceilings, and floors. When combined with the infiltrometer, it shows us exactly what is happening inside the walls and above the ceilings.
Finding problems is the key to making any house work better. Many times homeowners react to advertisments and make a purchase that won't reduce utility bills as much as they expect. Windows are a good example of misplaced expenses to save energy. After performing hundreds of energy checkups, we have concluded that windows are rarely the greatest source of energy or air leakage in a home. It is well known that windows have the longest payback of any home energy repair and if they are not correctly installed (which happens very often) there may never be any savings at all.
The third part of a Whole House Comfort Checkup is the visual inspection. This may seem obvious, but with the results of the other 2 tests in hand, the inspection becomes a search for the sources of those problems. A list of needed repairs is made and a detailed report is prepared.
Our method is to use a phased approach. We prioritize the Energy Retrofit based on potential savings. The repairs can be done all at once or spread out over a multi-year budgeted plan. As long as the repairs are done in an order that doesn't cause duplication of labor, the results will be the same in the end.
The cost for a Whole House Comfort Checkup is $299.00 and takes about 2 hours.
