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Home Energy Audit

Why get a Home Energy Audit?

• Lower your utility bills: Department of Energy study of 37 homes demonstrated a 33% decrease in heating bills alone from weatherization following an energy audit

• Improve home comfort by eliminating hot or cold rooms and drafts

• Healthier air in your home

• Focus your money on the most cost effective improvements

• A 10% efficiency improvement in a typical home can eliminate 1,400 pounds of emitted carbon dioxide  

• Thinking about a move to solar energy?  Improving your home's efficiency is the first step

Do You Need a Home Energy Audit?

There are a number of reasons that a home energy audit may be right for you.  Here are the most common...

• High heating bills:  In central Colorado this is the most common reason for an audit and for good reason.  The U.S. Department of Energy states that the average American homeowner loses 30 cents of every heating dollar to leaky ducts, house air leaks and faulty or insufficient insulation.  

• High electric consumption and bills.  Add up your total kilowatt-hour (kWH) consumption for one year using the information on your monthly utility bill.  Then divide by 12.  This is your average monthly consumption.  If your average is greater than 800 kWH per month you would certainly benefit from the electrical consumption analysis portion of the audit

• Home comfort issues:  is your house drafty or do you have some rooms that are much colder or hotter than the rest of the house?  You may have excessively leaky ducts or a pressure imbalance in your heating and cooling system

• Indoor air quality concerns: a home without proper air pressure balance can pull harmful fumes from attached garages, or combustion gases such as carbon monoxide from gas or propane heaters and water heaters

• You want to reduce your carbon footprint by improving the energy efficiency of your home

• You want to install solar electric or solar hot water but first want to get your energy consumption to the lowest level you are comfortable with.

• More on audits from U.S. Department of Energy

EnerSmart Energy Solutions Offers Two Levels of Energy Audit

The Basic Audit and the Comprehensive Audit are described below.  For either audit we will conduct a preliminary telephone interview with the client to get a description of the house, information from the last 12 months of utility bills (if available), and the specific concerns and goals of the client.

Following the interview and in-home diagnostic testing, EnerSmart Energy will load your house data into a computer energy analysis model for an accurate assessment of your home's performance.  We then provide you a detailed report of your home's performance and a list of recommended upgrades prioritized by savings-to-investment ratio.  This allows the homeowner to see where they can get the biggest bang for the buck  and an approximate payback period for the energy savings to pay for the upgrade or repair.

1. Blower Door Test: 

A fundamental energy audit test that measures the amount of air leakage to and from the house through walls, floors, ceilings, doors, windows, etc.  To conduct this test, the auditor will use an adjustable fan to pull air out of the house, and reduce the pressure inside the house by a set amount (usually -50 Pascals).  A calibrated pressure gage will then calculate the rate that air is leaking from the outside (including basements and crawlspaces) into the house.  A number of techniques from feeling with the back of the hand, to using an imaging infrared camera can be used to locate the sources of leaks.  A follow-up blower door test, after air sealing is complete, is an excellent way to measure the success of the sealing effort.

2. Duct Blower Test: 

This is a fundamental audit test.  This test measures the total air leakage in and out of the heating and cooling ducts, and also the total air leakage to the outside from the ducts.  The duct blower test uses a small fan to pressurize the duct system to a set pressure (usually 25 Pascals), while a calibrated pressure gage calculates the amount of air leaking through joints and gaps in the ducts.  During this test, the auditor will mask off your heating and cooling registers with a temporary tape.  The fan will connect through a flexible tube to the return register or directly to the furnace cabinet.  With the majority of energy loss in a typical house occurring through air leaks, the blower door and duct blower tests are the two most important tests of the energy audit.

3. Infrared Thermal Imaging: 

The thermal imager is a camera that produces pictures based on the temperature difference between surfaces.  Especially when used during a blower door test, thermal imaging is the most effective means of locating hidden insulation and air leakage problems.  This test does have its limitations:  it becomes less effective if the indoor and outdoor temperatures are within a few degrees.  For this reason, we may recommend that you schedule your audit during a particular time of day when the temperature difference will be the greatest.

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