Keeping a dwelling warm in the winter and cool in the summer is essential for a home’s comfort. A home that is drafty, stuffy, or simply older can benefit from a home energy audit conducted by a professional to identify inefficiencies and recommend upgrades and repairs.
What Is an Energy Audit?
A home energy audit is an evaluation completed by an energy professional that includes a series of tests designed to inspect and measure a home’s energy efficiency. A home energy audit assesses how your home uses energy to heat and cool your living spaces, and it can uncover safety issues that exist within a home’s energy systems.
Types of Energy Audits
If you are a homeowner looking for an energy audit near me, it may be useful to know that different types of energy audits are available. The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) defines three levels of energy audits as follows:
- Level 1: This level consists of a walk-through audit that includes physical assessment of a building as well as analysis of energy bills and other data. A level one audit typically proposes effective but low-cost improvements while helping building owners determine if a more in-depth audit is necessary.
- Level 2: A level two energy audit builds on level one audit findings by providing more historical utility data and a financial analysis of proposed energy upgrades.
- Level 3: A level three energy audit is also referred to as an “investment grade audit” and includes even more data analysis and risk assessment to determine potential energy upgrades.
For most homeowners, a level one energy audit is all that is necessary to have a positive impact on home comfort, energy usage, and energy bills. However, commercial building owners and investors may benefit from more in-depth analysis provided by level two and level three audits.
How a Home Energy Audit Can Help Lower Energy Bills
A desire to lower energy bills can provide a major incentive for homeowners to schedule an energy audit. By identifying where energy is being wasted, such as via air leaks or due to deteriorated insulation, homeowners can make improvements to ensure their energy systems work more efficiently and lower their energy bills.
Identifying Energy Wastes and Inefficiencies
A home energy audit aims to find waste and inefficiencies as they relate to energy systems, including through inefficient HVAC systems. For instance, if there are air leaks around windows and doors, cool air escapes during the summer, and heat escapes during the winter, making the HVAC system work harder and energy bills go up. Likewise, if areas of the home like the attic or crawlspace are under-insulated, outdoor air can more easily enter while climate-controlled air can escape, creating more energy waste. Finding these problem areas in an energy audit gives homeowners a chance to correct these issues.
Potential Savings from an Energy Audit
Homeowners who want to learn how to lower energy bills are likely to receive ideas for improvement after conducting an energy audit. Once waste and inefficiency are identified, the energy expert conducting the audit can recommend upgrades to correct those inefficiencies, ensuring HVAC systems run more efficiently and save the homeowner substantial amounts of money.
How much is a home energy audit? It depends on the home and the company providing the auditing service. Wisconsin Home Improvement offers homeowners a free energy audit to help them identify energy inefficiencies.
Other Benefits of a Home Energy Audit
Although energy savings is a major driver in scheduling a home energy audit, there are other benefits as well, including increased comfort and improved environmental impact.
Increased Comfort at Home
Establishing a safe and comfortable home can have a significant positive impact on a person’s health and wellbeing. Temperature and humidity are major contributors to the comfort of a home. By improving the energy efficiency of a home, homeowners have the opportunity to maintain steady, comfortable temperatures throughout the year within their living spaces.
Making an Environmental Impact
Heating and cooling buildings has a big impact on our environment. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), heating and cooling accounts for more than 40% of the total energy use in the United States. Improving the energy efficiency of a home can reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, ultimately minimizing its contribution to air pollution.
How to Lower Energy Bills After an Energy Audit
An energy audit itself does not lower energy bills. Ultimately, homeowners must take auditor recommendations into consideration and choose to make improvements and upgrades to their homes. As a homeowner looking for an insulation company near me, you should be sure to ask about the company’s expertise in energy audits and energy efficiency.
Simple Energy Efficiency Upgrades
Energy efficiency upgrades do not need to be expensive or complex to result in a significant impact. For example, sealing air gaps around windows and doors can immediately improve a home’s comfort level and operational efficiency of the HVAC system. Replacing aging insulation, upgrading windows, and installing a smart thermostat are all simple energy efficiency upgrades that can help lower energy costs.
Role of Insulation in Energy Efficiency
Any insulation company will happily point out that insulation plays a major role in a home’s energy efficiency. When a home is under insulated, either due to cutting corners during construction, using the wrong type of insulation, or simply the natural results of aging for the insulation, it impacts the ability to efficiently heat and cool the living quarters. A lack of proper insulation in the attic, for example, allows heat to escape during the cold winter, living spaces to be drafty and uncomfortable, and ice dams to form on the roof, leading to expensive damage. Insulation creates a heat transfer barrier that keeps warm air inside during the winter and outside during the summer, allowing HVAC systems to work more effectively while using less energy.
Schedule an Energy Audit with Wisconsin Home Improvement
The experts at Wisconsin Home Improvement have conducted home energy audits for hundreds of homeowners in Wisconsin. Our team knows the ins and outs of qualifying for energy rebates and financing in Wisconsin and on a national level, so we can not only help identify inefficiencies, but also help you repair them affordably. Contact WHI to schedule an energy audit at your earliest convenience so you can experience the comfort and savings of an energy efficient home.
