Your home energy bills are likely your greatest household expenses. But you should not consider high energy bills to be something inevitable. According to credible studies, more than half of the energy used in the United States goes to waste. An energy audit can evaluate the amount of energy used in your home and help you to find these hidden sources of wasted energy that drain your budget. Then you can take action to correct the issues. Here are some of the things that an energy audit will check.
Blower-Door Test
If you have some areas of your home that are always much warmer or cooler than the rest of your house, there’s a good chance that you heat energy and warm air are escaping or entering your home, depending on the season. The blower-door test performed during an energy audit forces air out of the home to identify how airtight the building is and where air is leaking. Once those leaks are found, you can seal them with caulk, spray foam or weatherstripping, depending on the leak.
Check Weatherstripping Seals
In Northeast Ohio, where a lot of the homes are relatively old, it’s possible to have major sources of energy leaks. Outdated windows and weatherstripping can let in too much of the outdoor elements. Especially if you’re prone to having high energy bills in the winter, an energy audit can determine which doors or windows need new weatherstripping.
Check Insulation
If your house never seems to stay warm in the winter, you may not have enough insulation. Certain areas of your home, such as the basements and attic, may not have adequate insulation. Adding more insulation can slow down heat transfer between inside and outside and minimize the amount of wasted energy. During the energy audit, the technician will use thermographic scanning equipment to not only find sources of air leakage, but inadequate insulation as well.
Programmable Thermostat
An energy auditor will often recommend a programmable thermostat if you don’t already have one installed. By automatically turning down the heat during times when nobody’s home, a programmable thermostat will help you reduce your heating and cooling bills.
Along with getting an annual inspection of your heating and cooling systems, an energy audit is another way to be smart about your home energy. When you need to evaluate your energy usage in the Lorain, Elyria or Oberlin areas, please contact us at Energy 1 Heating and Air Conditioning.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Lorain, Ohio about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about energy audits and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.
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Energy 1 Heating & Air Conditioning
1 (440) 246-5440
Serving the Lorain, OH Area