Professional Home Energy Audit

Has anyone had a professional Home Energy Audit done on their home? You know, to identify leaks of AC and Heat and how to fix. I know I have leaks and need to have them fixed. I checked the DIY Network and know this is not something my husband can do properly.

As stated on http://www.eere.energy.gov/consumer/your_home/energy_audits/index.cfm/mytopic=11180 "Many professional energy audits will include a blower door test. Most will also include a thermographic scan. There's also another type of test—the PFT air infiltration measurement technique—but it is rarely offered".

Any advice?

 

sorry I can not help but this sounds really interesting. I hope to learn more too. Do you know of other resources for this?

 

Re: Misc. Professional Home Energy Audit Resources

WeLoveDisney, Zeratul, and Homeowners--

Here is the info and web sites for Professional Home Energy Audits with related articles. I guess my Consumer Education portion of my Food Science degree is coming in handy!

www.dom.com (Dominion VA Power's site with links.)

www.novec.com (Northern VA Electric Cooperative with info.)

www.homeenergy.org (Home Energy is a well-known energy magazine with great resources.)

www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A25585-2005Jan21.html (Washington Post's January 21-22, 2005 archived article called "How to Prevent Cold Slap from High Heat Bills" details on infrared/thermal imaging for home audits. Great article that goes in depth with info.)

www.dominioninfrared.com (Dominion Infrared located in Loudoun County, VA with info on web site. We have not used their services but found info online.)

www.hometuneup.com (Home Tune Up has a directory of infrared/thermal imaging companies that performs Professional Home Energy Audits.)

Good luck and ask for more info if needed--

Foodie

 

Thanks so much (as usual) you are the greatest "neighbor" to have around!

 

Re: Misc. Professional Home Energy Audit Resources

Zeratul and others--

Thanks for the comments. Glad to have helped. If you (or any other homeowners) would like Home Energy Savings info--PM or post query here on this thread.

Have a good and "sunny" day--I am going out horseback riding with my kids.

Foodie

 

Since this was posted almost a year ago, I was wondering if anybody had any information that had a home energy audit completed on their house? I'm really thinking about having one done this year but I wanted to get feedback from anybody who has been through this process before.

Thanks,
Genco

 

I would like to find out more on this as well...we are coming up on our 11th month inspection and our house has always been colder than normal. We have checked other homes in our neighborhood, and our home is always 5 to 10 degrees colder than the outside temperature. We are seriously considering getting a Home Energy Audit done...if someone has done this in the past how much did it cost and was it beneficial (i.e.) based on the results of the audit did you make any changes to save on your energy costs? Thanks isn advance!

 

Does anyone have recommendations on firms that provide home testing for mold/mildew/radon/etc... Thanks.

 

We had one done by this company in March.
It cost $350.00.
http://www.cgesolutions.com/

The company was difficult to schedule with (they were slow to return calls) and never called back when we called later to schedule some of the work they recommended. They made several thousand dollars' worth of recommendations, and we were planning to do several hundred dollars' worth of work.

They found that the home has faulty insulation in the crawl space -- installed against the floor of the crawl space, rather than the ceiling. There is also a lack of insulation over the garage. Also some joints around the furnace were not sealed. Interestingly enough, they said our windows were fine, despite their infrared camera photos showing air leakage around them. But why wouldn't they say that, when in addition to the audit they run an insulation company -- not a window company?)