Energy Audits For The Home

Many home owners are interested in one thing when it comes to their home. Reducing the cost of 'running' the home.

Many are also interested in being environmentally friendly.

Some are planning to undertake a home renovation project in the near future.

A home energy audit helps on all of the above.

Provided absolutely free by many local utilities, a home energy audit is an examination by a professional on the energy usage and efficiency of a home. It typically takes 2 to three hours to complete, depending on the size of the home and the completeness of the process.

At the the end of the process the energy auditor will send a report to the home owner recommending energy conservation and efficiency activities specific to the home as well as those more general in nature.

Recommendations can run the full gambit from areas of the home needing caulking to prevent heat loss in the winter / cool air loss in the summer, to recommendations for increased attic and wall insullation, to suggested heating and cooling devices that are more energy efficient. The key point is that the energy audit report and it's recommendations are specific to the homeowner's own home so there is no guess work on it's applicability to the homeowner.

There are a few web sites providing detailed insights into home energy audits.

The web site DailyHomeRenoTips.com by an average home owner outlines the actual energy audit report received and it's recommendations in it's series of blog posts at the following URL: http://dailyhomerenotips.com/ecoenergy/

The United States Department of Energy has a nice section on it's web sites devoted to explaining home energy audits conducted by both professionals as well as those that can be done by the home owner themselves at the following URL:  http://www.eere.energy.gov/consumer/your_home/energy_audits/index.cfm/mytopic=11160