With more people trying to make every aspect of their homes more energy and fuel efficient, the idea of a home energy audit is starting to become more appealing. On your own, you probably can find and fix some of those energy sinks in your home. But it’s not always possible to find all the problem spots by yourself. For most people, there are things going on in the home costing them money that they would never suspect.
When you order a professional home energy audit, an expert will test and assess your home in a comprehensive manner and then report how you can make your home more energy efficient. The energy audit will use both simple and sophisticated methods to find where energy and air is leaking from your home, and what specific actions you can take to reduce those energy losses. One of the most important assessments is the blower door test. It uses a powerful fan mounted in frame that when turned on, sucks air out of the house. Gauges then measure how quickly the pressure returns to normal in the home, as a way to measure your home’s airtightness and ascertain where air leaks are located.
Before getting a professional assessment of your energy use, try to figure just how you use energy in your home. Try asking yourself some of these questions:
- How often do you run your heating system or air conditioner?
- How many people are in your home?
- Are there rooms that get more use than others?
- What is the thermostat typically set to?
- How old are the appliances?
- Do you regularly schedule service for your HVAC equipment?
While it’s not absolutely necessary to answer all of these questions before your home energy audit, it can help the auditor to help you. By already knowing a thing or two about your energy use, your auditor can let you know some things you can change immediately to help you save on energy costs.
Of course, finding a proper energy auditor can represent a challenge if you don’t know where to look. If you’re not sure on how to go about ordering a home energy audit, please contact us at Roth Heating & Cooling. We will help make your Portland area home as energy efficient as possible.
