What is An Energy Audit and Looking at the Reasons Why You Need It

By definition, an energy audit is a complex process that includes things such as an inspection, analysis, and survey of a home’s energy flow for the purpose of promoting energy conservation. It is intended to come up with ways to reduce the amount of energy input in a system but without affecting output, at least, in the most sensible and practical way possible.

As a homeowner, you have to realize that there will eventually come a time when you need to perform an energy audit. This usually happens the moment you feel like you’ve been spending too much on energy costs. Although there are times when you actually only need to improve your home insulation, there also are instances when the problem is no longer just about insulation.

In this article, let’s figure out the best reasons for an energy audit, the purpose of which is to convince you to do it sooner than later.

In the blog called Simple Home Energy, there’s an article we read titled “Five Reasons You Need an Energy Audit.” It actually talks about the benefits of getting an energy audit for your home. See those five reasons below:

Understand your energy consumption and utility bill
An energy assessment, which includes an analysis of your energy consumption, will reveal how energy is used in your home. Understanding where energy is being used will empower you to make adjustments and improvements that will result in lower energy bills and/or greater comfort..

Understand the energy efficiency of your home
Due to the complexity of homes, the only real way to understand how it is performing is through an energy audit. A comprehensive energy assessment, which includes a complete inspection of all parts of the home, diagnostic testing, modeling/analysis and detailed report, will unravel the mysteries. The exact energy efficiency of your home can be compared to current standards and best practices.

Learn specific ways to improve energy efficiency and lower your bill
Once the comfort and efficiency details of your home are revealed through an energy assessment, recommendations for improving home performance can be formulated and quantified to help you make decisions about which to pursue.

Get connected with valuable resources, home performance contractors and attractive rebates
Understanding your home’s unique characteristics, and which steps to take, enables you to focus your research and discussions with home performance industry services and products professionals. You will specifically be able to ensure that the improvements you target will have the desired outcome. Additionally, you will be able to take advantage of available rebate programs.

Get answers to all questions and help with planning improvements
In addition to the comprehensive report, the energy auditor or rater will answer all your questions and help you get started on the path to improved home performance. This can be particularly helpful in determining how to implement improvements in phases over time.

You can access the original article by visiting the link.

Also called as energy assessment, this process is obviously as important as any other maintenance stuff you do for all the equipment at home that provide comfort, including heating and cooling. There really is no sense in paying for wasted energy, unless of course you don’t mind it. But with energy costs, oil prices, and gas prices getting more and more unpredictable, you’re going to do everything you can to save, including commissioning an energy audit.

Now if you still don’t get it, this video may help you understand what an energy audit does:

Meanwhile, GreenBuildingElements.com, in the article, “Why You Need An Energy Audit,” talks more about the importance of energy audits, including how it works and what it is really meant for.

The Energy Audit Process

An energy audit and home energy rating will consist of a thorough evaluation of your home’s energy consumption and energy flow profile.

The audit will evaluate your local climate setting, solar orientation of your building lot, roof overhangs, window size, quality of your windows and their orientation, insulation levels, air sealing, ventilation, mechanical system operation and efficiency, lighting, carbon monoxide levels, and appliance efficiency.

An Energy Audit Is An Evaluation of Your Home Using Instrumentation

An energy auditor will likely use a blower door system to depressurize your home. Depressurization reveals air leaks where your expensive conditioned (heated or cooled) air is being released to the great outdoors.

The auditor may also use a similar device that will hook to your forced air duct system to show areas where the system is leaking into unconditioned spaces.

Some advanced audits will include a scan of your home with an infrared thermal imager, which will give additional information about shortcomings in your air sealing and insulation.

See the rest of the article here.

In the end, and right after the assessment is done, the energy auditor will then provide you a report of his or her findings. It also comes with a bunch of upgrade recommendations and tips, specifically focused on helping you conserve energy and minimize your expenses. So if that’s not enough convincing for you, we’re not sure what will motivate you from getting an energy audit.