Some “Straight-talk” about Home Energy Audits.

by Dwight Swisher, Maine Certified Home Energy Auditor in the Boothbay Area.

I would like you to consider the following issues, myths, and facts, for your benefit, and for the benefit of your children and grandchildren. I’m writing this to help my neighbors, to help conserve energy, and thereby preserve our future. I’ve worked to become an expert in home energy systems because a tight and well-insulated home conserves energy, is more comfortable, and safer for the occupants and the building. To this point, I invite you to consider the following:

• Convert today’s savings into much larger future savings. Fuel prices are down, but not for long. Most of us looked at last summer’s oil prices, calculated what it was going to cost us to heat our homes, and scrambled to find alternatives to oil! We’ve been given a reprieve, but we could use the “savings” of today’s prices to make improvements that will prepare us for the inevitably high prices to come.
• There’s assistance available to help pay for the audit, and the work on the home.
• Maine State Housing Authority’s Home Energy Loan Program (HELP) offers loans at a low fixed rate for home improvements that increase home energy efficiency. Maine State Housing Authority’s Weatherization Program and Central Heating Improvement Program (CHIP) provide grants to low-income homeowners and renters to reduce energy costs by improving home energy efficiency.. CHIP grants may be used to repair or replace central heating systems.
• There are currently a host of State and Federal tax incentive programs for energy efficiency updates and installations.
• Cold weather is the best time to perform audits. A key tool in the Audit process is infrared scanning. This camera reveals problems best when there is a reasonable temperature difference between inside and outside the home.
• The audit looks way beyond windows: Sure, leaky windows can be part of the problem. But, the greatest heat loss, up to 40% in the average home, is caused by convective losses. We heat the air, and then let it escape through all the faults with the building. The audit process finds, evaluates, and recommends repairs to the building to control airflow. Wouldn’t you like to keep 40% of your heating bill, and be warmer and more comfortable too?
• Myth: I don’t need an auditor, I can find the problems myself. You’ll find some, but no where near all of them. My auditor’s tools and training can find problems that are invisible, and the recommendations are founded in years of research and practical testing.
• Myth: An Audit is just not worth the money. The average home looses about 40% of it’s heat to convective loss (air leaks). Take 40% of your heating bill and see how much that is! Also, air loss is the major cause of very dry air in the home.
• Myth: I plan to sell my home in the near future, so I don’t want to invest in an Audit or in improvements. An energy audit is now recommended for all home sales. If you have one performed, and implement just the most cost effective repairs, you’ll have that as a selling point to help support your price, and will likely recover more than all your costs through energy savings in just one to two years while the market comes back.

Home Energy Auditing is a recognized science. There are 4 central goals we strive for:

• Save Energy. It's too expensive to waste, and waste contributes to climate change.
• Increase Comfort. Within the right temperature and humidity, we are comfortable. A drafty house is not comfortable, nor is a house that's too humid or too dry.
• Improve Air Quality. Controlling moisture and contaminants results in a healthier home environment.
• Promote Building Durability. Moisture in the wrong places rots buildings. Heat in the wrong places causes ice-dams and roof damage.

I provide an independent audit. I work for you, and for your benefit, not for a company that wants to sell you anything. I will give you industry standard costs for the work I recommend, but you are free to get estimates from any contractor. Through observation and measuring techniques, I can profile how much energy your home uses, and where that energy is going, both to useful purposes, like heat, and wasteful, such as heated air lost to leakage. Using a blower-door to de-pressurize the home, I can measure how much heat / AC is leaking from the house. Using an IR (infrared) camera, I can see even hidden air leakage and moisture problems, pinpointing weaknesses in insulation, weatherproofing, or even condensation or moisture within the wall. I even measure the efficiency of your appliances. The audit culminates with a detailed report, showing where your energy is being used, how it can be conserved, and what the costs / alternatives and benefits are in simple, easy to understand terms. I can even help you file for the available grants and loans.

For more information, and some examples of my work, please visit my web site www.mainehousedoctor.com

For more information about the HELP and CHIP programs, visit www.mainehouseing.org

For more information about tax incentives, visit www.energystar.gov and www.efficiencymaine.com