How much energy is your house losing? The purpose of a home energy audit (a.k.a. a home energy assessment) is to answer that question. Technicians come to your home and perform an exhaustive examination of various systems to find places where your house consumes excess energy. You might be surprised to learn where you are wasting power, and although the results might be a little intimidating, an energy audit is a starting point for finding new ways to save energy.
G&S Heating, Cooling & Electrical, Inc. takes a “whole house approach” to our services: we offer installation, maintenance, and repair on cooling and heating systems in Lynnwood, WA, as well as electrical services. But we also do energy audits to help our customers live better with improved efficiency. We are proud of the quality we bring to the job: we are members of the Comfort Institute and our energy audit technicians are BPI-certified Building Analysts.
The stages of an energy audit
Customers are often curious about what we do in an energy audit. Here are the basic stages (every audit is different):
- Blower door tests: This test is designed to measure how airtight your home is and find out where you lose heat through air leakage. A blower door is a powerful fan that mounts onto an exterior door and draws air out of the house to lower the indoor air pressure, which in turn causes the outside air to flow inside through any breaks or leaks. Auditors locate these leaks using smoke pencils.
- Thermographic inspection: The auditors measure the surface temperatures of your home with infrared scanning equipment to find where there are thermal defects (heat loss) in your home. They will do this inside and outside your home.
- Ventilation inspection: The auditors will look over your home’s ductwork to locate places where there are breaks, leaks, or dust and dirt build-up.
- Insulation inspection: The auditors see if your insulation levels are where they should be to prevent heat loss and heat entry.
- HVAC inspection and testing: The inspectors will examine your heater and air conditioner to see how efficiently they are using power and if they are draining extra energy.
- Estimate energy use of light and appliances: Since the energy from your lights accounts for 10% of your electric bills, the inspectors will find places where more energy-efficient bulbs could help you save money. They will also look over the efficiency of major appliances.
Professional energy audits
You can find “do-it-yourself energy audit” guides online, but the U.S. Department of Energy advises that you call trained professionals with advanced equipment (like blower doors) to perform the most thorough job. It’s easy to schedule an audit for your Lynwood, WA heating systems and other energy-consuming appliances in your home: just call our specialists at G&S Heating, Cooling & Electrical, Inc. today.
