For all your Home Energy Modeling and Consulting Needs!
Home Energy Audits
We offer three levels of audits to fit your budget and required thoroughness.
Home Energy Audits not only identify areas for improvement that will reduce your energy bills, they can also make your home more comfortable and increase indoor air quality as well. For more information on the benefits of Energy Audits, visit the Home Performance with Energy Star website. Please review our options below and let us know how we can help your home become more cozy and less costly! Home Energy Yardstick, Free!
The Home Energy Yardstick is provided by the DOE/EPA Energy Star program for use in determining if your home is in need of an audit to suggest cost effective improvements. Click on the Yardstick to get started, and please give us a call if it reveals you have room to reduce your consumption!
Home Energy Survey, $250.
The Home Energy Survey involves a walk through of your home and analysis of your energy bills (Gas and Electric), with no diagnostic testing included.
We first analyze your heating bills to determine your home's energy intensity in BTU's/Square foot/Heating Degree Day. This metric gives us an idea of your home's improvement potential, and how your home compares to others on a national level. Next, we perform a walk through of the home, recording insulation levels, equipment efficiencies, and any visible signs of air leakage. We will conduct a short interview to determine what if any renovations you may be considering, your budget for any proposed improvements, and provide a report detailing our collected data and recommendations for reducing your energy consumption. Total time at your home is around 2 hours.
Diagnostic Home Energy Audit, $400.
For an additional $150, will utilize our diagnostic equipment to better understand the thermal weak points of your home.
A blower door test provides a precise measure of your homes air leakage, enabling us to determine the cost effectiveness of additional air sealing.
Our IR thermal camera can peer behind your walls to detect missing or improperly installed insulation. When used in conjunction with the blower door, it can also pinpoint areas of air leakage. The IR camera works best with at least a 15 degree indoor/outdoor temperature differential. This audit includes all the features of our Home Energy Survey, and should take around 4 hours to complete on site.
Comprehensive Home Energy Audit, $600.
Our most thorough audit takes the process one step further, by employing software to model the projected energy usage of your home. This removes occupant behavior from the equation, rating the thermal and mechanical characteristics of the home only. By comparing the software projected energy consumption with your actual utility bills, we can determine what effect you as an occupant have on your energy consumption. Often times, the most cost effective improvements are changes to occupant behavior as they cost little to nothing to implement while reaping considerable savings.
The software produces what is called a HERS rating. A HERS rating is a metric used to rate the energy consumption of your home and compare it to a home built to 2006 IECC standards. HERS ratings are presently used to qualify for Energy Efficient Mortgages. We hope they will soon be required for the sale of all homes in order to afford potential buyers a basis for comparing energy consumption between homes.
The Comprehensive Home Energy Audit also includes combustion testing of your mechanical equipment to determine current efficiencies and suggest any repairs or servicing. The combustion appliance zone is tested for strong negative pressures that may inhibit the proper venting of combustion gases, causing pollutants to enter the home. All together, this should take around 6 hours to complete on site.
Please call or e-mail with any questions regarding our array of Home Energy Auditing services.
Phone: (406) 671-6296
Email: prinkkim@aesmt.net
Email: prinkkim@aesmt.net
