What’s Involved in a Professional Home Energy Audit

HVAC contractors and licensed energy auditors use tools and equipment that measure heat gain and air infiltration throughout your home’s structure to assess its overall ability to resist temperature change.

The Auditing Process

During the first step of the auditing process, the pro will discuss your family’s characteristics and your home occupancy patterns. Having your last year’s energy bills at hand will help the auditor understand how you use energy.

A blower door is the centerpiece of the energy audit, combined with thermal devices to identify temperatures throughout the structure. The blower door sits inside an exterior door frame and has a large fan that pulls the air outside. Gauges on the door’s frame show how fast and far the pressure drops. A tight home loses pressure quickly, whereas one with air leaks loses it slowly.

Thermal imagery indicates temperature differences and the auditors use it to pinpoint both air leaks and inadequate insulation while the blower door’s fan is running. Orange and red tones indicate warmth, while cooler air shows up as varying shades of blue. The colors vary depending on the season the home energy audit takes place.

Besides assessing your home’s envelope, some auditors visually inspect the HVAC system and its ductwork. An HVAC pro can detect the extent of ductwork leaks and their location that contribute to excessive energy costs. Other common air leaks are found around:

• Window and exterior door frames.
• Places where pipes, wires and cables enter the home.
• The foundation and the attic.
• Chimneys, flues and vent stacks.

At the end of the home energy audit, you’ll have a clear idea about making improvements. Adding insulation and sealing air leaks save energy and are affordable home improvement projects.

Our goal at Sobieski Services is to help our customers in Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware learn more about energy efficiency, savings and home comfort to live in healthier and more comfortable homes.

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