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What home energy audits achieve and how much you will save?

Is your electric bill stressing you out every month? Consider some energy-efficient ideas for your home, but where to start? Contact SolarWerks for a professional home energy solar audit.
Home energy audits are very useful in determining where and how you can save. Home energy audits can cost a few hundred dollars, and you still need to invest in energy saving solutions, but is all this worth the saving? Here are the facts.

Home energy audits benefits:

• SolarWerks home energy audit inspects your home and determines the energy uses and advises what you can do to reduce the energy use by being more energy-efficient. Solar panels for home use are suited to provide all the solar energy your home requires to function.
• Imagine that besides the savings and lower electricity usage, a huge benefit is that solar energy lowers the carbon footprint on Earth, so you are doing the environment a favor too. Solar panels for your home will add value to your home. Enjoy a more eco-friendly lifestyle.
• Home energy audits done by professional energy experts range from $100 to $500, however depending on the size of your home it can cost $1000 or more.
• To get your house energy efficient, you have to invest money in energy-saving devices and upgrades. You can expect to save up to 30% of your electricity costs, depending on the size of solar panels. More panels or larger panels will save you more money.

What does a home energy audit consist of?

Also known as a “home energy assessment”, a home energy audit is the same. The audit should be carried out by a professional energy auditor. The energy assessment auditor will walk through your house and test different aspects. Here are some of the basic energy audit tests:

• Checking for air leakages or holes in doorways by using the blower door test
• Thermography with infrared cameras is used to measure the temperature of a surface to identify hot and cold spots and to locate air leaks in your floorboards and fireplace or furnace
• Indoor health screenings are also performed to check for carbon monoxide and mold signs
• HVAC system efficiency test to look for air leaks
• After the inspection, the auditor will know how your home uses electricity and what areas are problematic and what energy upgrades are required.

What is the cost of a professional home energy audit?

The cost of home energy audits ranges from $100 to $500, however, some homeowners pay up to $1000 or more depending on the size and scope of their property.
Home energy audits are usually billed on a per-square-foot basis and the prices range from $0,10 per square foot to around $0,40 per square foot. That means that larger homes will cost considerably more than small homes.

Certain tests, like a blower test, will add cost to the audit if it was not initially included in the quote. Make sure you understand exactly what you are paying for.

Timing is crucial as to when you do the audit and implement the energy-saving strategies. It would be beneficial for you to do the energy upgrades before the season in which your highest energy consumption is, based on the area where you live. These are just some influences that you should bear in mind when deciding when to have the home energy audit performed and when to install the upgrades to energy efficiency.

How much savings will I get with a home energy audit?

As mentioned above, you can save up to 30% a month on average, although this saving could be higher or lower depending on the extent of your energy-saving methods. A 30% saving means that an electric bill of $150 would now only cost you $105, so that equates to saving $45 a month.

The benefits of a home energy audit

By investing in a home energy audit you will benefit in numerous ways:

Lower energy consumption and therefore lower costs

Electricity comes from fossil fuels, so if you use less energy from the grid you will be using fewer fossil fuels. This means that you are lowering your carbon footprint and living a greener, more eco-friendly, and sustainable lifestyle.

By having a home energy audit done, you will find things you may not have noticed if you had not done the audit. The audit will pick up on any safety issues in your heating and cooling systems and will also uncover any mold and mildew issues that you were not aware of, allowing you the opportunity to repair these and create a healthier and safer environment in your home.

You may notice changes in the temperature of your home due to drafts or insulation problems which you can remedy immediately to reduce your energy consumption and stabilize your home’s temperature.

Energy-saving devices, appliances, and strategies will increase the value of your home. Repair the insulation and add other energy-saving fixtures and hardware such as LED light bulbs and even energy-saving windows to help to keep the temperature of your home controlled.

Is it worth the money to have a home energy audit?

A DIY home energy audit is not a bad idea. You can identify what is using the most energy and can find ways to combat this. You can do most basic upgrades such as changing to LED light bulbs and discontinuing using unnecessary lights and appliances that are wasting your energy. Doors and windows can also be upgraded to help control the temperature in your home so that you use less of the heating or cooling systems.

Some older homes are more complex for a DIY home energy audit so it would probably be in your best interest to hire a SolarWerks professional auditor to do an audit. Older homes may have structural deterioration, drafts, and mold issues and therefore have higher energy loss.

It is also a good idea to hire a professional and experienced home energy auditor when purchasing a home, to find potential causes of energy loss and problems that you were not aware of. You can then incorporate these issues into the renovating that you want to do to get your home move-in ready. This is also useful when selling your home so that you can sell your home with the added benefits of energy savers for new buyers.

No matter if you hire a professional or go the DIY route, you will save energy and costs. Enjoy the added benefit of a healthier and safe home with energy-saving strategies.
For further energy-saving costs, home solar panels are an excellent source of energy thanks to the sun. This will dramatically reduce your energy consumption and make it possible for your home to go completely off the grid.