What does it take to make your home more energy efficient? An audit will show you problems that may, when corrected, save you significant amounts of money over time. During the audit, you can pinpoint where your house is losing energy. Audits also determine the efficiency of your home's heating and cooling systems. An audit may also show you ways to conserve hot water. A home energy audit is the first step to assess how much energy your home consumes, and to evaluate what measures you can take to cut back on energy use. You can perform a simple energy audit yourself, or have a professional energy auditor carry out a more thorough audit. A professional auditor uses a variety of techniques and equipment to determine the energy efficiency of a structure. Thorough audits often use equipment such as blower doors, which measure the extent of leaks in the building envelope, as well as infrared cameras, which reveal hard-to-detect areas of air infiltration and missing insulation. The following is a discussion of do-it-yourself as well as professional audits. Do-It-Yourself Audits: You can easily conduct a home energy audit yourself. With a simple but diligent "walk-through," you can spot many problems in any type of house. When auditing your home, keep a checklist of areas you have inspected and problems found. This will help you prioritize your energy efficiency upgrades. Locating Air Leaks:Tagi: home energy audits, home energy audit, heating and cooling systems, blower doors, efficiency upgrades, air leaks, energy auditor, infrared cameras, energy efficiency, building envelope, mey, energy use, heating and cooling, hot water, extent, measures
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