Home Energy Audit Will Reduce Utility Bills

Complete A Do-It-Yourself Home Energy Audits

It is very easy to conduct a home energy audit yourself. With a simple, yet diligent and through walkthrough, you can detect many problems in any type of house that can help you save on utility bills. When you are auditing your home for energy use, be sure to keep a checklist of areas you have inspected and all the problems you found. This list you keep will help you with prioritizing your energy efficiency upgrades.

Locating Air Leaks

First, be sure to make a list of obvious air leaks (drafts). The potential energy and utility bill savings from reducing drafts in your home may range from 5% to 30% per year, and your home will generally be much more comfortable afterward. Check for any indoor air leaks, such as cracks or gaps along the baseboard, at junctures of the walls and ceiling, and at the edge of the flooring. Check to see if any air can flow around or through these places:

• Electrical outlets
• Wall- or window-mounted air conditioners.
• Switch plates
• Window frames
• Baseboards
• Weather stripping around doors
• Fireplace dampers
• Attic hatches

Also be on the lookout for any gaps around wires and pipes, foundation seals, electrical outlets, and mail slots. Check to ensure that both the weather stripping  and caulking are applied properly, which should leave no gaps or cracks, and be sure that they are in good condition.

You need to inspect your windows and doors for air leaks. Check to see if you can rattle them, since any type movement means possible air leaks. If you can see any sunshine or daylight around a door or window frame, then the door or window leaks, which means you are wasting money on higher utility bills. You can usually seal these gaps and leaks by applying some caulk or weather stripping around them. Be sure to check the storm windows to ensure that they are fit and are not broken. You may also consider replacing your older doors and windows with newer, more energy efficient, higher-performance windows. However, even if new factory-made doors or windows are too costly for you, you can install low-cost plastic sheets over the windows to save on utility bills.

If you are having difficulty locating leaks in your house, you may want to conduct a basic building pressurization test:

• First, you need to close all exterior windows, doors, and fireplace flues.
• Then shut off all combustion appliances such as gas burning furnaces and water heaters.
• Last, turn on all of your exhaust fans (generally located in the kitchen and bathrooms) or you can use a large window fan to suck the air out of the rooms.

This simple, yet effective test increases infiltration through gaps, cracks and leaks, making them easier to detect. You can then use incense sticks or just damp hand to locate these leaks. If you use incense sticks to detect leaks, moving air will cause the smoke to waver. If you decide to use your damp hand to detect leaks, any drafts will feel cool to your hand.

On the exterior of your home, you need to inspect all areas where two different building materials meet, including:

• Where the chimney and siding meet
• All exterior corners
• Areas where the foundation and the bottom of exterior brick or siding meet.

You should caulk and plug holes, gaps, or penetrations for pipes, faucets, all electric outlets, and wiring. Look for holes and cracks in the foundation, mortar, and siding, and seal them with the appropriate material to help save on bills. Check the exterior caulking around your windows and doors, and check to see whether all exterior storm doors and primary doors seal tightly.

Insulation

Heat loss through the walls, floor, and ceiling in your home could be very large if the insulation levels are not adequate, and less than the recommended minimum. When your home was first built, the homebuilder likely installed the amount of insulation recommended at that time. Given today's high, and increasing, utility bill prices (and future prices that will probably be higher), the level of insulation in your home might be inadequate, especially if you have an older, less sturdy home.

If the attic hatch is located above a conditioned space, you need to check to determine if it is at least as heavily insulated as the attic, closes tightly, and is weather stripped. In the attic space, then determine whether openings for items such as ductwork, pipes, and chimneys are sealed. Seal any cracks or gaps with an expanding foam caulk or some other type of permanent sealant.

While you are inspecting your home attic, you need to check to determine if there is a vapor barrier under the attic insulation. The vapor barrier might be tarpaper, a plastic sheet, or Kraft paper attached to fiberglass batts. If there does not appear to be a vapor barrier there, you should consider painting the interior ceilings with a vapor barrier paint. This will reduces the amount of water vapor that can pass through the ceiling. Large amounts of moisture can promote structural damage and reduce the effectiveness of insulation.

You should always be sure to make sure that the attic vents are not blocked by insulation. Be sure to seal any electrical boxes in the ceiling with flexible caulk (from the attic side or living room side) and then cover the entire attic floor with at least the current recommended amount of insulation.

Checking your homes wall insulation level is more difficult. First, select an exterior wall and turn off the circuit breaker or be sure to unscrew the fuse for any outlets in the wall. Then test the outlets to make certain that they are not on or "hot." You can check the outlet by plugging in a functioning lamp or portable radio. Once you are sure your outlets are not “hot” and are not getting any electricity, then remove the cover plate from one of the outlets and gently probe into the wall with a screwdriver or thin, long stick. If you encounter any type of slight resistance, you have some insulation there. Another way to check is to make a small hole in a closet, behind a couch, or in some other unobtrusive place to see what the wall cavity is filled with. In a perfect world, the wall cavity should be totally filled with some form of insulation material. However, unfortunately, this method will not tell you if the entire wall is insulated, or if the insulation has settled. Only a thermographic inspection can determine this for sure.

If your basement is not heated, you then need to determine whether there is insulation under the living area flooring. In most areas of the nation, an R-value of 25 is the recommended minimum level of insulation. The insulation at the top of the foundation wall and first floor perimeter should have an R-value of 19 or greater. If your basement is in fact heated, the foundation walls should be insulated to at least R-19. Your hot water pipes, water heater, and furnace ducts should all be insulated.

Heating/Cooling Equipment Can Lead to Big Utility Bill Savings

Inspect cooling and heating equipment annually, or at minimum as often as recommended by the manufacturer. If you have a forced-air furnace, always check your filters and then replace them as needed. Generally, you should change these filters at least every other month especially during periods of high usage to help save on energy bills. You can also decide to have a professional clean and check clean your equipment once a year.

If the heating and cooling unit is more than 15 years old, you can consider replacing your system with one of the newer, more energy-efficient and utility bill saving units. A new unit would greatly reduce your energy consumption, especially if the existing equipment is in poor condition, and help you save on energy bills. Also, check your ductwork for dirt streaks, especially near seams. These will indicate air leaks, and they should be sealed with a duct mastic. Insulate all pipes or ducts that travel through unheated spaces. An insulation R-Value of 6 is the recommended minimum.

Save on Lighting

Energy for lighting will account for about 10% of your utility bill. Examine the wattage size of the light bulbs that you use in your house. You may have 100-watt (or larger) bulbs where a 60 or 75 watts light would do. You should also consider compact fluorescent lamps for any areas where lights are on for hours at a time. Your electric utility company may also offer rebates or other incentives for purchasing energy-efficient light or lamps.