Before purchasing insulation or an energy-efficient furnace/AC, you should start by finding out how energy-efficient your home is or isn’t. The best way to do this is by having a home energy evaluation.
A home energy evaluation or audit is a complete assessment of your home, focusing on finding out if your home meets standard requirements for energy efficiency and otherwise pinpointing parts of your home to prioritize.
In order to evaluate your home, a home energy evaluation takes a look at seven areas that are directly related to your home’s energy efficiency:
- The condition of your air sealing
- Insulation
- Duct work
- Heating and cooling systems
- Water heating
- Lighting
- Windows and doors.
Each of these areas are rated individually for more detailed results.
Having your home evaluated gives you a better understanding of your home’s energy efficiency strengths and weaknesses. With the home energy evaluation, you can better target your home improvement dollars and invest in the upgrades that will yield you the best return. After all, why spend on upgrading your insulation if it was the heater or air conditioner that was in need of upgrading?
The other benefit of a home energy evaluation is the fact that you end up reducing your home’s overall energy consumption, as well as increasing comfort indoors. After pinpointing the problem areas of your home and fixing them, you can expect to see a drop in your monthly electric bill, saving you a significant amount of money over the long term.
Getting your home evaluated is easy; all you have to do is contact a home improvement company that offers the service and schedule a visit from a certified evaluator. This is your first step in making your home more energy-efficient, so the sooner you get it done, the better!
Finding which areas of your home need improvement is good, but what if you don’t have the budget readily available? Check out part 2 for a great solution!
