When the cold winter weather sets in, you want to make sure that your home is ready to take on the chillier temperatures. While getting heating maintenance service is a great way to help prepare your heating system, you don’t want to stop there. In fact, there are many different things you can do when performing a simple home energy audit to see where you can improve to enhance the efficiency of your heating system.
What Is a Home Energy Audit?
A home energy audit is a great way to discover areas of your home that are inefficient. This will allow you to determine what energy-efficient solutions you can implement to help make your home even more efficient. The more efficient your home is, the lower your heating and energy bills will be throughout the year. Plus, a more efficient home means a reduction in your family’s carbon footprint.
There are two different styles of energy audits that you can get for your home. The first is a DIY assessment where you personally walk around your home and check its different features to determine where you can make efficiency improvements. We’ll go into more detail about how to perform this type of assessment below.
Seal Up Air Leaks
One of the best places to start with by finding and fixing air leaks. These tend to develop on the exterior walls of your home as your home settles in the ground over time. The most common places you’ll find leaks are around frames for doors and windows. You can easily seal up these leaks with caulking or a good piece of weatherstripping. It can also be beneficial to check the light switches and outlets on your exterior walls to see if they’re letting cold air seep in. If they are, consider adding a foam insert pad to help restrict airflow and better insulate your home.
Examine Your Insulation
Insulation plays a very important role in helping to create a barrier between the temperature outside and the temperature inside your home. If your home lacks insulation or doesn’t have insulation with a high enough R-value, it could be contributing to a massive amount of heat loss through your floors, walls, and ceilings. As part of your home energy audit, you should inspect the insulation in your home.
It can be helpful to read the R-value rating located on the backing of batt insulation. A quick search online will review what the recommended R-value is for your area of the country. If the current insulation in your home doesn’t meet or exceed what’s recommended, then you should consider upgrading your insulation. If you have loose-fill insulation, check to see if it’s sitting below the attic joists. If so, consider adding additional insulation so it sits proud of the joists. If there are any areas of missing insulation, be sure to fill those in as well.
Assess Your Lighting Types
The lighting that you use throughout your home typically accounts for about 10% of your annual electricity bill. One of the best ways to help shave down the cost of lighting is to use more energy-efficient fixtures and bulbs. As you examine your home, look for any rooms that are still using incandescent lighting. These bulbs are extremely inefficient and should be replaced with LED lighting. In fact, LED lighting is typically up to 90% more efficient and lasts 25 times longer than incandescent bulbs.
HVAC System Check
A very important part of your home during the winter months is your heating system. Apart from getting professional maintenance service, it’s necessary to check its filter as part of your home energy audit. Hold the filter up to a light source and look through it. If you can see through it, it still has a usable lifespan. If you can’t, then it needs to be replaced with a fresh filter. If you’re concerned about the quality of air inside your home, you may want to consider upgrading to a filter with a higher Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value (MERV) rating, as it offers more filtering capability.
Identify Phantom Power Loss
Any devices that are plugged into an outlet will draw phantom power, even if the device is turned off. Over time, this phantom power can add up and end up increasing your energy bills. While it isn’t very efficient for you to plug and unplug devices, there is another option. You can identify areas in your home where you can install a smart plug or power strip. This will allow you to monitor the energy usage on your smartphone or tablet and set times for when the smart plug or power strip should be turned completely off. This will eliminate phantom power draws and help to greatly reduce your energy bills throughout the entire year.
Assess Your Existing Appliances
A modern-day house has a plethora of appliances. From the basics of a clothes washer and dryer to tankless water heaters and smart fridges, there are many different appliances that you likely rely on as part of your everyday life. As part of your home energy assessment, it can be helpful to examine each appliance. Take a look at its age, its overall condition, and ensure it’s operating correctly. If you have any appliances that don’t have an ENERGY STAR rating, you may want to consider upgrading. Those with an ENERGY STAR rating are going to be the most efficient appliances that will help to lower your energy bills. Old and outdated appliances can continually run up your energy bills as the years go by.
Look for Areas to Integrate Smart Technology
Smart technology is one of the best ways to help make different parts of your home more energy efficient. It’s fairly easy to install and provides instant energy savings. As you’re walking through the different rooms of your home, look for areas where you can integrate smart technology. For example, if you don’t have a smart thermostat, consider upgrading to one. It will allow you to be more efficient with your energy usage and be better informed by monitoring your usage.
The Importance of a Professional Energy Audit
While it’s definitely cheaper to do a home energy audit yourself, you should never solely rely on your own assessment. It’s best to schedule a professional energy audit at least once a year. A professional will be able to use a variety of different tools to help identify problematic areas in your home. Some of these tools include an infrared camera, digital probe thermometer, moisture meter, draft gauge, and so much more. A professional audit will be more in-depth and you’ll receive a conclusive report. This report will designate problem areas and make suggestions on how to improve their efficiency.
Reliable Home Energy Audit Service
Environmental Heating & Air Solutions offers reliable home energy audit services for the Roseville, CA community. We can also help with all your heating, air conditioning, indoor air quality, plumbing, blower door testing, attic fan, house fan, home automation, emergency service, home insulation, and home zoning system needs. Call us today to schedule your next service consultation with one of our helpful professionals.
