What’s an energy audit and why consider one for your home or business? We’ll dive into FAQs about this process that has the potential to save you money.
Energy audits are one of the best ways for homeowners and business owners alike to lower their energy bills, reduce their energy consumption, and save on energy costs
We’re going to unpack this piece by piece, and by the end you’ll know what an energy audit is, why energy audits are important for both energy efficiency and energy savings, and how you can set up an energy audit for yourself
What Is an Energy Audit?
An energy audit refers to an assessment of a building’s energy use, typically carried out by a professional, though do-it-yourself (DIY) options are available.
The results of an energy audit can be used to identify problem areas in a building, such as air leaks, improper weatherization, or problems with a building’s heating system or cooling system
The end result of an energy audit is a plan for how to improve the energy efficiency of a building, and ultimately bring down the cost of utility bills
Why Is an Energy Audit Important?
Whether you’re a homeowner or a business owner, energy costs likely represent a substantial portion of your monthly budget. Reducing those energy bills provides much-needed energy savings, but it also improves energy efficiency, which is especially important as we continue to transition to cleaner energy
Energy audits are a great first step toward making a plan for how to improve the energy performance of your house or business. An energy audit can provide a list of potential energy efficiency improvements, as well as energy efficiency upgrades
What Does an Energy Audit Consist Of?
An energy audit isn’t as simple as walking through your home and noting drafty windows – though that wouldn’t be a bad place to start. Rather, energy audits involve specialized equipment and methodologies to best assess just how energy efficient your home or business really is
Often, infrared cameras are used to help the energy auditor determine the flow of energy in the home. These cameras are able to identify potential problem areas in a building by visually showing locations of notably high or low temperatures
Blower doors are another bit of specialized equipment favored by energy auditors. Auditors will often conduct a blower-door test, which involves setting up a special rig in an exterior door that has pressure sensors and a two-way fan attached.
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After all the windows, doors, flues, and exhaust fans in the home are closed, the auditor can use the blower door to blow air into the otherwise sealed house, or blow air out of it. The benefit of these procedures can inform the auditor how well-insulated the home is and give a better picture of the way energy flows in the building
An energy audit doesn’t end there, though. A professional energy auditor will often look over past utility bills, and cross-reference those bills with weather records to get a better idea of home performance. Additionally, the local climate, as well as the kind of sunlight the building receives, are taken into account
What Is an Energy Audit Checklist?
With so many potential areas for energy efficiency improvement in either a home or business, energy auditors will often use checklists to organize their recommendations to the home or business owner.
These checklists can go room by room, and will note which parts of the building are efficient and which aren’t — and need improvements.
Professional energy auditors aren’t the only ones who can benefit from checklists. If you’re going the DIY route, resources like this checklist can help you figure out where to start and how to proceed with your home energy audit
What Are the Four Types of Commercial Energy Audits?
Energy audits can vary, depending on the needs of the client. An energy-intensive manufacturing business will have a markedly different perspective on an energy audit than, say, a small business
The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) has grouped energy audits into three different categories, although in practice a fourth is used as well. As you look through this brief list, keep in mind that each successive category is more thorough — and therefore more expensive — than the category before it
Level 0: Benchmark Testing
This is sometimes referred to as Level 0, and it involves comparing the energy consumption and energy use of the building in question to “benchmarks,” or average levels of energy consumption and energy use in similar buildings
Level 0 energy audits aren’t part of ASHRAE’s categories, but they are used in practice by companies that are interested in deciding whether or not to proceed to more serious energy audits
Level 1: Walk-Through Audit
The goal of a walk-through energy audit is to get a general idea of the energy flows and overall energy performance of a building. The walk-through might entail brief interviews of employees and an assessment of prior utility bills
The goal of this level of commercial energy audit is to identify the easiest (and least expensive) ways to quickly improve the energy performance of a building. If there’s a glaring problem, this energy audit is likely to catch it
Level 2: Detailed Energy Audit
This type of energy audit involves everything mentioned in levels 0 and 1, but it goes further in its analysis. This might involve additional interviews with personnel on site, or more rigorous testing of problem areas
This level of energy audit could also involve helping the business owner look to find cheaper wholesale electricity rates, if available
Level 3: Investment-Grade Audit
A level 3 audit is as high as ASHRAE’s categories go, and it’s the most rigorous — and pricey — option available to a business owner. In this type of commercial energy audit, energy auditors produce, analyze, and provide data to help recommend what can often be expensive capital investments
Typically, this level of commercial audit will only be undertaken if previous levels have identified problem areas that, if fixed, could provide the business with substantial energy savings
How Do I Get a Home Energy Audit?
If you’re more concerned with the energy usage in your own home, rather than a commercial space, then a home energy audit (or home energy assessment) is the right choice for you
Think of a home energy audit as a type of home improvement project. Like any home improvement project, you have the option to seek the services of a professional — in this case, a home energy auditor — or you can go the do-it-yourself route
Note that a professional energy audit typically uses high-tech equipment to perform the blower-door test, or reveal temperature gradients with infrared cameras. It’s unlikely that you’ll have that equipment laying around, so if you’re going the DIY route, your energy savings at the end of the process might be less substantial than if you sought out a professional
How Should I Prepare for My Energy Audit?
If you’re thinking of scheduling a home energy assessment, chances are good that you already know some of the problem areas in your home. Make a note of these places — air leaks or drafty windows, for example — and provide those notes to your home auditor
You should also put together as many of your energy bills as possible. As you do this, take a look to see if you notice any patterns in your energy usage, or the overall energy performance of your house
How Can an Energy Audit Save Me Money?
So you got an energy audit — now what? Whether it was a commercial energy audit or a home energy assessment, you’re now armed with a list of both problems and solutions
Some of these solutions will likely be low-cost, like replacing incandescent light bulbs with more energy-efficient ENERGY STAR LED lights, or programming your thermostat to turn off your HVAC system when your home or business is unoccupied
It’s also possible that your energy auditor will have some more expensive suggestions for you, like replacing or upgrading your insulation with a material that has a higher R-value. Upgrading your home insulation does have an upfront cost, but it can pay for itself many times over during the lifetime of your home or business in the form of lower energy costs
You might also discover that some of your home appliances are energy hogs. If that’s the case, consider that you can actually save money in the long run by upgrading older energy appliances. The U.S. Department of Energy and many states have rebate programs to help homeowners do just that
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Should I Get an Energy Audit?
This is ultimately a question only you can decide, but if you’ve been noticing a rise in your utility bills recently, or find yourself constantly bumping the thermostat up to help combat a draft, an energy audit could be a great first step towards energy conservation in your home or business
There are a number of different types of energy audits, and there’s no need to rush right to the most rigorous option. Instead, you can look at some benchmark testing of your commercial space, or a DIY start to your home energy audit.
If you notice that your energy use is much higher than you’d like it to be, that’s a good time to reach out to a professional energy auditor for help. They’ll be able to more accurately assess your home or business’s energy problems, and provide a list of potential energy-efficiency improvements or upgrades
Energy costs never leave our monthly budgets, so it’s a good idea to try and reduce energy usage to help save money every month. An energy audit doesn’t lock you into any specific decisions, but it can arm you with all the information you’ll need to decide what to do next to improve your home’s energy performance. That can be money very well spent
For more information about energy topics like this one, be sure to check out the Tara Energy blog
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