Audits are Good for Us

Let's face it, our homes are one of our biggest investments. There are many things a home inspector can do to help protect your investment, and even help you increase the value of your home, including an Energy Audit. Increased energy efficiency and resource conservation are good for the environment and good for the economy. Indeed, they are good for all of us. A home energy audit will show you how to save money on utility bills, increase the comfort of a home, increase the value of a home, and help improve the environment. An energy audit will examine, measure, and evaluate the factors that affect energy use in a home, finding all energy saving opportunities. The information gathered during the energy audit is analyzed using specialized software to produce a comprehensive Home Energy Tune-uP® Report.
The Report shows which energy-efficiency improvements would reduce energy costs and make the home more comfortable.
The analysis takes into account regional variables such as local weather, implementation costs, and fuel prices.
The Report contains estimates of the savings, costs and payback for each energy-efficiency recommendation.
The Report identifies the group of improvements that, if financed, will save more on energy bills than it costs. These are the improvements that everyone can make since they require no out-of-pocket cost when financed.
The detailed recommendations section enables contractors to provide preliminary cost estimates without a visit to the home.
It also explains how to get the best energy savings from these improvements by listing related no-cost low-cost measures that can be taken.

You can reduce your energy expenditures by developing energy saving habits:
· Showers usually require less hot water than baths. Additional savings can be realized by installing simple water-saving shower heads. This will reduce water consumption, which is good for everyone. The primary benefit is lower heating bills brought about by using less energy to heat less water.
· Use heat-generating appliances such as washers, dryers or ovens during the cooler hours of the morning or evening. This reduces the load on your air conditioner in the summer, and actually helps heat the house in the winter.
· Electric cook tops are energy drains. Use the appropriate burner for your pan size. Also, flat bottom pots make better contact and conduct heat from the elements more efficiently than pots with warped or rounded bottoms.
· Wash only full loads of clothes when possible and clean your dryer's lint filter after every load.
· Consider replacing incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs. Fluorescent bulbs put out approximately four times as many lumens per watt. For example, a 25 watt fluorescent bulb provides as much light as a 100 watt incandescent bulb. Fluorescent bulbs also last about ten times as long!
· In the summer, keep drapes and curtains closed on the sunny side of the house. In the winter, open those drapes and curtains on sunny days to take advantage of the sun's heating power. Close all drapes, blinds or shades at night in winter to make use of their insulating properties.
· Use an exhaust fan to pull excess heat and humidity out of the kitchen and bathroom in the summer. Be aware, however, that exhaust fans can rapidly pull the heat from your house in the winter.
· Perhaps the most often quoted hint for saving energy in the home is to set thermostats at 68° F in the winter and 78° F in the summer.

These How-To's are provided as a service from Lowe's, the Original Home Improvement Warehouse of How-To information for the World Wide Web.