What Exactly is an Home Energy Audit?

An energy inspection Oregon or audit is designed to assess various aspects of a property, in order to save the customer money on the household energy bill. The efficiency of appliances, mechanical systems, the structure’s envelope and the home’s orientation are evaluated to design the best plan for creating a more energy efficient home. Audits are typically more comprehensive than energy inspections as they incorporate infrared technology, a blower door test and computer analysis, in order to accurately pinpoint problem areas in a home. Short and/or long term plans can be designed. The use of the client’s yearly energy bill is helpful in creating such a plan.

Household appliances and fixtures are assessed by examining their input/output ratio. Typically, Energy Star upgrades are recommended where appropriate (an upgrade can reduce energy usage by 40%) and compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs—these convert about 20% of the electricity flowing through them to light vs. the 5% that incandescent bulbs convert). These decisions are based on the short and long term needs of the homeowner. In addition, the mechanical systems such as the heating/cooling, ventilation and thermostat are also assessed.

One of the most important concerns of the energy inspection Oregon or audit is to assess the structure’s envelope. This refers to the barrier between the interior and exterior environment. The quality of the structure and its ability to maintain temperature efficiently and regulate moisture and air flow are key areas of concern. The energy audit includes inspection of the foundation, roof, walls, doors and windows. The specific condition of the components and the types of materials used is assessed as related to air leakage and to determine the R-factor of these components. (The R-factor refers to the component’s thermal resistance.) Recommendations are then made as to how to improve on the quality of the envelope’s components. These recommendations might include adding insulation, energy efficient windows, sealing doors and windows, insulating the hot water heater and water lines, and sealing and insulating ducts transporting hot and cold air.

The results of the energy audit Oregon include a report of the findings as well as recommendations on how to improve the energy efficiency of the home. Reports generated by an audit normally include infrared photos which document the report findings. Short and long term recommendations are made and yearly follow-up assessments scheduled according to the homeowner’s needs.

Energy Audits Lower Your Bills!

With the economy in such a turmoil, everyone is scrambling to lower utility bills. Utility bills represent a large portion of a monthly budget. Simple changes in what we do, can result in big money and energy savings Oregon.

One of the first steps you should take to reduce your utility bills is to have a household energy audit Oregon done. This audit is often done at no charge by your utility company, or a professional auditor can be hired to do the job. An inspection of your entire home can identify areas where energy is being wasted. Knowing what type of changes can be made, can result in significant savings in the future.

Auditing Insulation

One of the biggest areas where energy is wasted, is in home insulation. Older homes especially lack proper wall and attic insulation.

Auditing your insulation will require evaluating several factors that are unique to your household, and contribute to the energy usage. Homes in cold areas require different types of insulation than homes in warmer climates. Having the proper insulation will result in lower heating and cooling costs. A professional will be able to determine the proper type and amount of insulation you require.

Auditing Doors and Windows

Doors and windows are often an area where there is a large amount of energy leakage. Replacement of leaky, inefficient windows may be expensive, but long term savings can be significant. Your heating and cooling systems will operate much more efficiently if all the leaks in the doors and windows are sealed properly.

Checking for leaks can be done by simply feeling the temperature outside the doors and window, or you can hire a professional to do a thorough check. Crawlspaces and basements also need to be checked for energy leakage.

Auditing the Attics

Attics play a huge role in your heating and cooling bills. Inadequate ventilation and improper insulation can result in higher bills.

Always check to be sure there are no holes in ceilings that could cause air leakage from the interior of the home into the attic. Sealing any holes with reduce your energy consumption significantly.

Hiring a professional energy auditor is a good investment. They will be able to tell you whether fiberglass or foam insulation is a better choice to increase the R factor in your attc.

Auditing Your Fireplace

In recent years, fireplaces have become common in modern homes, especially in the northern climates. The problem with fireplaces is that they allow a large amount of heat loss when not in use. If not sealed properly, heating and air conditioning energy escapes through the chimney. The flue must be properly closed when the fireplace is not in use, so heating and air conditioning cannot escape.

Energy Audits Are Important for Your Home

This heating season, you probably want to save money on your energy use. This is especially true during this winter’s cold snap that has affected much of the country as far south as Miami and Houston. But that might not be the only reason. You might find that your home’s HVAC system is always running hard but can’t adequately heat your home. Or some rooms in your house seem cooler or hotter than others. Maybe you noticed a mold or mildew problem in a room other than your bathroom. Perhaps your water heater can’t keep up with demand. You can fix these problems by starting with a home energy audit Oregon.

How does a home energy audit work?

An energy audit Oregon looks at several specific features of your home. First, it lists the characteristics of your home’s thermal envelope: walls, ceilings, floors, doors, windows, and skylights. Each of these features has a specific R-value, which is a measurement of the resistance to heat flow. The higher the resistance (or R-value), the better the insulative quality. Another factor is the leakage rate or how much outside air infiltrates into your home. Drafty doors and windows are the primary culprits here, however, other features of your home’s construction, age, orientation to the sun, and physical condition will have an effect. A third area to look at is your home’s mechanical system – the heating/ventilation/air conditioning (HVAC) as well as the heating water.

Energy Star provides a Home Energy Yardstick website so you can compare your household’s energy use to the rest of the country. The site is a good place to start and gives some basic recommendations about making home energy efficiency improvements.

Generally, performing your own Oregon energy audit will help you discover most of the major energy usage problems in your house. For example, locating and sealing air leaks will help you save money and make your home more comfortable. An easy way is to wet your hand and then feel for drafts around:

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

No More PLastic Bottles

So just how bad is bottled water? Let’s look at some statistics.

• This year more than 25 billion single use plastic water bottles will be sold in the United States alone and more than 80 percent of those will end up being disposed of rather than being recycled (that’s 20 billion bottles to the landfill Virginia!).

• Over 1.5 million barrels of oil were used to make the plastic bottles consumed in the US last year–and that doesn’t include the petroleum used to transport them.To put that in perspective, that’s enough petroleum to power 100,000 automobiles for a year!

• Drinking out of bottled water actually wastes water, using up to five times as much, and in a world where many people don’t have adequate drinking water, that’s just wrong.

• Bottled water sold across state lines is not necessarily regulated while tap water is strictly regulated so you have no idea what you are drinking when you pop open a cold one.

• Certain plastics have been shown to leach Biphesenol A, a hormone disruptor. While this is not a problem in all bottled water, who’s to say what scientists will find leaching from plastics down the road.

• While some bottles do end up getting recycled, in reality they are downcycled, being turned into other products leaving most new water bottles to require virgin plastic.

• There is a belief that every adult should drink 8 bottles of water a day, a myth most likely created by water retailers. There is no scientific evidence to prove this and while it is important to stay hydrated, this is akin to saying every adult should eat 8.2 pounds of food a day.

Green Home Heating

Although the globe may be warming, we still need to heat our homes once autumn chill sets in. But staying warm doesn’t need to break your bank account or make the planetary problem worse: find out how to reduce your heating bills and your environmental impact with these simple tips.

First, here is a simple To Do List to help get you prepared for heating season:

1. If you have storm windows, get them out of summer storage and wash and install them. (Check out Annie’s super-cheap and effective window washing formula.)

2. Have your furnace cleaned so that it operates at maximum efficiency.

3. Have your chimney and flues cleaned to prevent fires.

4. Dust all your radiators or heating elements: nobody needs the smell of fried dust in their homes once the heat goes on, plus who needs to waste heat warming it up?

Where does a lot of our heat (and money and energy resources) go? Right out the window. Practice these simple, clever strategies for weatherizing your windows instead, so you can let in the light without kissing your heating dollars goodbye or adding a few sizes to your carbon footprint. You’ll learn about energy-saving low-e windows and the best caulks to use–and if you don’t know what a window quilt is, you’ll be glad to find out.

More Tips on Living Green

Being green can be easy after all!

Browse through this list of simple solutions designed to save energy and reduce carbon emissions for the planet, and at the same time save you money.

10 Tips to Save Energy (and Money) in Your Home

A whopping 46 percent of home energy use is, umm, energy loss! In other words, no productive energy use at all! Here are simple ways of reversing this, mostly by changes of habit.
Thanks to climatecrisis.net and The Home Energy Diet (New Society Publishers, 2005), for many of the carbon savings figures.

1. Each degree you turn down the heat saves 3 percent of heating costs, while each degree you raise the temperature of your air conditioner saves 3-4 percent of cooling costs. By changing the temperature by 2 degrees all year, you can save about 2,000 pounds of C02 a year.

2. Cook with a slow cooker or a toaster oven (or even a solar oven!) to reduce electrical use from kitchen appliances. For a meal that requires one hour to cook in an electric oven, and which uses 2.7 pounds of C02, a crockpot uses 0.9 pounds of C02 for seven hours, a toaster oven takes 1.3 pounds of C02 for 50 minutes, and a microwave only 0.5 pounds of C02 for 15 minutes of cooking. A solar cooker requires NO C02!

3. Switch to a laptop instead of using a desktop computer and cut three-quarters off your electrical use. Turn off the laptop at the end of the day.

4. Switch to cold water washing and save 80 percent on energy used for laundry and save an estimated $60 a year. Hang dry your clothes instead of using the dryer and save 700 pounds of C02 a year.

5. Plug anything that can be powered by a remote control or that has a power cube transformer (little black box) into a power strip, and turn it off, and/or unplug, when not in use. (Power cubes are 60-80 percent inefficient.)

Energy Audits for Your Home

Every house and lifestyle, is different. It’s safe to say that climate and location are primary factors in how your home performs. The other major factor is how you use energy in your home. When combined with information about local weather, the home’s thermostat settings, as well as energy bills for a 12 month period (24 is more accurate), an energy audit Bend can render a more accurate picture of how your home uses energy.

Unless you already have a few years experience of belly-crawling the dusty, cramped spaces of your home to weather-seal it, you should consider having a professional visit and perform an energy audit. Now you might think all an energy auditor does is seal a fan onto your front door and then prowl your house looking for drafts. Sure, they might perform this test, but not only do you get the benefit of their years of training and experience, you also gain from a fresh perspective.

Professionals can often see things you have overlooked that can help you save on your energy costs and be more energy efficient. For example, a slight discoloration along a corner of your living room wall might indicate an unsealed gap in your home’s framing that lets in cold air and moisture. This and other hidden heat loss can also be detected with heat-sensitive cameras, a tool most homeowners don’t own.

A qualified energy auditor Bend can also give you an informed choice of options. Some fixes might just require a tube of $4.00 caulk to save you $100.00 in energy costs. Some fixes might be more expensive but can be done over time. An energy auditor can make recommendations for improvements and solutions based on what they learn about your living habits, needs, and budget. This can include efficient low-wattage lighting fixtures, getting the best insulation for your buck, as well was Energy Star rated appliances and upgrades so you can take advantage of both Federal and State rebate offers.

Remember, not only will an energy audit Bend show you where to start saving money to heat your home this winter but it will identify cooling problems that cost you during the hot summer months. But whether or not you decide to do it yourself or consult a professional, you should do it as soon as possible so you can identify your home’s problems and develop a plan of action. After all, making your home energy efficient not only saves money, energy, and natural resources, it also makes your home more comfortable and enjoyable for you and your family.

Health, Parenting, and Time Benefits of Going Green

(3) Health Benefits of Going Green

By cleaning with homemade cleaners and carefully disposing of hazardous household waste, we removed many toxic items from our home very inexpensively. By eating organic, local produce available through a CSA and avoiding plastic in our kitchen, we are ingesting fewer pesticides and harmful chemicals. And we have seen the difference in our health.

Richard used to get show stopping migraines on a regular basis. Those have ceased. I used to get a sinus infection several times a year. Those have also ceased. We feel better than we did when we first met, even though we are now ten years older. That is a true benefit!

(4) Parenting Benefits of Going Green

Although our family approaches going green together (thus our tagline!), I was really surprised by the parenting benefits of going green. Making our life more eco-friendly has allowed us fabulous opportunities to talk about important concepts like sharing or taking turns in a real world context. Empathy, patience, and thoughtfulness — skills that parents want their children to have — get lots of practice when going green.

I’ve also treasured the opportunity to slow down and experience nature with my children. There is an amazing world all around us. Taking the time to see it and talk about it with my children has been incredible.

(5) Time Management Benefits of Going Green

When we think about how our weekends used to be so rushed, we wonder how we maintained that pace for so long. We used to rush from store to store, running our errands and preparing for the week. There were groceries to be bought, drycleaning to be dropped off, items to be purchased. I get tired just thinking about it!

Now Saturday mornings usually start with buttermilk pancakes, made from scratch. (Try Alton Brown’s recipe – it is our favorite!) We hang out reading library books or playing games. If it is a nice day, we work in the yard while the girls play. No more racing from store to store for us!

And less stuff inside our house means less to tidy up and less to clean. Reducing our consumption has given us more time in several ways!