Housing accounts for 20% of total US energy use with heating a cooling consuming a whopping 44% of residential energy use.

Home Energy Audits or Home Energy Assessments can help pinpoint energy problems in your home and offer you fixes that will save you energy and money. These professionals should provide you with analysis of your home, a list of items that need fixing, the cost to fix them, and the estimated cost savings.

We recently had a Home Energy Audit done, to comply with the Energy Upgrade California Rebate Program. Being environmentally conscious, we wanted to ensure everything in to save energy.

SDI Energy Audit November 2011

We had to choose a contractor that was on the approved list for Energy Upgrade California. SDI of Burlingame, California was selected because they seemed pretty thorough, knew about the rebates, and were priced reasonably at $500.

The company was pretty thorough with their energy audit and performed the following tests:

1. We provided statistics regarding our home, including one year of PG&E bills
2. They photographed and mapped out the entire house
3. We voiced our concerns over problem areas and upgrade interests
4. They identified all air vents and sealed them to perform duct pressure test. This checks to see how much our ducts leak by blowing air into the return
5. Gas and carbon monoxide leak tests – appliances, water heater, heater, stove. This actually found a leak by the water heater and the heater, which PG&E fixed for free.
6. They performed a 64 point combustion safety test
7. Combustion gas test with all fans turned on, doors set to worst case, they attempted to find whether gases or carbon monoxide was being emitted by our gas burning appliances. This test found that some of our stove top burners were emitting carbon monoxide. We had them check by a pro.
8. They checked the walls, attic, and floorboards for insulation
9. They used a pressure and flow gauge to measure how much air was flowing in and out of the home
10. Blower test – with all windows closed, fans off, they checked how leaky our home was
11. Crawl space inspection. Checking for insulation, noting whether rodents were present, and looking for plumbing penetrations
12. Checking the amount of air exchanges our receives. Adequate fresh air is important

In the end, they offered some useful suggestions including additional insulation and weather stripping. We were interested in replacing our 20 year old central gas forced air furnace, so they went back to analyze the costs and benefits of doing so. In contrast to an energy audit the previous year, SDI did not have equipment to look inside walls like a borascope. The criteria that they used was similar. Our home performed better than expected, probably due to all the changes we have made over the years.

Recurve Energy Audit 2010

Previously we had an energy audit performed by Recurve.

They where formerly known as Sustainable spaces. We had a 50% off coupon which made the decision to use them easier. Their normal price is $750.  We feel that the price should be a lot cheaper or free considering they want to sell you items.  Before the audit, we sent them the last years gas and power bills.

They had a team of people mapping out the layout of the house with laser measuring equipment, this generates information for their energy internal modeling software.

Recurve used a borascope to look inside our walls and check for insulation.

They ventured deep into our crawlspace to check out our heating and ventilation.

This found many interesting holes in our floor like this one. Every wire or cable that is run helps turn your floor into Swiss cheese.

A Fluke Thermal Imager was used to look at our walls and ceiling for insulation and possible heat leaks using infrared technology.  It is hard to rip up walls to add insulation but they make it clear that future remodels should incorporate more insulation. A $50 Black & Decker Thermal Leak Detector can help you pinpoint air leaks the DIY way.

Air vents were covered during their air blower tests.

Checking airflow at the vents with a balometer.

Checking heating equipment, operation, make, model.

Recessed light fixtures can be a source of heat loss.

Air blower test with conduct in this special apparatus in our front door.

A couple days after the odd results were sent over to us. They detailed where energy was being lost in our home. The energy audit then suggested how to mitigate these problems.

This report examined our heating equipment and made some recommendations. They found some broken air vents, and asbestos in heating boots. Our home was relatively well sealed resulting in less air changes than suggested.

In the end, we found the home energy audit to be useful in analyzing our home’s energy profile. Recurve focused mostly on our heating – HVAC needs. The firm made several recommendations, many of which were very pricey. No return on investment information was provided. Clearly they make their money on repairs not on doing the audit itself. They should have provided some basic information on how to save energy and how things tie into our solar power system. We had several drafty areas that did not receive the analysis we asked for.

We tried to contact them for some followup work and they never returned our emails.

Here are some certifications to look for in a firm:

RESNET or Residential Energy Services Network certification means the firm has been trained and demonstrated technical proficiency.

BPI or Building Performance Institute Accredited companies have completed rigorous training, administered by a network of affiliates, in home performance evaluation focusing on this house-as-a-system concept.

Be sure to read our article: Ways to Save Energy, Money on your energy bill

A reminder that there is a Federal Tax Credits for Consumer Energy Efficiency on Qualifying Insulation. If you have been thinking about replacing these items, you might as well upgrade now and save some money. Improve the R-value of attic, wall, and crawl space insulation.

For 2011, the Federal Tax Credit for energy efficiency drops to 10%, up to a $500 maximum. (2010 Federal Tax Credit information)

• 10% up to $500 for insulation, roofs, and doors
• Existing home and principal residence.   New construction and rentals do not qualify.
• Expires December 31, 2011

Insulation must meet 2009 IECC & Amendments. Rebate does not cover installation/labor costs. Do it yourself-ers can also get the credit.

Typical bulk insulation products can qualify, such as batts, rolls, blow-in fibers, rigid boards, expanding spray, and pour-in-place.

Using blown fiberglass insulation is one of the best methods of energy efficiency for the home. Proper insulation using this keeps rooms tightly sealed, as compared to the old standard of fiberglass sheets, or batts. Spray foam is the fiberglass industry’s newest product that does not contain harmful chemicals. Though the cost of blowing fiberglass into wall cavities is 40% more than utilizing the traditional batts, using spray foam is  up to 50% cheaper. The overall energy savings of the home will offset the higher insulation costs over several years.

Weatherize your home. Products that air seal (reduce air leaks) can also qualify, as long as they come with a Manufacturers Certification Statement, including:

• Weather stripping
• Spray foam in a can, designed to air seal
• Caulk designed to air seal
• House wrap

Energy Star has a store location finder to help you find local dealers.

The 2011 tax credit reverted to  2005-2008 levels. Anyone who previously took advantage of the program can’t apply for incentives that exceed $500.  IE If you claimed $500 between 2005 – 2008 on a previous energy efficiency project, or at least $500 tax credit from 2009 – 2010, you are ineligible for the 2011 energy efficiency tax credit.

If you used say $200 of the $500 energy efficiency tax credit from 2005 – 2008, and did not utilize the 2009 – 2010 energy efficiency tax credit, you would still have a $300 credit available.

Federal Energy Efficiency Tax Credit on Qualifying biomass fuel stoves or Wood Heat Stoves, Pellet Stoves, Fireplace Inserts.  There is also a Federal Tax Credit for Energy Efficiency on Water Heaters, Wood Heat Stoves, Pellet Stoves, Furnaces and Boilers, Geo-Thermal Heat Pumps, Windows, Doors, and Skylights.

Double dip! Local utilities like PG&E have their own rebates for Energy Efficient Appliances. To find out if rebates or other incentives are available in your area, visit the ENERGY STAR Rebate Finder.

See: Weatherize your home – Fix Leaky Ducts – Reducing Air Leaks

Here are some free resources to help you save money on your home’s energy bill. Hiring a local firm to do a home energy audit would yield more useful specific items to address, but would cost a couple hundred dollars.

Home Energy Saver has a web based do-it-yourself energy audit tool. It is from the people at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. While some recommendations are pretty general, it is a good starting point.

Energy Star Home Yardstick has helpful resources but focuses more on Energy Star rated items.

Money Magazine has an article stating that some people could invest $1500 in insulation and mainteance and get over twice that in energy savings in the first year.  Most of the tips cover those with poor attic insulation, leaky duct work, no programmable thermostat.

Flex Your Power has lots of energy saving tips.

Pacific Energy Center has many free classes on how to save energy.

The sun is finally out again.. I did not realize that an eco friendly or green sun screen was an important area, especially when one is on vacation.  EWG reports that UV filtering ingredients in sunscreen have been proven to cause bleaching in the algae that lives on coral, thus killing the entire structure. EWG only recommended 8% of the sunscreens they tested. Oxybenzone has been linked to hormone disruption and low-birthweight babies.

The Food and Drug Administration revamped sunscreen rules in June 2011. The new rules should help demystify the sun blocking properties of sunscreens.

There are other issues that EWG covers with possible problems with other chemicals in sunscreen. Also: “80 percent of our water in the U.S. shows trace amounts of chemicals from personal care products, which could be sunscreens, lotions, colognes or medications.”

Look for sunblock with 7% or higher zinc oxide or titanium dioxide.

Ingredients to avoid include: OXYBENZONE, OCTINOXATE, and ALUMINUM STARCH OCTENYLSUCCINATE

“66 sunscreens with SPFs from 55-100+ might tempt you to stay out longer in the sun, but they block just 1-2% more sunburn rays than an SPF 30 sunscreen.” SPF 30 protection is good enough.

EWG has some good sunscreen that meets our criteria. Some good best are:

1. Desert Essence – Age Reversal Sunscreen Mineral Daily Face Protection spf 30 – 3 oz

2. All Terrain AquaSport

See our Eco Friendly or Green Cosmetic post for details.