Monday, September 26, 2011

Educating you on Energy Audits

The idea of performing an audit of one’s home may seem like a new concept but the practice has been with us for ages. At certain places, it has been customary for people to check leaks in their home's insulation system before the rough seasons begin. In effect, they have control over the temperature inside their homes.

Having home evaluations allow the homeowners to save on energy consumption and curb unnecessary expenses. This is beneficial for you and your family to have a safe and cozy place to come home to. You will be doing your part to save Mother Nature by having a so called green home.

Home energy evaluations commonly follow this process. An auditor will perform a room by room examination of your house taking into account even minute details of individual house elements like window size, floor type and wall construction. An auditor will test for the air tightness of the building to establish its capacity to retain or deflect heat and cold.

Other factors such as heating and cooling systems will also be assessed. The auditor may also predict energy consumption based on the forces that act upon the house from the outside. Gas and electricity bills also give hints as to what equipment consumes the most energy at a given time.

In addition to the high tech gadgets, determining energy use would definitely necessitate interviewing you, the primary user of energy. The auditor will need to know usage frequency and duration of each of your appliances. Just how many people are sharing a heating or cooling appliance may also be noted.

The goal here is to eliminate all irrelevant expenditures without sacrificing comfort. The audit may also be used as referral for government funding for the improvement of your home with regards to energy consumption. Having your home audited is something that you'll never regret.

You can have your own pick of company who will do it for you. Energy audit companies are expected to propose solutions after conducting tests. Choose a company that can do various services for you instead of hiring different outfits for several energy efficiency problems.

Energy assessment for firms usually conduct three types of evaluations which are walk through survey, building performance and comprehensive home energy rating. Preliminary audit is the simplest kind of audit, which involves minimal interviews and brief review of the facilities. This is sometimes referred to as walk through audit.

A general audit differs from preliminary audit in the sense that it includes the use of professional tools to produce more accurate diagnosis of the structure. Utility statements for the past 12 months may help determine the amount of energy to be saved if all improvements in the cooling and heating system are made. Commercial buildings employ investment grade assessment to ensure that the money they spent will not be wasted.

It is better to seek energy companies to further enlighten you regarding this. According to the National Association of Home Builders, there has been an overall increase in energy efficiency in Virginia homes in recent years. Virginians have energy audit firms to be thankful of.

For more information and additional tips, checking this online site
will help.