Energy Audit

Recently, we improved the insulation in our house and the state paid for half of our expense to do this. Below are the details of the process.

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We hired a local energy assessment company to do the audit of our house. This was the first step that the state required.

They checked the insulation in our attic and other places. They also used a heat sensor to see how much heat was escaping along various joints and openings.

They checked the burn efficiency of our furnace.

They did a blow test that measured air exchange levels throughout the house. This told them how air-tight the house was.

Surprisingly, windows are usually not the main leaks in a house. It is usually from normal construction openings (plumbing and wire passes, etc.)

After the audit, another company did the recommended work. Most of this work involved sealing gaps and adding insulation. They did both of these in our attic...

as well as in our basement.

They used blown insulation in both our cantilevered second story and our attic .

We also got 12 new energy efficient light bulbs from the electric company that they installed.

After the work was done, the audit company came back and retested the house to see how things had changed. We had a 40% improvement.

Then the paperwork was filed by the audit company. We didn't have to do anything else except wait for the refund money to show up!