Superior HVAC Energy Efficiency By Upgrading Your HVAC System…And Other Fixes
Find Out Where YOUR Home is Losing Energy:
About 60% of your monthly energy bill comes from your heating and cooling systems. We can help reduce the horror you experience each month when your bill arrives and put your mind at ease.
The idea of bringing in a home energy auditor might have seemed foreign to many just a decade ago. But now with people being more conscious of costs, it’s a common and prudent step to ensure your home is running at peak efficiency. Below we outline some factors that may contribute to your overall energy costs each month. A home energy assessment will find exactly where YOUR home is losing energy, and provide cost-effective recommendations to fix them.
Is Your HVAC Equipment Sized Correctly?
Do you know if your air conditioning unit and/or your furnace are the right size for your home? If your equipment is either too powerful or too small for your home, it can cause comfort issues, pre-mature equipment failure, excessive noise – and over-sized energy bills!
We use a test called the Manual J Load test to find the exact size equipment you need to meet your home’s needs. The Manual J Load calculation looks at the size of your home, sun position in relation to your home at various parts of the day, window placement, insulation, materials used in building your home and other relevant factors that determine the heat or cold that enters your home.
What is High-Efficiency HVAC Equipment?
Technology developments in recent years have led to improvements in home air conditioning systems which operate at high levels of efficiency. New high-efficiency systems deliver increased amounts of conditioned air output with relatively little energy consumption. If you install a “high SEER air conditioner,” it will likely have a significant effect on your household energy bill.
But even properly-sized and new high-efficiency air conditioning and heating equipment can only work at optimal levels if you have adequate insulation and air sealing, and if your ducts are sealed.
Are Your Ducts Leaking?
You can have the world’s best air conditioner, but if the ducts in your home leak, the conditioned air will have trouble making it to the rooms of your home. The heated or cooled air will escape into the walls, crawl spaces and attic, leaving you too hot or too cold. And the whole time, your HVAC equipment will be working overtime trying to produce enough conditioned air. The result – costly energy bills!
Over time, holes develop and cracks appear in your ducts. And often shoddy workmanship by the builder has left some ducts partially or completely disconnected. An energy assessment will find these problems and recommend the best solutions to keep you comfortable and lower your energy bills.
Do You Have Adequate Insulation?
It might surprise you to hear that most homes (even brand new ones) are operating with too little insulation in the attic and the walls. Having adequate insulation can dramatically reduce the amount of cold or hot air coming into your home – so you’ll feel more comfortable. This means you won’t have to run your HVAC systems as much to maintain a comfortable temperature. Your home energy assessment will find out if you have enough insulation, or exactly where more insulation needs to be added.
Is Your Attic Properly Sealed?
Adding insulation won’t help unless the air leaks in your home are sealed first. Otherwise, air will blow right through the insulation and the problem won’t be solved. A professional energy assessment includes a “blower door test” which finds the leaks in your home that allow unwanted hot and dirty air to invade your home. Once the cracks and holes are sealed, new insulation will be put in to properly protect your living areas and keep your home running more energy efficiently.
Solving Problem Areas
If you’re experiencing any areas of indoor discomfort, such as hot or cold pockets in certain rooms, an abnormally large amount of dust, or excessively damp air, we’ll find the root of the problems and lay out your best alternatives for correcting them. After they’re fixed, you’ll have greater comfort and energy savings.
Find the Fixes for YOUR Home
Every home is different, and while these are some of the more popular solutions, a home energy assessment will find the best solutions for YOUR home. Get a home energy assessment today and we’ll get busy improving your comfort and energy efficiency.
Other HVAC solutions:
- HVAC Maintenance: Tips to Keep Your Equipment Running
- What is HVAC? HVAC is an acronym that stands for Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning.
- Who Invented Air Conditioning? Air conditioning is a modern convenience that we take for granted.
- How to Choose an HVAC Contractor This article will help you choose an HVAC Contractor.
- Superior HVAC Energy Efficiency By Upgrading Your HVAC System…And Other Fixes
- HVAC: What is it? The Basics Explained
- HVAC Design: The Importance of Properly Sized HVAC Equipment
- HVAC / Air Conditioning: A Quick Primer and History
- Sizing Up HVAC Prices: How to Choose the Right Air Conditioner
We were unaware of what was involved in an energy audit and your audior took the time to explain everything. We were impressed with the report which told us the areas in which we need to take action on. He never pressured us to use any particular contractors, he just suggested that we go to the Building Energy Pros web site to select contractors of our own choice. He did an excellent job and we HIGHLY recommend the Building Energy Pros. We already have recommended them to several of our neighbors. Again, EXCELLENT JOB!
Cynthia Simpson
The Building Energy Pros auditor was very knowledgeable. I was VERY HAPPY with him. He promptly E-mailed my energy audit report to me and I will consider all of his recommendations.
Tom McGee
We found out that our house really has no energy problems. We are happy to know that we
Leslie Stewart
I was very satisfied with your energy auditor. He was very qualified and spent a great deal of time with me. The energy audit was very informative.
P.B.
The energy auditor was very good and helpful. He keeps in touch with me to answer any of my questions.
D.G.
I was very satisfied with my energy audit. The auditor gave me some tips on attic insulation that were very helpful.
R.G.
I was very satisfied with my energy audit. Thank you!
R.S.
Very good service! I am going to replace the windows as the auditor had suggested.
D.W.
I was very happy with the energy audit. THANKS!
A. M.
My energy audit was very helpful. Joe Dempsey, your auditor, identified some structural problems that I was not aware of and explained to me why I need more insulation.
J. F.
The auditor was EXCELLENT! He spent ALOT of time with me. I am going to take 3 to 4 of his suggestions and correct these small items to save on my energy bills.
M. B.
The auditor did a GREAT JOB! He knew a lot about older homes, which we have. The report was very comprehensive. Thank you!
Vicki Nez/at
Your energy auditor was very nice and helpful. He answered all of our questions. We will recommend Building Energy Pros to our friends and neighbors.
Katherine McCaffrey
The auditor did a TERRIFIC JOB! The report was FANTASTIC! I will make all the repairs he suggested. I will definitely recommend him to everyone I know that could benefit from a home energy audit.
Steve Sleigh, Chevy Chase
The energy auditor was very professional and I am very satisfied with both the energy audit and the report I received. I will be referring the Building Energy Pros.
Tim Clary
I was very satisfied with the auditor. He was great and gave me some very valuable information. I will refer him to people I know who may need a home energy audit.
Willie Gantt
Your home energy audit proved to be very informative and helpful. I was not aware of the updraft created inside our walls because of the balloon framing construction. You said that that can cause heat to be pulled out of the house with the draft going up inside the walls and should be re-mediated. You also said that the attic insulation was insufficient and that fiberglass batts can leave spaces for around the edges causing heat loss and that it should have blown in insulation on top of what was there to seal the whole attic and increase the r factor. After going over your findings and telling me how you would fix the problems you told me how I could do it myself with stuff from the Home Center and for a quarter of the cost. Well, I did. I went into the basement and filled the bottom of the wall joist with unfaced insulation where they set on the sill plate. I then cut one inch foam board the size for each space and set it in and the sealed the edges of that with expanding foam as well as the sill plate to the foundation. I also sealed the sill plate to the foundation where the joist ran along it, as well as the top of those joist where it made contact with the subflooring. Next I went to the home center and rented their blown insulation machine and got ten bales of the insulation. I filled the attic on top of the batt insulation with about six inches giving another r-19 factor on top of the r-19 that was there. You said that the blown in would also help seal the heat loss around the edges of the batt. The work in the basement cost $144.00 and the work in the attic cost $328.00. After the 30% federal energy tax credit it will end up costing me about $330.00, which you said I should recover in savings in the first year. Thank You for all your advice and expertise. You made me aware of things I should consider and did.
Tommy Thompson