Is it a good idea to pay for an energy saving audit of my new home

Question

We have a newly built home but I'm not at all confident in the builder's prowess when it comes to energy conservation. Is it worth hiring someone (like our energy provider or other specialized contractor) to do an energy audit? Or do you think they would most likely find something whether or not there was a problem so they can charge us more for the fix?

If no energy audit, does anyone have any tips for the best ways to look for these "leaks" myself?

I think the title is fine. It is concise and made it obvious to me what the question would be about. — Vebjorn Ljosa, Jul 22 '10 at 14:44

score 5 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 22 '10 at 14:59

A lot of utility providers will provide a basic home energy audit for free. If this is the case, it's a no-brainer.

If they don't provide an actual audit, then they often provide statistics for what an average home should be consuming, so you can assess if you think you're using too much.

Besides for that, you can check for drafts or cracks in windows and doors yourself as a basic audit.

After that, I've found just be living in my home, I can tell if a room is too hot or cold compared to the rest of the house, and then look for problems then.

With all that said, I think that you should take a long view. If you have no free audit options, and you can find an affordable paid service, it'll most likely be worth it in the long run.

In my opinion, save your money and simply do the best you can do to make your house more energy efficient. Don't let perfect get in the way of better. You are only going to invest so much time and money into it, so what point is knowing that additional knowledge going to provide. — Evil Elf, Mar 07 '22 at 13:21

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 22 '10 at 14:14

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You can hire a company to scan your house with an infra-red camera. I've never hired one so I'm not sure of the expense but they'll go around your house with the camera and see where cool (or hot) air is escaping and give you report about it. I'm sure it's a few hundred dollars to get it done but it might be worth it if you think you have some major leaks.

answered Jul 22 '10 at 14:14

You can buy a thermal camera for a couple hundred, and a basic one is more than enough to determine such leaks – user2813274 Jun 20 '18 at 23:58

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 08 '10 at 13:57

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Lowe's has a thermal leak detector for $40. I've never used one, so I can't give you an idea of how well they work, but the Amazon rating for this one is 4.5 out of 5 stars.

answered Oct 08 '10 at 13:57

Doresoom

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score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Oct 08 '10 at 14:40

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Here is another alternative that you may want to look into. Microsoft Holm. It is a web site designed to help people monitor and improve energy performance. They have interfaces with some utility companies, and you can buy a device to monitor your usage and send it back to the service. Ir you can enter it manually. Pretty slick.

answered Oct 08 '10 at 14:40

mohlsen

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FYI, Microsoft has discontinued their Holm product. – Hank Dec 28 '12 at 01:26

Is it a good idea to pay for an energy saving audit of my new home

4 Answers4