A short description of an energy audit:
- A skilled energy analyst uses specific equipment and knowledge to identify individual systems and components of a home or building that bleed energy. Hidden and hard-to-detect issues are commonly found to be the worst offenders as far as energy efficiency goes. Data is gathered from all parts of the building and a 15-25 page report is generated that lists what issues were identified, how they affect energy use, and includes a prioritized remedial action plan with the most cost effective ways to acomplish it. This energy auditor (Gregg Miller) does not sell or promote any particular products to keep your energy audit as unbiased, truthful and useful to the client as possible.
Who benefits from an energy assessment and why?
- A home buyer can identify homes with high energy use or find out how much time/money would be required to repair energy issues on a house that is otherwise attractive. The buyer may ask the seller to reduce the price or to address issues found during the energy assessment.
- A home owner will be rewarded with a guide to use in future home improvement decisions, ultimately a more comfortable living area, reduced energy costs, an earth friendly home, and increased resale value with the documented energy assessment report and documented evidence of all remedial work that has been done after the audit.
- A realtor or home seller wants leverage to sell a home. The energy assessment will identify, mark, and document energy efficiency issues, which the home seller can address "DIY" or with hired contractors (as they see fit). A potential buyer can be presented with the energy assessment report and the documented evidence of actions taken to address any issues noted in the energy assessment report.
- A business owner can trim operating costs through reduced energy use.
- A Landlord can attract and retain quality tenents by making the units' energy costs low and by advertising that fact.
- The perfect gift: An energy audit is a gift that keeps on giving as a guide for future home improvement decisions, ultimately leading to reduced energy use, increased comfort, and higher home value.
When is an energy assessment most effective?
- When the owner of the home or building experiences any of these symptoms: Snow melt patterns on the roof accompanied by icicles on roof edges and valleys. Drafts easily penetrate windows, doors and walls. These commonly noticed leaks usually indicate much more serious air leaks exist in other places in the building. Cold floors. Cool/hard to heat rooms. Painful utility bills. Burning excessive amounts of firewood, corn or pellets.
- Outdoor temperatures below 40 degrees are most useful to review insulation performance with infrared temperature scanning tools. All other parts of the testing are not dependant on outdoor temperature and can be done anytime.
What is checked in an energy assessment?
- A blower door unit slightly depressurizes the entire building to cause air to flow in through all leaks, big and small. An instantaneous reading at the blower door unit will determine the overall leakiness rating of the building. The exact location and size of individual leaks can be searched out, documented and physically marked for further review and/or repair by keeping the blower door fan running and making a thorough search of the entire building.
- Infrared temperature readings are obtained and recorded room by room to check for many hidden things such as: excessive energy transfer through a wall, floor, or window, unseen insulation issues, and distribution problems of the HVAC systems.
- The age, type, and functional condition of heating/cooling systems are reviewed and documented.
- Major Safety Issues are looked for (carbon monoxide issues, faulty appliances, smoke detector review, overheating electrical components in the service panel, etc...).
What can be learned from an energy assessment?
- The expected energy use and comfort levels of the building.
- How big and what are the actual conditioned areas of the building.
- What exactly are the energy bleed issues of the building.
- What cost effective changes could be implemented for increased energy efficiency, comfort, and resale value of the building.
- Insulation type, amounts, effectiveness, and condition.
- Why any part of the building is too cold or too hot.
- Air leak locations and severity.
- Gas leak locations outside the building (or inside).
- Which appliances are poor performers or unsafe.
- Overheating electric components in the service panel indicate a problem that needs immediate attention.
Order your energy assessment from:
- Gregg Miller, 269-908-9045, serving the West-Central Michigan area. Hastings, Middleville, Freeport, Lake Odessa, Caledonia, Grand Rapids, Ionia, Kalamazoo, Battle Creek. Travel to more distant locations may be considered.
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- For a sample energy assessment report, send a request to isbgm.email@gmail.com
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- The typical value of a legitimate, unbiased energy audit is $350-$600, takes 3-5 hours of on-site work and 2-4 hours of data review and report delivery.
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This assessment is conducted by an independant and unbiased analyst. You will not be contacted by sales persons who push products or services and your name will not be made available to any other business. You may contact any other business you choose to obtain quotes for follow up remedial work.
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Avoid "FREE" or deeply discounted energy audits, as these are performed by companies who will follow up with high pressure sales tactics to sell you high profit margin products and services to "fix" the "issues" found during the audit.
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You want to know the COST EFFECTIVE options to fix an issue that only a legitimate, unbiased assessment can provide.
For example, a leak found in or near a window can be fixed in several ways-with $10 worth of caulk and weatherstrip, with a quality insulating window shade for $150, or with a replacement window for $500+ (provided that the installer is competent and will install it without inducing new leaks).
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