Posts from — February 2010

Up until now we’ve been telling you that an energy audit and subsequent weatherization will pay for itself in 2-3 years. We have years of data from Energy Star and the Low Income Weatherization program to back this up. But now it’s time to give you real examples of ways that our clients have saved and will save money from applying the results of an energy audit to make their homes more energy efficient.

Real world example #1: Joe Suburban Homeowner Guy from Cary

The client in this first example owns a 3200 square foot home in one of the most densely populated suburbs of Raleigh, built in the 90s. It’s one of many in a neighborhood of homes built at the same time. These homes were not built to Energy Star standards and probably went up very quickly. It’s unclear if one builder built all of them or if a number of builders participated in this subdivision.  If you live in the greater Raleigh area you know that there are many neighborhoods like this in Cary, Apex, North Raleigh, Wake Forest, Holly Springs, and other suburban pockets.

We did a comprehensive home energy audit and were also contracted for follow-up weatherization. This customer’s energy company is Progress Energy, so he qualified for the duct testing and duct sealing rebate.

One of our suggestions for weatherization was to seal the home’s HVAC ducts. We did some other weatherization as well, but for this case study I want to focus on the duct testing and sealing.

Here’s what the homeowner paid for the audit + duct sealing, minus the rebates from Progress Energy:

$570

Plus, he’ll also get a $30 tax credit from the federal government. 

We calculate that his heating and cooling costs were $2600/year.

When we tested his HVAC ducts we found that they had 26% leakage. That’s right – 26%. What this means is that 26% of the heated or cooled air wasn’t reaching the house.  Every time the heat pump kicked in – either to heat or cool the home – only 3/4 of what should have been going in was going in.

Unacceptable, right?

Believe it or not, most homeowners experience 20-30% leakage in their home’s HVAC ductwork, and some research even puts it as high as 43%. So our homeowner, at 26%, was experiencing average energy loss through his ducts. But who wants to be average? Especially when it comes to wasting energy!

After sealing this homeowner’s ductwork, we re-tested his ducts for leakiness and found that we’d reduced the leakage to 4%. 74% capacity to 96% capacity. Not perfect, but darn close.

From his ducts alone, he should save, very conservatively, at least 10% on his  energy bills. We’ve looked at many reports that state duct testing/sealing can save more like %20-%30 on heating and cooling costs. 

We estimate that with the money this homeowner will save in energy costs from his HVAC system alone he will have a 100% return on his investment in the audit and the duct sealing within two years. This doesn’t count the other energy efficiency work that we did on the home, and it’s using today’s energy costs. If rates go up, the return on his investment will be even faster.

Finally, it’s worth pointing out that we’re using the savings on the duct work to calculate the pay back for the price of the entire audit – an audit that pointed out many other ways the homeowner could save money. 

A win-win for the homeowner, no?

If your home is too hot, too cold, too drafty,

or too damp, you need an energy audit.

If your energy bills are too high,

you need an energy audit.

If your house was conventionally built,

you need an energy audit.

Basically, you need an energy audit.

Minnesota Power is responsible for this wonderful graphic that prioritizes how homeowners can achieve energy efficiency:

I like how the arrow on the left has the equation: complexity/investment. Return on investment is exactly what we have been preaching all along. What can a homeowner do that does the most good for the least amount of money? This is what the graph says are the top 4 things you can do as a homeowner (of a preexisting home) that will get you the MOST bang for your BUCK:

#1 In-home energy audit.  This helps the homeowner understand what is going on. Hey! This is what we do here at Home Performance NC!

#2 Rid yourself of energy vampires and change habits.

#3 Look at easy, cheap fixes like switching out bulbs and getting rid of inefficient fixtures

#4 Air sealing. This is the primary thing that we suggest once we complete an audit. Please read my ode to caulk here as well as an entire category of blog posts on the necessity of duct sealing. And  A couple of blog entries back I thought of a good analogy as to why adding more insulation to an unsealed attic is stupid: it’s like adding more water to a cup filled with holes. It won’t make a bit of difference until you plug up the holes.

I’ll let you read the rest of the suggestions by yourself, because you can clearly see that the items at the top are those that cost the most for the consumer (like replacing your windows, your HVAC system, and installing solar panels, for example – none of which are bad things to do, mind you) but which clearly give the least return.

Interesting, no?

Dear Mr. Energy,

All my kids want to do is play video games, watch TV, or use the computer. Everything they enjoy has to be plugged in! I’m convinced that what they see as “free” entertainment is actually costing me money every time they turn it on. How can I make them care about saving energy?

–Frustrated Mama in Mebane

Dear Frustrated Mama,

Mr. Energy feels your pain. He feels as if he spends most of his weekend walking around the house turning off lights that his children have left on. Now, Mr. Energy is not qualified to give you parenting advice, but he can tell you the single best way to save energy when plugging into electronic entertainment: turn off the console, TV, or computer when play is over. Better yet, plug the console and TV into a power strip so the whole unit can be turned off when not in use. Unplugging, or simply turning off, this equipment when not in use can cut energy consumption by up to 90%. That’ll add up!

Dear Mr. Energy,

Last year I had an energy audit, just like you always suggest, and I made several of the improvements my auditor suggested. I’m not seeing the results that I thought I’d see. What gives? Why aren’t I saving more money on my energy bills?

–Disgruntled in Durham

Dear Disgruntled,

First, let me express my sincere apologies that you are not seeing better results from the weatherization you’ve done on your home. In our experience, an energy audit and follow-up weatherization generally can save a homeowner 20-30% on his or her energy bills, depending on what’s been done. It’s distressing that you’re not seeing the results you want.

That said, there are a number of reasons why you might not be seeing that 20-30% drop. First, check to be sure you’re comparing apples to apples. Are you looking at the same month’s worth of bills from previous years? Was the weather comparable in that month? In central North Carolina we have variable weather; this past December was a much colder month than December of the previous year. Along those lines, have energy prices gone up this past billing cycle? In Mr. Energy’s house, propane went up by a good 40 cents per gallon. This made our bill go up while our energy use hadn’t.

If you’ve adjusted your expectations because of increasing costs or because of weather changes, another possibility could be the “Snackwell effect.” Remember when fat free cookies first hit the market? People went crazy and ate as many cookies as they wanted, thinking that since they were fat free they wouldn’t make them gain weight. Then – blammo – people gained weight because although the cookies were free of fat, they sure weren’t free of calories or sugar. This scenario can be applied to energy-efficiency, too. If you’ve made energy efficiency upgrades you may have gotten more lax with your energy habits, as well. In Mr. Energy’s house we upped our thermostat by a degree this winter, for example…and we are paying for it. Perhaps you’ve decided to take advantage of your snugger house and made your surroundings more comfortable. Just because your home is tighter doesn’t mean that you can use more energy and not pay for it.

Along these same lines, you may have purchased a new or bigger appliance that is sucking up more energy than your old one. A large flat-screen uses more energy than older, smaller TVs. And if you didn’t replace your smaller TV, but simply moved it to another room to make room for the new, big TV, you’ve doubled your TVs – doubling your energy use. Energy Star appliances are more energy efficient than non-Energy Star appliances, but more of anything = more money spent on energy.

Another lifestyle possibility is that in your effort to save money you may be staying home more than in years past. Staying at home more means that heating and cooling systems are on more, your television is on more, you are cooking more, and you are using all other appliances more. This can add up.

And finally, look at the report your auditor gave you. Did you do everything on it – particularly the items on the list related to your duct work, attic, and crawl space? Have you kept up with yearly HVAC tune-ups? If you had major energy updgrades done, like new ductwork or insulation, did you ask the auditor to come back to do a post-test of your house? It may be worth asking your auditor back to ensure that the installers did a good job.

Recently we’ve gotten a number of calls and e-mails from folks who want to know how to become a home energy auditor. We’re not at all surprised – with the excitement generated by the possibility of HomeSTAR/Cash for Caulkers and the possibility of jobs creation through that bill combined with many out-of-work folks it’s only natural that people anticipate possible new career paths.

What this blog post will explain is how to become an independent energy auditor. We own our own business, and it’s quite possible that if you are hired by a company to do energy audits for them they might have additional requirements or may have their own training path. There are literally hundreds of “green” programs, trainings, and certifications out there. We can only explain the path our lead auditor followed so that he would have the best, broadest, and most nationally-recognized background so he could give independent, certified, standardized audits for his customers.

First, to be an energy auditor it’s important to have some kind of background in construction. This does not mean you’re a licensed general contractor (although this certainly can’t hurt). Instead, it means that you have a basic understanding of how a house is built, how a house works, and the various systems that make a house functional and liveable. In our case, Mark, our lead auditor, happens to be a licensed general contractor in the state of North Carolina. He also has an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering and 6 years of experience in home renovation.

Next, at the very minimum an energy auditor needs to be trained and certified by the Building Performance Institute (BPI).  Community colleges and private training centers offer this training throughout the country. To be certified you must pass a test – both written and in the field – and then be recertified every 3 years. BPI certification ensures that the energy auditor understands the house as a system, with all parts dependent on and connected to each other. BPI certification is a nationally-recognized standard for how well a home performs. Energy is part of it, but not the only part.

We also suggest that an energy auditor be trained and certified as a RESNET-HERS rater. RESNET=Residential Energy Services Network. RESNET-HERS raters must attend a certified course in building science and energy ratings, pass a test (written as well as in the field), and be certified by a RESNET accredited rating provider. Becoming a RESNET-HERS rater adds an additional level of expertise with a focus on energy, and allows a person to do Energy Ratings (rating a home EnergyStar, for example) as well as doing audits.

Once a person is BPI certified and is an energy rater through RESNET, it’s a good idea to look around and see what local programs exist. At the very least, joining or going through the training for these local programs will help you with networking and marketing, and it’s highly possible that to get work in your area you may need additional certifications or memberships. Mark is a Green Rater for The Green Home Builders of the Triangle (part of our local Home Builders Association), for example. This allows him to rate a home “Green” but also gives him access to GHBT networking sessions, newsletters, and opportunities for more education.

There are other levels of certification out there beyond these – Mark is an NAHB verifier through NAHB Green, which he needed to do before he became a Green Rater for our local Green Home Builder association. He also works with Habitat for Humanity, so is trained in SystemVision. And for our weatherization business, which compliments our energy audits (but is, of course, independent of them), he has had State Weatherization training as well as several other trainings.

And finally to be an energy auditor you will need equipment. Again, this advice is for people who want to go into business for themselves; if you are an employee you will probably have access to your employer’s equipment. A thorough energy audit uses four pieces of equipment: a blower door, a duct blaster, an infrared camera, and a combustion analyzer. Some auditors don’t use an infrared camera but we’ve found it to be invaluable to truly see what’s going on in a house. It also shows homeowners exactly what the problems are that they need to be addressed.

So, that’s how you become an energy auditor! To learn more, you might want to read these related blog posts:

Why professional energy audits cost money, or, you get what you pay for

5 things to look for in a home energy auditor