Home Energy Audits
Most People use a home inspector when buying a home but, ordinary home inspectors are all about what is visible and easily accessible. Home Inspectors usually don’t use the high tech equipment that is used in a home Thermal home energy audit. Thermal scans go beyond what an ordinary inspection covers by verifying what you can’t see. With state-of-the-art equipment energy Audit firms can actually “see” inside your walls and tell you if the insulation you are paying for is actually there. These types of scans can also spot hidden moisture damage as seen in the image above that can cause major damage or mold and at the very least, render your insulation useless.
In the course of an Normal inspection, an inspector will look in your attic and measure the insulation that is readily accessible and visible. And energy Audit firm will survey the entire home for missing or inadequate insulation as well as moisture damage (without touching the insulation) and tell you if the insulation is working. A residential home energy audit will also survey your ductwork to insure it does not leak and send heated or cooled air where you don’t want it.
Included in These types of surveys is a scan of your electrical panel that can spot potential fire hazards (we do these same scans for our industrial clients regularly). At the very least, you should always insist on a thermal inspection of your electrical panel when buying a home. A panel only inspection is usually less than $80, which is a small price to pay for preventing an electrical fire or other types of fire hazards.
After a energy audit examination, you may elect to receive a written report that you can use to either have the seller make repairs, or negotiate a lower price to cover repairing the anomalies yourself. In either event, most firms and energy audit companies will re-scan the problem areas noted in the report to verify the work and correction to the problem was done properly. Most energy audit inspections begin at well under $200.
When most people buy a home they may have relied on the services of an inspector or the builder to check for obvious defects in your house. Now that you’ve lived there for awhile, perhaps your energy bill is higher than your neighbors, or you notice that one or more rooms are colder/warmer than the rest of the house. Before you start on a major renovation project, you should know exactly what and where the problems are before you get out the hammer.
With an energy audit you will know exactly what and where the defects in your home’s energy efficiency are. With This type of state-of-the-art thermal imaging equipment and a Thermographers experience in the construction industry, you can pinpoint those problem areas such as lack of insulation, improperly installed insulation, water damage, and potential fire hazards that may be present in your electrical system. It makes no sense to replace your heating and air conditioning system and continue to heat or cool the great outdoors.
First, you have to determine what’s wrong before you can fix it Armed with this knowledge, and our report, you can then make repairs yourself, or hire a contractor to fix only what’s really wrong and not simply be guessing. If you decide to hire a contractor, we will come back to your home and re-check the problem areas to insure the work was done properly. If you are planning to sell your home, these firms offer pre-sale inspection is designed to give a seller confidence that their home will pass scrutiny, that you will not have a last minute inspection surprise, and delay the closing or kill the deal all together. All this and more for usually less than the cost of cleaning your carpets.
If you would like to find out more about a home energy audit please click on the links.