Energy Audit, Home Weatherization, and Home Efficiency Checkup Advantages
Many Americans know that their homes are already using more energy than necessary, but an Energy Audit and Home Efficiency Checkup by a home Energy Saving Professional, provides you with the details on the areas of savings, and often the support contractors in your area that can implement those saving recommendations. Home weatherization and insulation all around are typically solutions for your home energy inefficiency problems.
What is Home Weatherization?
Home Weatherization or weatherproofing is the practice of protecting a building and its interior from the elements, particularly from sunlight, precipitation, and wind, and of modifying a home to reduce energy consumption and optimize home energy efficiency.
How to Detect if Your Home is Energy Inefficient?
Home Energy Saving Professionals such as Energy Auditors and Home Efficiency Consultants are trained to help home owners detect and solve energy inefficiency problems. Find a local Home Energy Efficiency Consultant.
How Does the Air Escape?
Air infiltrates into and out of your home through every hole, nook, and cranny. About one-third of this air infiltrates through openings in your ceilings, walls, and floors. One of the quickest dollar-saving tasks you can do is caulk, seal, and weatherstrip all seams, cracks, and openings to the outside. You can save as much as 10% on your heating and cooling bill by reducing the air leaks in your home.
Sources of Air Leaks in Your Home
Areas that leak air into and out of your home cost you lots of money. You can check the areas listed below, but by having an energy auditor or home efficiency consultant come out to your house, you can learn the details on the amount of loss and the potential for savings by implementing energy saving tactics for any one of these items:
- Dropped ceiling
- Recessed light
- Attic entrance
- Sill plates
- Water and furnace flues
- All ducts
- Door frames
- Chimney flashing
- Window frames
- Electrical outlets and switches
- Plumbing and utility access
Data Source: Given variations in energy consumption and house size, results will naturally vary. The data is based on comprehensive local and national research and a combination of reports from the U.S. Department of Energy, the EPA, ENERGY STAR® for Homes Program, US Green Building Council’s LEED for Homes Program, American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), and information directly from University Studies, and Homeowners with actual Performance Feedback.
Louisiana Energy Facts
- Louisiana ranks fourth in the Nation in crude oil production, behind Texas, Alaska, and California.
- The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP) is the only port in the United States capable of accommodating Ultra Large Crude Carriers and Very Large Crude Carriers.
- Two of the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve’s four storage facilities are located in Louisiana.
- The Henry Hub is the largest centralized point for natural gas spot and futures trading in the United States, providing access to major markets throughout the country.
- The liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal at Lake Charles is the largest of five existing LNG import sites in the United States.
- The Excelerate Energy Gulf Gateway Deepwater Port/Energy Bridge, which came online in 2006, is the only offshore LNG terminal in the United States and is the first new LNG import facility constructed in more than 20 years.
The right home improvement products, techniques, and services:
Contractors, home improvement stores, and specialty shops in your area may not yet have a complete familiarity with the ‘green’ opportunities, products, system integration, and overall savings potential. So, you may get some resistance, since people in general are typically more comfortable recommending something that they are already familiar with rather than something new. To help break the inertia, use the information across this website like our Return on Investment Master ROI Table. Also feel free to post a question in our forum on the message board about a particular need for your home relative to your area. Our team has spent multiple years aggregating research from public and private sector performance reports and from manufacturers and homeowners across the country in order to provide you with the perspective you may need to see the initial payback and long term advantages. Environmental enthusiasts and leading institutions like the American Institute of Architects and the National Association of Realtors, see the value and link into our resources to support their members.
The Green Home:
For your overall home improvement, you can save money, improve your family’s health, and save the planet. Find out for free how much it will cost to do different types of home improvement in your home from a qualified and member approved contractor in your area. Get a FREE Quote. Plus, regardless of the size and scope of your home improvement project, save money and keep your home clean with the top rated chemical free and concentrated Green Home Cleaning Products.
Home Improvement Basics:
When it comes to home improvement basics, look for interior home improvements like creating a clean, safe, and healthy home through sustainable ‘green’ furniture, home décor, zero VOC and Interior Paint, plus ENERGY STAR Appliances and Electronics. For energy and utility savings you can focus on insulation and air sealing, windows, doors, lighting and skylights, water saving plumbing opportunities, and high efficiency heating and air conditioning systems. On the outside of your house, look for exterior home improvement opportunities through landscape design and gardening plus solar energy, wind and other power sources. If you are undertaking a major home renovation, an additions, or building a new home, then take the lead to ‘go green’ in as many ways as possible to save money and the environment.
