There is no doubt that a professional energy audit is best whenever you want to to establish whether your home is losing energy and identify areas that you can remedy to improve the situation. Considering that most people today are for energy sustainability, you can hire an energy consultant to carry out a professional energy audit of your home before recommending the next course of action. However, it is not every time that you need energy consulting services considering that there are several do-it-yourself strategies that can suggest the grey areas at your home in terms of energy loss. Whereas the do-it-yourself way might not reveal much about energy efficiency at your home, sometimes this approach is necessary as it can actually lead to better energy management at home. You could be missing out on things such as efficiency assessment once you decide to conduct the energy audit by yourself but in the long run, you could reduce the energy cost at our home significantly. Most people with new homes often assume that there are no areas that can be improved to save energy. It is worth noting that energy-saving technology has evolved over time and most builders are not conversant with some of the latest energy saving techniques. Below are ways you can save energy in our home.
Check Insulation
Today, energy prices keep increasing and the situation is likely to get even worse with time. This is the reason why the amount of insulation around your home and especially the walls and ceiling is important. A lot of energy is lost through the walls and ceilings. Probably when your house was being built, the contractor failed to put the recommended amount of insulation meaning that you will constantly be losing a lot of energy pushing your energy cost even higher. Older homes are the most affected since at the time of their construction, some energy-saving techniques in construction had not been developed. To improve the insulation, you can start with the attic and make sure that everything is closed tightly. This means that openings for pipes, chimneys and ductwork are properly sealed. Checking the wall insulation however might be a little difficult and might require professional energy audit to establish the level of insulation.
Inspect Your Heating and Cooling Equipment
Most homeowners often ignore routine inspection of heating and cooling equipment. However, manufacturers recommend that such inspection should be carried out at least once in a year without fail. If you have an air furnace at home, make sure that the filters are replaced on per need basis. Ideally, it is recommended that the filters be replaced every one or two months especially if there is high usage of the air furnace. In addition to this, the furnace should be checked and cleaned by a licensed professional at least once in a year. For units that are more than 15 years old, it is recommended that such units be replaced with more advanced and energy efficient units. Most of the modern units reduce energy consumption by a greater percentage.
