Rudd heat pump needs to be leveled.
Insulation needs to be repaired.
Wood burning fire place- block damper.
Knee wall area 3rd floor.
Alliance Director of Communications Susan Shuckra tells of a home energy audit with CMC Energy Services.
Given that I speak and breathe energy efficiency on a daily basis, I decided to get a home energy audit so that my husband and I could learn how to save energy and money in our 1700 sq.ft, three-level townhouse in Arlington, Va.
Among our concerns was a 10-degree temperature difference between the third floor and the rest of the house, which led us to believe we had a serious insulation problem on our hands.
I placed a call to Alliance Associate CMC Energy Services, who referred me to Pete Jung, a certified energy auditor and home inspector. Pete greeted us on the morning of our scheduled appointment with his energy radar gun, box of tools and friendly smile.
Upon conducting an initial tour of the inside and outside of our home, Pete noticed a couple of easy and long-term fixes that would help us save energy and money. First, he noticed that our heat pump is not level; apparently this causes it to work harder and consequently consume more energy. He also suggested that we replace our refrigerator with an ENERGY STAR model, given that ours is over 15 years old. Great, I thought — we can save money and find a refrigerator that matches the rest of the kitchen appliances!
Next, Pete noticed that we are not using a programmable thermostat. He suggested that we purchase one for less than $100 so that we can heat/cool the house accordingly even when we’re not home. Pete added that programmable thermostats are quite easy for the novice repairman (i.e., me) to install.
Pete then examined our furnace, noting that our balance damper was not at the correct 45 degree angle. “A balance what?” I asked. A balance damper, Pete explained, maintains airflow balance and control such as flow-control, balancing, economizer, back-draft, etc. Although I didn’t quite follow everything he said, we immediately noticed the improved airflow of the house after making this small change.
Pete then looked closely at our water heater, and at insulation in our attic. He recommended that the knee wall area should have insulation, which itself should be covered with an 'air barrier' such as dry wall or plywood. He also noticed, to my husband’s chagrin, that we need more attic space for all our stuff!
Before Pete finished our audit he mentioned that wood-burning fireplaces like ours, albeit wonderful for creating a nice ambiance on a frosty evening, contribute to a huge loss of heat when in use: up to 95 percent of the heat escapes through the chimney. The good news it that we do have a glass door on the cover of the fireplace, which can help mitigate some of this loss – and we did have the chimney damper closed. Two points for the Shuckra household!
But not so fast: Pete then discovered that the difference in temperature between the top floor of our townhouse and the other two floors was in part due to the three closed air vents on the third floor. At this point I think Pete questioned my credentials as a staff member at the Alliance to Save Energy. Needless to say – wow, what a difference opening these vents has made.
To our credit, Pete said that our home is quite well insulated and that we had very minor energy loss issues. Pete also commended our use of ceiling fans, compact florescent light bulbs and thermal blinds. In the end I learned that we, like most people, can make some simple upgrades and changes to our home (some of them more obvious, like opening up air vents) in order to increase our home's energy efficiency while also saving money.
Before Pete left, I asked him several general questions about the home energy audit process.
To learn more about home energy audits or to schedule one for yourself, please contact CMC Energy Services at 888-203-5CMC or info@cmcenergy.com.
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