Home Energy Audits - Do-It-Yourself

  Using a systematic check list, you can find a variety of problems in you home. When performing your audit, make a checklist of areas you have inspected and problems you have discovered. This will help you prioritize your energy efficiency upgrades.

Air Leaks - a major source of energy losses
Jot down a list of obvious air leaks (drafts). The potential energy savings from reducing drafts in a home may range from 5 to 30% per year. Check for interior air leaks, such as excess spacing along the baseboard or edge of your flooring installation. Look up at the points where the walls and ceiling join. Check to see if air can flow through these places:

here is a list of common places for air movement and energy losses. These will be discovered in many homes that were built during periods when energy issues were not a real factor in construction.
Electrical outlets and switch plates
Window frames- look for tight mouldings and if possible try to determine if insulation was place between the framing and walls
Baseboards - drafts or air spaces
Weather stripping around doors
Fireplace dampers - determine proper installation and operation for peak efficiency
Attic entrances - check fit and insuation
Check wall or window-mounted air conditioners for air tight installation.
remember to check for gaps around pipes and wires, electrical outlets, foundation seals, and mail slots. Check to see if the caulking and weather stripping have been applied effectively. There should be no gaps or cracks.

Inspect windows and doors for air leaks. Check that panes and frames are all tight and free of movement. Movement means possible air leaks. If you can see daylight around a door or window frame you have a serious leak issue. You can usually seal these leaks with caulking or weather stripping. Inspect your storm windows. New energy efficient storm windows will pay for themselves in short order. 
You may also wish to consider replacing your current windows and doors with energy efficient products.

Conducting a Leak Test

Close all exterior doors, windows, and fireplace flues.
Turn off all heating appliances such as gas burning furnaces and water heaters.
Turn on any exhaust fans, heating cooling fans and bathroom fans. Use a large window fan to suck the air from one room to another. You can use incense sticks or your damp hand to detect air movement. If you use incense sticks, moving air will cause the smoke to waver, and if you use your damp hand, any drafts will feel cool to your hand.

Exterior Inspection Check Points

All outside corners
Siding and chimney Joints 
Points where the foundation and the bottom of exterior brick or siding meet.
Caulk holes or openings for faucets, pipes, electric outlets, and wiring.
Look for cracks and holes in the mortar, foundation, and siding, and seal them with the appropriate material.
Check the exterior caulking around doors and windows
Ensure exterior storm doors and interior doors seal tightly.

Ensure proper house air flow systems operate efficientl so that air feeds for heating and cooling are operating efficiently. Generally, one square inch of vent opening is required for each 1,000 Btu of appliance input heat. When in doubt, contact your local utility company, energy professional, or ventilation contractor.

Insulation
Heat loss through the ceiling and walls may have a higher impact on your energy use than you realize.
Given today's energy costs, the expense of additional insulation can easily be justified. In years past when energy costs were much lower, additonal insulation was not cost effective. That has changed.

Check that attic access areas are insulated, weather stripped, and close tightly. Inside the attic, seal any gaps at ductwork and pipe openings with an expanding foam caulk or some other permanent sealant.

Check to see if there is a vapor barrier beneath the attic insulation. The vapor barrier might be tarpaper, Kraft paper attached to fiberglass batts, or a plastic sheet. If vapo barriers are absent and installation of new vapor barrir is not practical, you might consider painting the interior ceilings with vapor barrier paint. This reduces the amount of water vapor that can pass through the ceiling.

Ensure that the attic vents are not blocked by insulation. You also should seal any electrical boxes in the ceiling with flexible caulk and cover the entire attic floor with at least the current recommended amount of insulation.

Checking wall insulation is more difficult. Try to determine if there is insulation around the boxes for wall switches and plugs. Be sure you are aware of safe procedures when working around electricity. Ideally, the wall cavities should be totally filled with some form of insulation material. Inspection holes may be required in discreet locations that may easily be patched. This method cannot tell you if the entire wall is insulated, or if the insulation has settled. Only a thermographic inspection can do this.

In unheated basements, determine whether there is insulation under the living area flooring. Typically, an R-value of 25 is the recommended minimum level of insulation. The insulation at the top of the foundation wall and first floor perimeter should have an R-value of 19 or greater. With heated basements, the foundation walls should be insulated to at least R-19. Your water heater, hot water pipes, and furnace ducts should all be insulated.

Heating/Cooling Equipment
Heating and cooling equipment should be inspected annually. With forced-air furnaces, check your filters and replace them as needed. Generally, you should change them about once every month or two, especially during periods of high usage. Annual inspections by technicians are recommended.

If the unit is more than 15 years old, you should consider replacing your system with one of the newer, energy-efficient units. This is another cost effective expenditure that will also increase the value of your home. Dirt and dust accumulations around ductwork seams may indicate air leaks. They should be sealed with a duct mastic and aluminum duct tape. Insulate any ducts or pipes that travel through unheated spaces. An insulation R-Value of 6 is the recommended minimum.

Lighting
Energy for lighting accounts for about 10% of your electric bill. Examine the wattage size of the light bulbs in your house. You may have 100-watt (or larger) bulbs where 60 or 75 watts would do. You should also consider compact fluorescent lamps for areas where lights are on for hours at a time. Your electric utility may offer rebates or other incentives for purchasing energy-efficient lamps.