With the sun no longer hiding behind clouds and thermometers hitting 90 degrees, summer is officially on. Many tenants and homeowners fight the heat with central air conditioning, a luxurious but costly amenity. Keeping your home energy efficient isn't just good for the environment, but good for the wallet too. William Hadley, an energy inspector with the Conservation Services Group, performs home energy checkups — also known as home energy audits — for a living, checking for leaks, inspecting insulation, and performing similar tests to help keep homes as energy efficient as possible. Hadley shared some of his findings in an interview with the Boston Globe.

• Older homes are more prone to inefficient behavior. Many historic and older buildings, like those found in Maryland, simply lack the insulation — in both walls and attics — to properly regulate how a home heats and cools. A lack of insulation leaves a home totally vulnerable to the elements outside.
• Check for leaks. One of the best ways to insulate your house is to seal up air leaks, which can occur in ducts, attics, basements and even from recessed lighting fixtures. Air leaks can cause uneven room temperatures, thereby raising your home energy costs.
• Don't keep the thermostat running all day. Keeping your thermostat set at 60 degrees all day and night may keep your home cool, but it's unnecessarily wasteful and expensive. When leaving the house or going to sleep, reset the thermostat to save energy.

These are just a few of the reasons for energy inefficiency at home and how the summertime can expose these vulnerabilities. For help in ensuring that your house is sealed and energy efficient this summer, make an appointment for a home inspection today.