There are several benefits to having an energy audit conducted on your home. Both in the interest of living a greener lifestyle and saving substantial amounts of money on your energy costs, it is one of the smartest decisions a homeowner can make.
An energy audit is the "first step to assess how much energy your home consumes and to evaluate what measures you can take to make your home more energy efficient," according to the United States Department of Energy.
Not only do audits reveal any shortcomings in your home's performance with regard to conserving energy, but you also receive a detailed assessment that comes with advice and insight on how you can make your home more eco-friendly. However, even if you're not a homeowner, but rent and are still looking for ways to improve the energy consumption of your living space, here are a few suggestions to consider:
Heating: Keeping your house warm or cool typically makes up the bulk of a household's annual energy budget, consuming up to 48 percent. There are several ways you can improve your home's performance in this area, with some being as large as replacing a dated furnace and others being as basic as updating your windows. For renters, a simple trick would be to switch to programmable thermometers.
Lighting: The average household uses roughly 5 percent of its energy budget on keeping the lights on in a home. Altering your approach may be one of the fastest and easiest ways to begin your path toward a greener lifestyle. The most popular approach with lighting is using energy-efficient appliances. Halogen incandescents, compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) and light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are the most popular options and each have different features in regard to strengths and performances. Do a little research first before deciding which is best for your living space.
If you live in the Virginia or Washington, D.C., area and are interested in learning how to improve your home's energy consumption, contact industry-leader Alban Inspections today for an audit.