Your Home Should Go Green with an Energy Audit this St. Patrick’s Day

With St. Patrick’s Day right around the corner, it’s the perfect time to celebrate everything green in your community (and no, I’m not talking about shamrocks and green beer).  I am talking about all of the green initiatives—such as energy efficient buildings and homes.

Is your home “going green” this St. Patrick’s Day?  If so, there is a process you should be aware of—it’s known as the energy audit process.

What is an energy audit? 

An energy audit is the correlation between how much energy your home is currently using and how much it should be using.  Energy audits, which can be provided by certified energy auditors, provide the best cost/benefit analysis for every savings opportunity identified.  At the end of the energy audit process, you will receive a report that highlights any problems or opportunities for you to start saving energy.  From there, you can check out recommendations and further actions in order to turn your home into the green machine it needs to be! 

What does an energy audit solve? 

An energy audit is the only way to make sure that if you spend money on home improvements that you spend it in areas that will truly give you back value on your dollar.  The entire energy audit process answers important questions such as:

• What is causing the energy loss? 
• Is there anything dangerous or unhealthy in the home?
• Where are the potential health issues?
• What are the long-term building performance and durability issues?
• What times will be the most cost-effective to improve the home?

What types of problems will an energy audit find?

Energy audits find many different problems in the home such as:

• High energy bills
• Air leaks
• Inefficient windows
• Missing insulation
• Inefficient cooling/heating equipment
• Poorly insulated ducts
• Mold and mildew
• High humidity and water damage
• Dust
• Hot/cold rooms
• Insulation
• Air leaks
• Medical costs by reducing:
• Indoor allergens
• Dust
• Mold
• Mildew
• Pests
• Reduce reliance on foreign natural gas and other fuels

The future of energy efficiency

Team Ohlde recently spoke with Barry Dicker of Decent Energy, an energy auditor in Kansas.  According to Barry, the real estate industry may change due to process like energy audits.  A new appendix has been written in regards to the appraisal process.  Appraisers now have the ability to value the energy efficiency of homes.  Unfortunately, only 5% of appraisers are actually trained to apply this appendix.  The team at Decent Energy, however, has experienced higher values in homes that have gone through the energy audit process. 

Finding an energy auditor near you

So you’re ready for the energy audit process.  Who should you contact?  Lucky for you, I have three local KS and MO contacts that would provide a great starting point to bring your home the energy efficiency it needs:

1.  Home Green Home Energy Audits (EnergyAuditsKC.com)

Home Green Home Energy Audits is a premier energy auditor for the Greater Kansas City metropolitan area including Raytown, Lee’s Summit, Independence, Blue Springs, Belton and Raymore in both Missouri and Kansas.  Home Green Home Energy Audits provides guaranteed prices complete with insulating services, weatherization, door and window replacement, plumbing, heating and air, remodeling and more.  Home Green Home Energy Audits charges about $400 for homes under 4000 square feet and approximately $600 for homes over 4000 square feet. 

2.  The Hayes Company

The Hayes Company, located at 1000 East 11^th Street in Kansas City, MO provides insulation and home performance solutions throughout the greater KC metro area.  A home energy evaluation from The Hayes Company ranges from a free estimate to a $150 walkthrough (with a blower-door test) to a full-on $400 energy assessment.  The $400 assessment includes a pre-test and computer analysis that calculates the savings in dollar amounts for each improvement recommended. 

3.  Decent Energy

Decent Energy, based out of Leawood, Kansas, serves both eastern Kansas and western Missouri commercial and residential energy audits.  Decent Energy works as an independent auditor and therefore, works with the homeowner to find the best contractors after the audit has been conducted.  The Decent Energy service includes a 13-month process of discussing homeowner comfort issues, visual inspection, measurements, assessment of safety zone issues and air leakage analysis with a blower-door tool.  In addition, the team at Decent Energy retests the home after the improvements have been made.  Decent Energy starts its service with a $550 baseline and then upcharges for additional furnaces (rather than pricing by square foot).  

Which Home Appliances Are Worth Upgrading?

With buzz words like “energy efficiency” and brands like Energy Star are concepts often heard by homeowners, yet many are left wondering: which of my home appliances are actually worth upgrading?  Is upgrading my appliances a waste of time or something I need to look into?  How much will it cost to upgrade my appliances?

The questions go on and on...and sometimes the answers are not easy to find.  Lucky for you, here at Team Ohlde, we know exactly which appliances are most important to upgrade in your home.  Many appliances have made huge strides in the energy-saving world.  Others, like small appliances, just aren’t worth upgrading all together.  But did you know that 13% of your household’s energy costs come from appliances?  Cutting your appliances energy usage will often save you money over time!

My advice?  Upgrade the following appliances:

1. The Air Conditioner
We are all well aware that air conditioners tend to be very energy inefficient (especially in the summer!).  Today’s modern retail air conditioners usually uphold a 10 EER rating (the higher the number, the more efficient it is), when 10 year old air conditioners rate at about a 7 EER.  New Energy Star air conditioners usually run for about $220.00 when an Energy Star central air conditioner could run over $3,000 with installation.

Want a lower bill without investing in a new more energy efficient air conditioner?  Simply replace the filters, clean the coils or manage the ducts—you’ll see your bill go down in no time!

2. The Furnace
Moving on to the opposite of the air conditioner—the furnace.  Typical furnaces are measured in one of three ways: low efficiency, mid efficiency and high efficiency.  What’s the difference?  Higher efficiency models have ways to store and exchange heat while less efficient models do not.  Replacing your furnace with an Energy Star furnace will cost about $1,400.

3. The Dishwasher
A typical dishwasher usually uses about 10 gallons of water per cycle!  Thanks to Energy Star, however, modern, efficient dishwashers only use 5.8 gallons of water per cycle.  Plus, Energy Star dishwashers tend to be quieter and clean a little better.  Invest $550 in a new efficient dishwasher!

4. The Refrigerator 
The refrigerator is the appliance that has made leaps and bounds when it comes to energy efficiency.  The standard refrigerator now uses 40-60% less energy than it previously did in the 1990’s!  The average cost of a new refrigerator is about $1,100, but you can save up to $200 a year by upgrading!

Bouns!  Be sure to buy a fridge with a freezer on top.  It may seem old school, but it’s more efficient than the side-by-side models!

5. The Washing Machine
The final appliance on our list is the washing machine.  This machine has made vast improvements in the last few years—especially in its features.  Newer washing machine models now boast front-load clothes washers which use around 50% less water and 37% less energy than top-load models.  The average price of a new Energy Star washing machine is $750 and you can save over $135 a year with the upgrade!

When it comes to appliances, many of us do not upgrade until the machine breaks or is just too old to get the job done.  But now’s the time to consider upgrading your appliances not only because it may be breaking down, but because it could save you money in the long run (not to mention, it saves the earth!).