Recently I was in one of my favorite places to shop, the big box hardware store, and was absolutely amazed at the different choices of trash bags there were. I mean really how are we supposed to pick from 30 different sizes and brands. It occurred to me that many homeowners feel the same way about energy efficiency. The problem with the many different upgrades there are to choose from is what will have the greatest impact. For the most part, homeowners are interested in saving money they just need help with the many choices that are out there. Just like the trash bags choosing the right ones to fit your needs is important. You would not be too happy with using a lawn bag in your kitchen trash can, it just doesn’t fit or work very efficiently. I have discovered, just like choosing the wrong size trash bag, many times the reason homeowners are turned off by energy efficiency is that they tried a few things but did not get the results they were looking for. For example you may have chosen to replace your windows to improve energy efficiency. Although there are many good reasons for replacing windows, energy efficiency may not be improved very much. Out of the houses I test only about 1% actually have a big enough problem with the windows to cause a major effect on energy efficiency. Will replacing your windows help? Sure it will, especially if you replace them with new Energy Star qualified windows, but maybe not as much as you had hoped. The reason for this is you are only addressing one aspect, the windows, and not considering the house as a whole. Changing out windows will have a minimal impact if the rest of your house has air leaking in and out of it all over the place. On the other hand sealing up all the air leakage paths will have a huge effect.
So the Question is not whether energy Efficiency measures work or not, but which ones will save you the most and pay for themselves in the shortest amount of time. Fortunately I can help with this, our Energy Audit combined with the use of sophisticated software can answer these questions. Fact is our customers make better choices based on factual evidence, isn’t that what it’s all about?
