OT: Home Energy Audit

[DrKessler_rivals326790]

Anyone ever had one done on a home? Was it worth doing? I'm renting my grandparents house and may possibly be buying it from them in the next 6 months or so. My main concern with the house is the monthly utilities with it being all electric. Its a large house, 2500 sq feet or so, the peak months utilities (electric, water, sewer) run about $300 or so. I'm curious if there is any potentials home improvements that would be worth while doing to lower utilities (window replacement, additional attic insulation, HVAC/Heat Pump replacement, garage door insulation, etc)...

Lastly, where do i look to have it done? I'm in rural SW NE, didn't find anything "energy related" in the yellow pages, or online for the area. Thanks all.

 

[The.Bear.Lib]

See if your utility companies do anything on this. In my area they will send somebody out for free to give you efficient lightbulbs, insulate pipes, install water-saving shower heads, etc. I think maybe they get tax credits for having these programs.

 

[jflores]

Anyone ever had one done on a home? Was it worth doing? I'm renting my grandparents house and may possibly be buying it from them in the next 6 months or so. My main concern with the house is the monthly utilities with it being all electric. Its a large house, 2500 sq feet or so, the peak months utilities (electric, water, sewer) run about $300 or so. I'm curious if there is any potentials home improvements that would be worth while doing to lower utilities (window replacement, additional attic insulation, HVAC/Heat Pump replacement, garage door insulation, etc)...

Lastly, where do i look to have it done? I'm in rural SW NE, didn't find anything "energy related" in the yellow pages, or online for the area. Thanks all.

IMO you are cutting off your nose to spite your face.

I have a 2500 sq ft house in West Omaha. My furnace died when I moved in so I bought a furnace for like $4800 (it ended up being 2 grand after the energy subsidies in 2010).

Even if that furnace were light years better than my old one, its hard to imagine that I would have gained $5000 worth of utilities savings in the past 5.5 years considering it only runs in the winter.

Windows on a house are no joke, tens of thousands of dollars. If you need them, you need them. But anyone who is willing to replace 20 or 30k worth of windows to save a handful of dollars each month on utilities, has enough money to roll either way.

 

[The.Bear.Lib]

IMO you are cutting off your nose to spite your face.

I have a 2500 sq ft house in West Omaha. My furnace died when I moved in so I bought a furnace for like $4800 (it ended up being 2 grand after the energy subsidies in 2010).

Even if that furnace were light years better than my old one, its hard to imagine that I would have gained $5000 worth of utilities savings in the past 5.5 years considering it only runs in the winter.

Windows on a house are no joke, tens of thousands of dollars. If you need them, you need them. But anyone who is willing to replace 20 or 30k worth of windows to save a handful of dollars each month on utilities, has enough money to roll either way.

Dead on with this. I'd say if you can blow in a foot of insulation into the attic for a couple hundred bucks, do it. Some weather stripping and a can of Great Stuff to fill cracks here and there for 20 bucks, great. Do that. If there's a room over the garage and the garage ceiling has no insulation at all, might be worth it to add insulation in there and finish that ceiling for a couple hundred. But you need many years to make your money back on things like that.

You can save more money with habits than home improvements. Learn to live with the house at 74 or 76 and turn a fan on during the summer. Drink a glass of ice water if you feel hot before you turn the AC down. Don't walk around in jeans with your shoes and socks on and complain that it's hot. Learn to live with it at 68 or less in the winter and put a sweatshirt on or throw on an extra blanket. Maybe you already do all these...you'd be surprised how many people don't. Two nights ago my wife is wearing tights and a shirt in bed and asking me if I feel hot. Uh...no...I'm not fully dressed to go to bed in the summer.

I have a friend who is deep into the energy efficiency game (blower door tests, the whole 9 yards) and he told me it's not worth it to do windows unless you just desperately need the windows replaced for other reasons. Your best investment is good ol' cheapo plastic film to stop the draft in the winter when it comes to old windows.

In that same boat myself with a furnace that has to be about 20 years old and half the house worth of windows from the 1970s. Gas bill just dropped into the $70 a month range. Would take me a loooooong time to make back the money on a new HE furnace even if it cut my gas bill by 1/3. Windows would cost thousands.

 

[TruHusker]

I live in Salina, Ks and had one done several years ago. There was some kind of grant available and we paid something like 50 or 75 dollars. Very comprehensive written report that was helpful. They did pressure tests and the infrared readings. Checked furnace, insulation on everything, hit water heater, you name it. They found about three places where I was losing heat which were easy to fix and had been there since the house was built. They even found where I put new can lights and didn't put the insulation right up against the lights. I have made the upgrades myself over time including new basement windows and redoing the absent walls. I suspected they would tell me I needed new windows and a new furnace but they did not. I since have replaced.the furnace with an energy efficient one which will never pay for itself. Highly recommend if you get a new good person
They spent several hours just at the site aside from the pages of reports.

 

[Dean Pope]

You can save more money with habits than home improvements. Learn to live with the house at 74 or 76 and turn a fan on during the summer. Drink a glass of ice water if you feel hot before you turn the AC down. Don't walk around in jeans with your shoes and socks on and complain that it's hot. Learn to live with it at 68 or less in the winter and put a sweatshirt on or throw on an extra blanket. Maybe you already do all these...you'd be surprised how many people don't. Two nights ago my wife is wearing tights and a shirt in bed and asking me if I feel hot. Uh...no...I'm not fully dressed to go to bed in the summer.

I have a friend who is deep into the energy efficiency game (blower door tests, the whole 9 yards) and he told me it's not worth it to do windows unless you just desperately need the windows replaced for other reasons. Your best investment is good ol' cheapo plastic film to stop the draft in the winter when it comes to old windows.

I agree. I replaced windows in my first house back in 2008 or so, but that was during the stimulus era where buying energy efficient windows gave you huge tax break. It made sense to me to do it, but without the tax break I would only replace windows if I absolutely had to. We loved the new windows though, the house was more comfortable, and we noticed a difference on our bill every month. There's something to be said for comfort. One thing about old, inefficient windows is not having a uniform temperature in the house. Our kitchen & dining area had a sliding glass door that faced west. It didn't keep the heat out in the summer.

Adding a programmable thermostat is a nice way to save a few bucks. Again, it will take a while to recoup the cost. We got one for free with a trial program our energy company was running.

 

[sparky4986]

Our home is 22 y/o & in the last 3 years we have had replace the roof, AC, furnace, water heater, and in 2 weeks we're getting new windows. All of those needed replaced, we didn't just do it on a whim. We didn't get the most efficient AC or furnace as the extra costs did seem reasonable but we didn't get the least efficient either. Our gas bill is $19 a month and we have 2,300 sq ft. upstairs w/a finished basement.

 

[jflores]

Our home is 22 y/o & in the last 3 years we have had replace the roof, AC, furnace, water heater, and in 2 weeks we're getting new windows. All of those needed replaced, we didn't just do it on a whim. We didn't get the most efficient AC or furnace as the extra costs did seem reasonable but we didn't get the least efficient either. Our gas bill is $19 a month and we have 2,300 sq ft. upstairs w/a finished basement.

The guy I bought my house from replaced the roof about a year before I bought it I think. Hail storm. My wife had it replaced a few years ago when i was deployed. Hail storm. And I just got a new one this year. Hail storm.

I can't keep a roof on my house.

 

[sparky4986]

The guy I bought my house from replaced the roof about a year before I bought it I think. Hail storm. My wife had it replaced a few years ago when i was deployed. Hail storm. And I just got a new one this year. Hail storm.

I can't keep a roof on my house.

Keep that insurance company. Two adjusters came to my house & said I had no damage(roof was 20+ years old). Almost all my neighbors received new roofs. Even the roofers told me I should be glad I was having insurance pay for it. $11,000 out of pocket. BTW, the adjuster told me that the pit marks were where they missed with a hammer when they installed the original roof. They were stapled. You think I didn't raise a stink with my insurance company???? Lets just say this MOD was a little upset.

 

[GeorgeFlippin]

Keep that insurance company. Two adjusters came to my house & said I had no damage(roof was 20+ years old). Almost all my neighbors received new roofs. Even the roofers told me I should be glad I was having insurance pay for it. $11,000 out of pocket. BTW, the adjuster told me that the pit marks were where they missed with a hammer when they installed the original roof. They were stapled. You think I didn't raise a stink with my insurance company???? Lets just say this MOD was a little upset.

So, did you "hit" the sauce a bit to calm down after talking to your insurance adjuster?

 

[jflores]

Keep that insurance company. Two adjusters came to my house & said I had no damage(roof was 20+ years old). Almost all my neighbors received new roofs. Even the roofers told me I should be glad I was having insurance pay for it. $11,000 out of pocket. BTW, the adjuster told me that the pit marks were where they missed with a hammer when they installed the original roof. They were stapled. You think I didn't raise a stink with my insurance company???? Lets just say this MOD was a little upset.

Well, they won't cover everything. They are patching and painting a bunch of holes in the back of my house because they won't cover the siding. I got some new gutters, a couple fence sections out the deal as well.

 

[sparky4986]

So, did you "hit" the sauce a bit to calm down after talking to your insurance adjuster?

You have no idea. Had to pay for it somehow.I paid for it with a hangover & a sales in crease. Winking

Well, they won't cover everything. They are patching and painting a bunch of holes in the back of my house because they won't cover the siding. I got some new gutters, a couple fence sections out the deal as well.

Get another adjuster. No way they should just be patching the holes in the siding. Run, don't walk.Concerning the gutters, please make sure you get the commercial 5" downspouts. I was charged an extra $50 per downspout, BUT I didn't do the 2 on the south side that will never have trees. Guess which one got clogged on July 15th. Yip, the one where I ripped off my finger. $50 would have saved me 6 weeks of sick time and a ton of medical bills.

 

[The.Bear.Lib]

You have no idea. Had to pay for it somehow.I paid for it with a hangover & a sales in crease. Winking



Get another adjuster. No way they should just be patching the holes in the siding. Run, don't walk.Concerning the gutters, please make sure you get the commercial 5" downspouts. I was charged an extra $50 per downspout, BUT I didn't do the 2 on the south side that will never have trees. Guess which one got clogged on July 15th. Yip, the one where I ripped off my finger. $50 would have saved me 6 weeks of sick time and a ton of medical bills.

Agree on the big gutters and spouts. You'll never say, "Golly, I wish I'd gotten the smaller ones!" Been playing the gutter game at my place. It's not too bad to DIY.

I was standing at the window at 5:45 this morning watching it pour down rain outside to see if all the trench digging and re-grading I've done is paying off. I've had water getting into the basement in 3 spots, and 2 of them are due to the dumbest gutter layout and placement you can imagine. They're too far off the ground to reach by ladder, and the roof is too steep to clean them from the roof. There are literally ants nesting in one of them, that's how clogged and composted it is. I thought of Sparky as I weighed whether I could balance on the edge of the roof, reach into the gutter, and do it all while a nest of ants crawled up my legs.

If you have any downspouts that run into the ground and into your weeper system, GET THEM OUT. That's where leak 2 of 3 is coming from...I hope. Is it gonna look stupid to run 20 feet of downspout across the back of the house to the side yard? Yes it is. Is it better than washing out the dirt around my foundation and growing mold behind the drywall in the basement? Yes it is.

Thank God for Mike Holmes that I know all this stuff...