ecoAssessment and Home Energy Audit

 
 

ecoAssessment and Home Energy Audit

Home Owners

Customers interested in how to live a Green Lifestyle - making smart choices for cleaning products, foods, transportation modes, and other important behaviors that reduce your carbon footprint and your overall environmental impact - should click here to learn about the ecoAssessment.

Customers who want to learn about how to improve the structural elements of the home to reduce energy use, improve comfort, safety and the overall performance of a home, read on to learn about our Express Home Energy Audit and our Comprehensive Home Energy Audit.


Express Audit

Comprehensive Audit

What is it?

 

The Express Energy Audit is a low-cost introduction to energy auditing that can provide important information about your home's condition and whether additional action is needed. While not nearly as complex as our Comprehensive Audit, the Express Energy Audit makes it easy to get started down the path towards true Home Performance - an energy efficient, comfortable and safe home.

 

 

 

 

 

The Comprehensive Home Energy Audit is performed to the specifications of the Home Performance with ENERGY STAR® program. Our certified raters put state-of-the-art scientific equipment to work on your home to analyze precise ventilation and safety measures, including advanced equipment that detects invisible gas emissions.

With your list of recommendations in hand, you'll be surprised how inexpensively you can save up to 40% on your energy bills while making your home much more comfortable.

What Do You Do Inside My Home?

 

The Express Energy Audit consists of several steps:

1. Air Leakage Test: Using a Blower Door Pressure device, we test the airflow of your home to identify air leaks and find ways to keep air conditioned and heated air inside your home longer.

2. Detailed Visual Inspection of Rooms and Major Appliances. In addition to looking for energy-savings and comfort improvement, we examine your home for signs of health and safety issues.

 

 

 

The Comprehensive Energy Audit is a whole home approach that includes several diagnostic tools. We also take safety very seriously.

1. Air Leakage Test: Using a Blower Door Pressure device, we test the airflow of your home to identify air leaks and find ways to keep air conditioned and heated air inside your home longer.

2. Detailed Visual Inspection with Infrared Camera Scan: We find hidden air leaks, insulation problems and moisture issues occurring behind walls, and explain how to fix them.

3. Furnace and Water Heater Safety and Efficiency Test: We examine your major gas appliances for safety with a focus on toxic emissions.

What Happens After the Audit?

 

1. You receive a Customized Report with Energy Savings Estimates, Photos and a Prioritized List of Recommended Improvements:  In this easy-to-understand report, we prioritize your improvement options to meet your goals.

2. You receive a 30 Minute Report Review With Your Auditor

 

1. You receive a Customized Report with Energy Savings Estimates, Costs Estimates, Photos and a Prioritized List of Recommended Improvements: In this easy-to-understand report, we prioritize your improvement options to meet your goals.

2. You receive a 30 Minute Report Review With Your Auditor

3. We perform a FREE Follow Up Safety and Performance Test: After you've had the work done, we come back for FREE to re-measure your home's performance.

How Long Does It Take?

 

The Express Energy Audit takes 1.5 - 2 hours to complete.

This comprehensive service assessment can take between 3 and 5 hours to complete depending on home size and number of HVAC systems.

Who Should Buy This?

 

The Express Audit is appropriate for home owners who are just getting started or who may be skeptical that a comprehensive audit is worth the money. This low-cost / no-cost product is designed to make it easy to get started.

In cases where you would like to "skip the audit" and move directly to implementing solutions that have a substantial impact on your ventilation, we strongly recommend that you consider a modified Express Audit at the conclusion of the work for safety reasons. Termed "Test-Out" by the industry, this modification consists of re-running the Blower Door Test and the Combustion Safety Tests. Test-outs cost less than an audit, and are designed to ensure your home is safe from carbon monoxide and that your air circulation meets the airflow standards based on your home's size and number of occupants. Our goal is to help you identify and prioritize any safety issues before you implement solutions that effect airflow in the home. Contact us if you want our help planning your work and to sign up for a Test-Out. Please note that a Test-Out is included for FREE in our Comprehensive Energy Audit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Comprehensive Home Energy Audit is most appropriate for:

1. People who want to reduce their energy consumption: High Energy Bills is the primary motivation for many customers. The Energy Audit educates you on both mechanical and behavioral measures that can save you money. Homeowners in Maryland who follow the advice save up to 40% on their energy bills.

2. People who want to improve the comfort of their home: The Audit provides solutions for seasonal room discomfort, uneven room heating/cooling, drafts, air quality concerns, humidity issues, mold/mildew concerns, and musty odors.

3. People concerned about Appliance Safety and Efficiency: If you are trying to figure out whether your major appliances are working safely and efficiently, or which appliances are near the end of their useful lives, this highly technical energy audit provides a unique and insightful view towards helping you make the right replacement decisions. We’ll help you understand whether changing an appliance today is really worth the money.

4. People concerned about Air Exchange Rates for a Healthy Interior: If you are looking for a precise measurement of air exchange. Too much air exchange means much of your air conditioned or heated air is escaping to the outdoors. To little air exchange leads to a buildup of gases that could make you feel sick. The Home Energy Audit ensures your air exchange is just right, and you should have your Air Exchange Rates checked after any work on your home that impacts air flow.

5. Remodelers: If you are thinking about remodeling your home and want to take advantage of the opportunity to make energy efficient alterations, this whole home evaluation is technical and education and will help you figure out which solutions are most worth incremental investment.

When Do I Get Results?

 

While the auditor communicates with you as he/she goes, you will receive a custom report with the results of your audit within 10 days of the conclusion of your visit.

 

 

You'll have the high level findings communicated verbally before the auditor leaves your home. The Home Energy Audit savings estimates relies on complex energy modeling that takes a few weeks to complete. We try to provide results within 2 weeks of your visit to ensure that you don't lose your enthusiasm. You will receive a comprehensive report by e-mail and/or US Mail and a follow-up call from your auditor to review the results with you.

What Makes ecobeco Different Than Everybody Else?

 

ecobeco's Express Audits are serviced by the same auditors that provide Comprehensive Audits. Thus, you get the experience and judgment of a professional for a much lower price.

Other firms offering products similar to Express Audits do not have the breadth of options that ecobeco provides to help you through the process of getting work done and making sure it is done safely and effectively.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Every respectable energy auditor does a blower door test and gives you a report with recommended retrofits. But ecobeco goes above and beyond this standard, and all of these 8 value-added services are included in our standard pricing:

  • We use an infrared camera on every job to identify sources of air leakage that are invisible to the eye and/or behind walls and/or located in inaccessible parts of the home.
  • If you have gas, oil, or propane-powered HVAC or water heater appliances, we test them for efficiency and safety to ensure your home doesn't have dangerous levels of carbon monoxide or combustion gases.
  • We run every job through the Maryland Energy Administration's BEACON software that models how much energy you will save when you retrofit your home.
  • We prioritize your retrofit options to best meet your goals and budget.
  • We estimate the cost of each retrofit so you can shop smart. 
  • We tell you about utility and tax incentives that lower your costs of getting work done and show you where to get the forms you need.
  • We provide you with a payback period and return on investment so you can compare this investment against leaving your money in the bank.
  • We come back to your home after the retrofits are complete to validate that you got what you paid for by re-running our blower door and combustion safety tests.

How Much Does It Cost?

 

For pricing or to schedule Home Energy Audit today, click here.

 

Who Performs It?

 

Reuven Walder and Curt Christenson are certified raters with the Home Performance with ENERGY STAR program. They are also certified Building Analysts by the Building Performance Institute. Mike Ingram holds a Green Advantage Certification, 40 years of residential building experience, and is currently working under Reuven Walder's supervision.

Who Can Help Me Get Work Done? What Kinds of Work Do You Do?

 

To learn about energy efficiency retrofits and other services that are installed by our trusted network of Home Performance with ENERGY STAR contractors, click here.

What Do Customers Say About ecobeco?

 

Check out our ecoTestimonials from customers just like you. Click Here.


Home Renters

We recommend an Express Energy Audit for home renters. The Audit will address the same issues as Home Owners, but the auditor will spend more time on the items you can control, and we’ll give you a report that you can bring back to your landlord to present during your next rent increase discussion.


Condominium Owners

Please click here to visit our condominium services page.

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