Is your home wasting energy? How efficient is it, compared to other homes? How much could you be saving on your energy bills? Here’s how to find your home’s energy efficiency rating, and reduce your overall usage.
Energy Efficiency Ratings
Your energy usage is determined by HERS – the Home Energy Rating System. A low HERS score means high energy efficiency. Homes start with a score of 100 when they’re built, assuming they’re built to code and pass all inspections. As the house gets lived in and starts wearing out, the score goes up.
However, if you take steps to determine where your house is wasting energy, and make the necessary improvements, you can bring your score down again. With a little work, you can even bring it down below 100, to save even more energy than when the house was brand new.
Home Energy Evaluations
How do you find your HERS score and improve home energy efficiency? Call your HVAC technician to perform a home energy evaluation. This will determine exactly where your house is wasting energy, so you can fix the problems.
First, they perform the blower door test. A giant fan is attached to your front door, which sucks all the air out of your house. Then, using infrared cameras, they take pictures of your house. Pictures taken from outside can show areas that are warmer than normal. Pictures taken from the inside reveal areas that are colder. In so doing, they can locate all the places where air is leaking in, undermining your HVAC system and forcing it to work harder and use more power. They can also test your windows, to see if they have low emissivity coatings to reduce heat transfer in and out of your home.
Once the technician has the results, they can make suggestions for ways you can improve efficiency. With a little work, you can lower your HERS score and your energy bills for years to come.
To learn more about improving your home energy efficiency, contact us at Mowery Heating, Cooling and Plumbing. We serve all of Indianapolis’s HVAC needs.
