If you suspect that your home could be more energy efficient, now is the time to see if your suspicions are right -- before the long, cold mid-Ohio winter hits -- and have an energy evaluation performed by a professional HVAC technician.
Just as a vehicle diagnostic test can pinpoint potential problems with the car that you drive, an energy evaluation is a diagnostic test, of sorts, that determines where your home is losing energy. The results then enable you to make step-by-step changes to improve your home's energy efficiency -- and help you save significant money on energy bills.
How Does An Energy Evaluation Work?
First, you should make a list of any problems that you suspect that you may have with your HVAC system. Your energy auditor then can build on your notes by conducting a thorough, room-by-room diagnostic test of your home.
It also helps if you gather your utility bills for the previous 12 months. With this information in hand, your energy auditor will be in a better position to investigate any telltale clues. The auditor also likely will inquire about your energy habits, including the usual temperature at which you set your thermostat and if you modify the setting when no one is home.
Later, your energy auditor will use special equipment to detect any sources of energy loss. This includes a blower door -- a handy tool that pulls air out of the house and then back in, through any unsealed openings -- and a thermographic scan, which employs infrared video, or still cameras, to make images called thermograms. These images, in turn, help the auditor determine if your home needs added insulation and, if so, where it should be installed.
For more information, or to schedule an energy evaluation with one of our technicians, contact Joe Behr Plumbing and Heating today. We have proudly served customers in mid-Ohio since 1965, and look forward to meeting all of your heating, cooling and plumbing needs.
Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about energy evaluations and other HVAC topics, visit our website.
Joe Behr Plumbing and Heating, Inc. services the Mid-Ohio area.
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