Our Energy Audit

We signed up for an energy audit through our electric company.  The charge is normally $75 (which is a good price to start with....) but I had a coupon that brought it down to only $25!

They started by testing our "draft" level of the house.  Without getting technical, lets just say our house is a wind tunnel.  Our house is 100 yrs old, with the original rope hung, single pane windows.  Enuf said.  The minimal air level we should have in the house was 875 (below that would require mechanical ventilation).  Our starting level was 4100!!! 

The program is designed to seal up to 25% of the draft areas and make energy saving recommendations.  Additionally, they would replace our light bulbs with the newer energy efficient ones.  Heck, we got over $25 in light bulbs alone.

The guys caulked around windows and doors.  Added weather stripping and draft guards to the doors.  Plus, they found a HUGE hole in the top of our linen closet that was leaking air into our attic.  By the end, our draft level was down just over 25%.  We got 8 new light bulbs, plus a fancy dancy 3-way energy efficient bulb.

Additionally, we are eligible for a TON of rebates if we do some improvements in the next 45 days.  Alot of this requires buying new appliances, which isn't happening.  BUT, the one we are seriously considering is adding insulation in the attic.  Currently we have an R15 value, and it should be R30, minimum.  The initial layout would be about $890.  But we would get $445 back as a rebate (50%) and be able to right off another $187 on our taxes next year....bringing the final cost to $258!  This will save tons of money on heating since the heat won't be escaping. 

The whole audit took about 2.5 hrs, and again, cost us only $25.  WELL worth the money.