Energy Conservation

The current issue of National Geographic features in its portrait a thermal image of a typical house. The related article is a good primer on the issues and challenges related to improving energy efficiency in the US.

How to find home energy auditors

The New York Times published a good article today with information about how to find home energy auditors. The article describes the two basic tests of a good home energy audit: the blower-door test, and the infrared imaging test.

Energy Audit 101

I'm gathering information related to home energy audits. As a first step, here is a definition straight from the US Department of Energy:

A home energy audit is the first step to assess how much energy your home consumes and to evaluate what measures you can take to make your home more energy efficient. An audit will show you problems that may, when corrected, save you significant amounts of money over time. During the audit, you can pinpoint where your house is losing energy. Audits also determine the efficiency of your home's heating and cooling systems. An audit may also show you ways to conserve hot water and electricity. You can perform a simple energy audit yourself, or have a professional energy auditor carry out a more thorough audit.

A professional auditor uses a variety of techniques and equipment to determine the energy efficiency of a structure. Thorough audits often use equipment such as blower doors, which measure the extent of leaks in the building envelope, and infrared cameras, which reveal hard-to-detect areas of air infiltration and missing insulation.