Energy Star Home Inspection Lowers Your Energy Bill
You can lower your monthly energy bill by hiring an Energy Star-certified house inspector to conduct your home inspection.
Energy Star, a program jointly run by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy, aims to help families save money on their energy bills and at the same time protect the environment by using energy efficient materials and products and applying energy efficient practices.
Energy Star claims that households can save about one-third on their energy bills without sacrificing comfort if they practice Energy Star recommendations.
By applying energy efficient practices, homeowners will not only help themselves, they will also help cut down greenhouse gas emissions which are destroying the environment.
Home inspection professionals who are trained and certified by Energy Star are sometimes called energy raters or energy auditors.
They are trained to evaluate existing energy efficiency devices, check the energy efficiency of appliances and find ways by which the homeowner can save some more on energy bills without sacrificing comfort.
The cost of hiring a home inspection professional with Energy Star certification ranges from $500 to 800, but this cost will easily be covered by thousands of dollars in utility savings in the long term.
Inspectors conducting energy efficiency home inspection will check the insulation in walls and in the attic, the seals of windows and the energy efficiency performance of appliances and mechanical systems in the house.
One of the modern ways used by inspectors to conduct energy efficiency home inspection is the use of thermography or thermal imaging. A thermal imaging equipment is a customized digital camera that detects and measures heat present on a surface or inside a material. The equipment represents the detected heat through digital images.
A home inspector trained in thermography will be able to interpret the digital images and will be able to follow up on the findings and confirm them. The thermograph is handy for checking insulation and moisture penetration, although it can be used also for other home inspection activities.
Areas or parts of the house not easily accessible during home inspection can be evaluated or checked through the use of the thermal imaging camera.
However, there are a lot of Energy Star-certified house inspectors who can conduct energy efficiency home inspection using conventional inspection devices. What is important is the ability of the home inspector to identify energy efficiency strategies that you can improve or install to lower your energy bills.
