Staying comfortable in the premises of your home in the cold winter night and chilling on a couch on a scorching hot day are the basic comforts one seeks from their house. However, we need to pay a huge sum for that these days. To keep the environment at home comfortable we use the best modern amenities and prepare our pockets for a whooping sum to be paid each month. But why should such basic comforts come at the price of a fortune? There are a number of factors leading to it.

On an average a house tends to waist around 20% or more energy each month. The loop holes in the house could be open gaps, poorly functioning appliances, no insulation etc. By weatherizing your house you could be saving not only money but also a lot of energy, not to mention the comfort you will experience at home.

Weatherization keeps your house warm during winters and cool during summers by consuming less energy. Also weatherization does much more than just preventing the loss of energy by exchange of inside and outside air.

• By stopping the infiltration of air the humidity in the house is reduced
• Dust and pollens are kept away
• It makes the house noise and dust proof

Before weatherizing your house you need to know the areas that require repairs. An energy audit can help you to find the problem areas in your house. Not only will it locate the loop holes but also recommend appropriate measures to prevent the wastage. During an energy audit the energy performance of the entire house is under check. The characteristics of your homes thermal envelope i.e. walls, ceilings, floors, doors, windows, and skylights are checked. Their R-value i.e. the heat resistance is assessed. Next the audit checks the gaps in the house. Potential areas that can lead to air infiltration are -

• Gaps in the walls
• Cable, TV and phone wiring
• Chimney
• Door and window frames
• Gas service entrances
• Kitchen and dryer exhaust fans
• Outdoor faucet
• Wall air conditioning units

The functioning of the appliances is checked and recommendations are made to replace old and energy consuming technology with new and energy conserving technology. The HVAC of the house consumes most of the energy. Replacing this old technology with new and improved appliances will save you a lot of energy and money too. The Auditor will also check the lighting of the place including the lighting fixtures and bulbs used.

Conducting an Energy Audit of your house is the first step towards weatherization. The auditors let you know of the areas in your house that lead to energy leakage and suggest effective improvements to stop this wastage. Also they mention the changes required in a priority order mentioning the improvement activity of immense benefits first.

Hiring an expert for this purpose is the best thing to do as their experience and knowledge in this field will provide you with effective solutions. StarEnergyAudits.com is a leading service provider for professional energy audits. Our team of qualified professionals analyze your house thoroughly and propose effective measures to reduce energy wastage. We are well known for our impeccable services in New Orleans, Louisiana and surrounding area. Call Brad Harris at 504-383-3261

Tags: air sealing, home weatherization

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 31st, 2011 at 9:30 am and is filed under Home Weatherization. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.