One of the great advantages of living in the digital age of the 21stcentury is how easily information can be obtained thanks to the internet. Pretty much any interesting fact you want to know can quickly be looked up through your favorite search engine.
Having all this information at your disposal is fantastic because the information is power, and the best decisions are well-informed decisions. But there are things the internet can’t tell you – like how much energy is being wasted in your home because of leaks, inefficient appliances, or not enough insulation.
The good news is that it’s easy to find out with a home energy assessment, and all you have to do is sign up for it because you’ve actually already paid for one!
You’ve Already Paid for a Home Energy Assessment, So Claim it!
If you’re a resident of Massachusetts, you know you’ve already paid for a home energy assessment, right? Or maybe you don’t know that.
Take a look at your latest electricity bill from Eversource, National Grid, Unitil, or Cape Light Compact. You’ll see an itemization for something called an “energy efficiency” charge. This portion of your energy bill is what funds your no-cost home energy assessment via a special program:
TheMass Save® program aims to “…empower residents, businesses, and communities to make energy efficient upgrades by offering a wide range of services, rebates, incentives, trainings, and information.”
We can’t really call it a FREE home energy assessment because technically you’ve already paid for it. And don’t you want to get something you’ve already paid for? There’s literally no reason NOT to take advantage of scheduling one now to find out how much energy you’re wasting – especially before the next heating season rolls around.
What the Home Energy Assessment Includes
The process only takes a couple hours. One of our energy specialists will come to your home to conduct the assessment and then provide you with a customized list of all the different things you could to make your home more energy-efficient.
Even better, there are a bunch of different energy-saving products we’ll install on the spot at no cost to you! These can include ENERGY STAR Certified LED light bulbs, advanced power strips, low-flow showerheads, faucet aerators, and even programmable thermostats (or discounted wireless thermostats installed during a second appointment).
An important thing we do is perform combustion safety testing of any natural gas, oil or propane appliances to screen for carbon monoxide, drafts, and spillage, amongst other inspections. This test is also a way for us to make sure that those appliances will still operate safely if you end up sealing your home through weatherization and better insulation.
Your gas or oil furnace along with your non-electric hot water heater are the most important appliances we test, but we’ll also look at gas dryers, stoves, and ovens. The equipment we use in combustion testing includes a Bacharach carbon monoxide meter and also a manometer to measure the draft pressure of the systems.
We’ll also point out anything we notice around your electricity usage, like appliances that suck up a lot of electricity that you might not use much or don’t even need. And we’ll make sure you know about any appliance rebates or other energy-saving rebates you can get through Mass Save. We’ll also go through your home to check insulation types and levels, as well as identify places where your home is probably leaking a lot of heat in the winter.
Another thing we’ll do is point out all the places where your home is leaking and costing you money. In fact, those leaky places can account for as much as 30% of your heating/cooling bill! If you were to put all these leaky areas together, sometimes it ends being as much as leaving a window open all winter.
The attic and the basement are the areas in most homes that have the biggest leakage problems contributing to wasted energy
And then there’s also all your windows and doors. When you take the two-fold approach of sealing these leaks and improving your home’s insulation, big savings are the result!
What’s the value of this home energy assessment? If you had to pay for it outright it might cost as little as $200 or up to and beyond $1,000 depending on what no-cost energy-saving products we installed during the assessment. But if you act on the recommendations and improve your home’s energy efficiency, you’ll save money on your utility bills every month for many years to come.
Use Your Report to Make an Energy Efficiency Plan and Budget
If you live in an older home, chances are good that there will be a LOT of different things you can do to make your home more energy-efficient:
- Improving the quality and amount of insulation
- Sealing up all leaky areas
- Installing a more energy-efficient furnace
- Replacing your traditional electric water heater with an on-demand system
- Buying other more efficient appliances to replace those that are inefficient
And you might not be able to afford all of them at once, even with the rebates available through Mass Save®.
But you also don’t have to do everything at once, right? Figure out what you can save up or set aside for one project a year. In other words, use the information you get from our home energy assessment to plan out how you can improve your home’s energy efficiency over the next several years and try to do at least one or two projects a year to reap the benefits!
Call (781) 514-5882 or contact us to get started with a no-cost Mass Save® home energy assessment.