Every month, you set aside a certain amount of money to pay your energy bill. However, have you ever stopped and thought whether you are using your home energy properly and efficiently? While you may be actually doing different measures to lower down your energy consumption, it is always helpful to have a concrete understanding of how you are utilizing energy and how you can decrease it.
This is where the importance of doing a home energy usage audit comes in. If you haven’t tried auditing your home energy consumption yet, you might be ambivalent whether you need this process or not. Thankfully, you can continue reading this post to learn more.
Hire a Company to Do a Home Energy Audit
The very first thing that you might want to consider is hiring a professional to inspect your home energy usage. While it is true that this course of action may cost you money, it is a good investment if you think about the energy and money you save in the long run.
Because you consume energy every day, it is recommended that you do your energy usage auditing as early as possible. If you still don’t have the necessary money to do so, you may want to consider applying for a cash advance online. There are lenders today that provide affordable interest rates and extended payment period.
You shouldn’t see the money you spent on auditing as something that will go to waste. Remember that home energy auditing will not only save you a lot of money, but it also ensures that your electrical system is in excellent and safe condition.
Prepare a home energy audit toolkit
A home energy audit toolkit comes with the right tools and information to help you understand your energy consumption. You may want to invest in these tools if you intend to do your own energy auditing in the future.
Some of the most common home energy audit toolkit items include the following:
- Appliance meter
- Compass
- Guide
- Infrared thermometer
- Spirit thermometer
- Stopwatch
Things you can do before calling the professionals
You can perform some aspects of home energy usage auditing by yourself. Here are some of the ways you can do this:
- Check energy efficiency of each item – for example, modern light bulbs are designed to be more efficient. Check your light fixtures and replace them with LED bulbs whenever possible. Moreover, when buying new appliances, check their energy consumption rating.
- Check heating and cooling systems – if your heating and cooling units are older than ten years, then consider buying new ones. The older your systems are, the less efficient they will be. In case you can’t afford purchasing new units, you might consider cleaning or replacing filters.
- Replace insulation – while this may sound tiring, it is something you need to do one day. Insulation can get old and worn out eventually and if you don’t handle this problem, your heating or cooling system has to work harder.
- Check leaks – even if you have a good insulation system in place, it is still essential to check for air leaks. Reducing drafts may help you save energy as much as 10% to 20% every year.
- Track your monthly billing – your monthly energy bill is a good indication of your electric consumption. After a month of doing the necessary steps in reducing your monthly billing, study your statement of account and see how effective your effort.
Final thoughts
Don’t pay so much on your energy bill when you can actually reduce it. Doing an energy usage audit goes a long way. It does not just save you money, but it also helps in preserving the environment as you decrease your energy consumption.
