Understanding home energy audits:
From assessment to improvements
Key takeaways
- Energy audits reveal where your home or business wastes energy.
- Professional energy auditors use specialized tools like thermal imaging to detect hidden issues.
- Most audits take 3-6 hours and pay for themselves through reduced energy bills.
- Smart monitoring solutions can help track and maintain efficiency improvements.
Table of Contents
Are your energy bills climbing? Wondering if your home or business could be more efficient? You’re not alone.
As energy costs rise, many are discovering that their properties may be wasting more energy than they realize.
That’s where an energy audit comes in. This comprehensive assessment identifies exactly where and how your property is losing energy – and money. A professional audit reveals inefficiencies that might otherwise go unnoticed for years, from hidden air leaks to outdated systems operating below peak efficiency.
This guide will walk you through everything you need to know about energy audits – from understanding the process to implementing smart solutions that can dramatically cut your energy waste.
We’ll explore professional vs DIY audits, the audit process, and how to turn the findings into tangible savings.
Ready to take control of your property’s energy efficiency? Let’s dive in!
What is an energy audit?
An energy audit is a systematic assessment that analyzes how your home or business premises uses, distributes, and loses energy. It examines your entire property as a complete energy system – from the building envelope to energy-consuming appliances and systems.
The key aspects of an energy audit include:
- Building envelope (walls, windows, doors, roof, foundation)
- Heating and cooling systems
- Ventilation and ductwork
- Water heating systems
- Major appliances
- Lighting systems
- Overall energy consumption patterns
The end result is a detailed report that lists specific problems, quantifies their energy impact, and recommends improvements prioritized by their cost-effectiveness. This ensures your efficiency improvements deliver the best possible returns.
Why is an energy audit necessary?
An energy audit seeks to understand how your property uses – and loses – energy.
By identifying inefficiencies in heating, cooling, lighting, and insulation, an audit provides a clear roadmap for reducing waste, cutting costs, and improving comfort.
With rising energy prices straining household and business budgets, pinpointing energy issues has never been more critical.
Once you know where energy is being lost, you can take targeted action to stop wasting money. Here are some examples of energy waste that an energy audit can identify:
- Standby power consumption: Devices left on standby, such as televisions, microwaves, and gaming consoles, continue to draw power even when not in active use. This “phantom” energy usage can account for up to 16% of a household’s electricity consumption.
- Inefficient heating and cooling: In the United States, over half of property energy use is dedicated to heating and air conditioning. Inefficiencies in these systems, such as poor insulation or outdated equipment, can lead to significant energy waste.
- Lost energy in ductwork: The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that 25–40% of heating and cooling energy produced by your furnace, heat pump, or air conditioner is lost through ductwork due to air leaks.
- Inefficient lighting: Using traditional incandescent bulbs instead of energy-efficient LEDs leads to unnecessary energy consumption. Switching to LED lighting can reduce lighting energy consumption by up to 90%.
- Impact of proper insulation: Poor insulation in existing EU residential buildings results in up to 777 TWh of wasted energy annually – the equivalent of 44% of all energy used for residential space heating in the region.
A professional energy audit helps identify these issues systematically, so you can address them in order of impact.
It’s important to mention that reducing energy waste isn’t just about saving money though. It also affects your daily comfort and wellbeing.
Those mysterious cold spots in winter? The rooms that never seem cool enough in summer? Drafts that seem to persist even when windows and doors are firmly shut?
A professional energy audit traces these issues to their source – whether that’s poor insulation, air leaks, or inefficient heating systems – and provides specific solutions for each problem.
How to do an energy audit
Let’s break down the energy audit process. Understanding what’s involved helps you get the most value from your audit, whether you intend to begin with your own tests or work directly with a professional.
DIY energy assessments
It’s possible to perform a simple DIY energy audit.
Start by gathering the last 12 months of utility bills and look for patterns. Sudden spikes in costs signal problems worth investigating. You can also compare your usage to similar buildings in your area to gauge if your energy consumption is unusually high.
From there, you can launch a systematic inspection of your home, focusing on:
- Building envelope: Check windows, doors, and walls for drafts using a candle or incense stick
- Insulation: Examine your attic, crawl spaces, and accessible wall cavities
- HVAC system: Note equipment age, maintenance history, and airflow at vents
- Air leaks: Test weather stripping and door seals, and look for cracks in exterior walls
- Moisture issues: Check for dampness, condensation, or musty odors
Document your findings and prioritize fixes for the most severe issues.
Professional energy audits
Professional auditors determine exactly how and where your home wastes energy using precise diagnostic tools and measurements.
When the auditor comes to your home, they’ll pressurize it with a blower door – a fan that creates negative air pressure, revealing all the paths air takes to leak in from outside.
Meanwhile, thermal imaging reveals temperature differences in walls, ceilings, and floors that signal missing or inadequate insulation.
Here’s the full scope of what a typical professional audit includes:
- Air seal testing: Finding every path air takes to leak in or out of your home
- Infrared scanning: Detecting temperature variations that reveal insulation problems and thermal bridging
- HVAC assessment: Testing combustion efficiency, heat output, and duct leakage
- Ventilation analysis: Measuring air exchange rates and fresh air distribution
- Energy profiling: Monitoring major appliances and systems to identify power drains
- Safety checks: Testing combustion gases and checking for back-drafting
The resulting report quantifies your home’s energy losses and provides recommendations ranked by their potential energy savings. This helps you make informed decisions about which improvements will be most cost-effective.
How long does an energy audit take?
For an average home, you can expect an audit to take around three to six hours.
This includes an initial review of your energy bills, exterior and interior inspections using specialized equipment, and a walkthrough of findings. Auditing a business premises can take much longer, depending on its size and complexity.
Larger homes or those with multiple HVAC systems may require more time. Your auditor should provide a detailed written report with prioritized recommendations within a few days of the inspection.
How to find an energy auditor
Finding a qualified and experienced energy auditor is crucial for obtaining the best possible results. Look for professionals who check these boxes:
- Hold current, relevant certifications for your region
- Have experience with properties similar to yours
- Provide examples of previous audit reports
- Offer clear cost estimates and timelines
- Supply follow-up support for implementing improvements
Good professionals walk you through how they’ll assess your property and what their recommendations could mean for your energy bills.
Some utility companies and government energy offices offer subsidized or free audit programs. These often include lists of pre-screened, qualified professionals and may even cover part of the improvement costs, so be sure to check first.
How to improve your energy efficiency after an energy audit
Most energy audits reveal three main areas for improvement: insulation, air sealing, and HVAC systems.
Start with these fundamental upgrades – add insulation where it’s lacking, seal air leaks around windows and doors, and ensure your heating and cooling systems run efficiently. These fundamental improvements often deliver the fastest payback.
Modern technology can take your energy efficiency to the next level. For example, the Hoymiles MS balcony solar storage system lets you capture and store solar energy for use when you need it most. This innovative system:
- Works with any microinverter brand through simple AC coupling
- Provides 2.24 kWh of storage (expandable to 4.48 kWhwith two units in parallel)
- Operates reliably even in extreme temperatures, with self-heating equipped to keep the product working in cold winters
- Helps you avoid peak electricity rateswith Time-Of-Use (TOU) mode
- Monitors your energy use through smart integrationwith Shelly plug and meter
By combining traditional efficiency improvements with smart energy storage, you can maximize the benefits of your energy audit and take control of your power consumption.
Is an energy audit worth it?
Most homeowners recover their audit investment within months through reduced energy bills. The savings compound over time – sealing air leaks and adding insulation continue to reduce costs year after year.
When combined with smart energy solutions like the Hoymiles MS storage system, which helps you avoid peak electricity rates and optimize solar power use, the long-term financial benefits multiply.
Making the most of your audit
Energy audits are your first step toward a more efficient home or business. The real value isn’t in the audit itself – it’s in what it reveals.
An audit transforms invisible energy waste into clear, fixable problems. Combined with modern solutions like the Hoymiles MS system, you can comprehensively optimize your home or business’ energy use, from fixing basic air leaks to storing solar power for when you need it most.
Every potential improvement identified in your audit is an opportunity to cut waste and reduce costs. Small changes add up. The sooner you start, the more you save.
