[Ever since we had our home energy audit done back in November, we’ve gotten several more solicitations from companies offering to do one for us, and only charge us $75. Luckily, since we are Wallingford residents our energy audit cost us nothing, as the cost was covered by the town. As we’ve said before, energy audits are a great service that can pinpoint the places in your home that can rob you of precious heat and allow you to have them fixed.

But, are the audits done through the utility companies all they’re cracked up to be? After a conversation with our good friend and home inspector extraordinaire Jim Quarello, we’re not so sure. Jim was kind enough to provide us with a professional’s viewpoint and has allowed us to publish it here.]

Are the Utility Companies Duping the Public?

by James Quarello, ASHI Certified CT Home Inspector

As everyone is well aware, the cost of energy has gone significantly higher in the last couple of years. This has spurred an interest in energy conservation. A little late in my opinion, kind of like closing the door after the dog gets out, but I digress.

Because higher energy costs hit everyone where it hurts, their wallet, the utility companies have been forced through public outcry to offer some kind of relief. Now I do not know what is being done or proposed in other states across the nation, I will only be focusing on where I live and work, Connecticut.

What has been instituted in Connecticut through the two major electric utilities, Connecticut Light & Power (CL&P) and United Illuminating (UI) is a program titled Home Energy Solutions (HES). This is touted by the utilities as; “A Comprehensive Service to Help Lower Your Energy Bills”.

The HES program is funded through the Connecticut Energy Efficiency Fund (CEEF). The CEEF is financially supported by all CL&P and UI customers through the conservation charge on their electric bills and paid for by customers of Connecticut Natural Gas, Southern Connecticut Gas and Yankee Gas. In other words, the customers are paying for this service. In essence, it’s a give back.

The service, however, is not free; there is a charge of $75 for most customers, with the only exception that I’m aware of being for Wallingford Electric Division (WED) customers. This program is free for those lucky enough to have WED as their electric provider.

The cost of the program is a bargain and I encourage everyone to take advantage of this service with one caveat: do not expect to save much money on your utility bills after the job has been completed.

The focus of the program is repairs to the home. Not specific repairs identified for each individual home, but more a blanket approach. The web page explaining what the program encompasses states:

The service may include, followed by a list of energy repairs and upgrades.

The most significant and impressive of these is the blower door assisted air sealing. Unfortunately, the job is focused on finding big leaks in order to drop the reading a few hundred points. The job performed is in no way complete or comprehensive.

The purpose of this dissection of the HES program is to provide understanding to homeowners in Connecticut who are seeking relief on their energy costs. The utility companies are selling the perception that this program will provide a significant and comprehensive solution to homeowner’s high energy costs. This, in fact,, is not the case.

As a home energy auditor/inspector, I have performed many audits on homes after the HES program was completed. The homeowners contacted my company because:

1. Their energy bills were still high and they were dissatisfied, and
2. They were seeking advice from a knowledgeable, independent energy professional

My company conducts a service called the Home Energy Tune-uP, a comprehensive energy efficiency improvement analysis specific to the individual home. No repairs are performed; instead,, the energy wasting culprits are first identified and then a report is assembled in which each available cost effective energy saving measure is charted. What in effect is presented to the customer is a pin point plan of how and where they can save money on energy in their home.

The other, and most important, aspect of the Tune-uP service is the fact it is performed by Connecticut licensed home inspectors, not contractors (who are not licensed). Home inspectors analyze homes almost every day. In order to perform their jobs, home inspectors must be knowledgeable on the plethora of components and systems found in a home. As a licensed profession this requires initially obtaining formal training and doing an in field apprenticeship followed by continuing education in order to maintain the license.

So, are the utility companies duping the public? Maybe a little, but it’s always been caveat emptor, buyer beware. The utility customer should research the program to understand the scope and focus of the service. It is certainly worthwhile for every utility customer to take advantage of the program. If the homeowner is seeking solutions and expert advice, a Home Energy Tune-uP should be the first step to resolving their high energy costs. In fact, having a Tune-uP done before the HES program would provide the homeowner education on precisely what their home needs to be more energy efficient.

[Thanks to Jim for this article. If anyone is interested in availing themselves of his services, Jim can be reached at (203) 697-1147 or through his web site at JRV Home Inspections.]

Post from: Wallingford Wired©2009 by Pat & Wayne Harriman

Are the Utility Companies Duping the Public?

Last December we published this post about having a Home Energy Audit done in your home. Our Yankee Gas service tech told us they were a great way to find out how energy efficient your home was, and they were very inexpensive at the time ($75 for Wallingford residents), so we applied to have one done in our home. Unfortunately, we misplaced the card they sent us to confirm the appointment, so we never got it done last year. This year, we made a commitment to have it done, no matter what.

So, after applying again and receiving the confirmation, two gentlemen from Competitive Resources, Inc., the company contracted by Connecticut Light and Power (CL & P) and United Illuminating (UI) to perform energy audits, arrived at our home on Wednesday, November 4th to determine how energy efficient our house was. The procedure – and the results – were quite interesting.

“You Cannot Leave This Place…”

Well, at least not once they install the Blower Door on your front door! But before that happens, they walk through the house and make note of several different things, including if you have fireplaces, how well your attic is insulated and how many incandescent light bulbs need replacing with the new CFL bulbs (you get 25). Once that is finished, they install the blower door and turn on the high speed fan to see what kind of air flow you have coming into your house. Here’s a look at what the blower door looks like:

They bring that fan in the lower part of the door up to speed and then read what the air pressure inside the house is on this meter:

which measures air pressure in Pascals.  They bring the air pressure inside the house to CFM50 and then read what the airflow is through the house. Ours turned out to be 4735 cfm (cubic feet per minute), which is somewhat leaky!  While the fan is on, they go through the house making note of where drafts are felt, indicating air coming into the house in places where it shouldn’t be. They then turn off the fan, plug all the holes they can identify, and then repeat the airflow test to see how much the airflow has been reduced.

In our house, they caulked an entire small closet, patched holes under sinks, sealed window casings and doors and taped a large window air conditioner to prevent air getting in around the unit. After taking these measures, they performed the airflow test again and this time the reading was 4185 cfm, a reduction of 550 cfm, which is fairly significant. However, the reading is still indicative of a fairly leaky house, as this graphic shows:

As you can see, the reading we got of 4185 cfm at the end of our test falls into the “Leaky” column of this table, so it looks as though we still have some work to do. At least we got more informed about the process and our home’s air tightness. And there’s more good news…

If you remember, we were told that this test would cost $75, which is a pretty good bargain by any standards. We were pleasantly surprised, however, when the servicemen did not ask for any money at the end of the test! We called the company and they confirmed that, because Wallingford Electric had come up with additional funding for this project, Wallingford residents are given this service for FREE! So, if you’re a Wallingford resident, now is the time to call or go online to sign up for your free Home Energy Audit. You might just save a good chunk of money that you could put to good use somewhere else! It’s a good value for a couple hours inconvenience. If you live outside of Wallingford, ask then what your charge will be for the service.

Once again, the company that does the work is Competitive Resources, Inc., and you can call them at (203) 294-9677, toll-free at 1-888-403-3500, or go to their web site at http://www.hesprogram.com/schedule-your-installation.php.

Post from: Wallingford Wired©2009 by Pat & Wayne Harriman

Home Energy Audit Finds Holes in Home