OxBow Home Inspections
~
Energy Efficiency
Audits ~
Are
Your Cooling (and/or Heating) Costs Out of Control?
OxBow is a NACHI Certified Home Inspector who is also trained, licensed, and certified as a Thermographer. I will perform an energy efficiency inspection of your home. OxBow is also one of the very few Home Inspectors in all of Idaho to use state of the art digital Infrared Thermography (thermal imaging) in order to locate building performance deficiencies. This Energy Audit will allow you to bring today's energy efficiency to yesterday's home, and pay for it with tomorrow's energy savings.
The infrared thermal technology is the key component in this whole process. At the time of this writing, there are only two other home inspectors in all of southern Idaho who use this fascinating gear... because it is incredibly expensive to purchase, and can be even more expensive in simply getting trained and certified. Here is how infrared can help: Here are three photos I have taken recently during energy audits in the Treasure Valley:
The picture on the left
is a ceiling,
as viewed from the inside of the living room. An area the
size of
two refrigerators was nearly void of insulation. Notice the
temperature of this area (54F degrees). It is no wonder their
furnace was staying on all the time.
The photo in the center
is of a stud
bay that was missed, forgotten, or simply ignored...
and then
covered with sheetrock. 16 inches wide, and 8 feet tall.
Besides... once the sheetrock is up...
who will ever know? Until Infrared came along... the answer
was
"nobody would ever know".
This is actually a fairly common little
disaster that I see much more frequently than I should.
The third photo:
A new home. Almost a million dollars. This
is the hatch leading into
the attic. Daughter's room. She complained it was
always
cold. This hatch was sealed and painted shut. Before
doing
so... the builder forgot to insulate the hatch. Result: An
area the size of a suitcase, radiating 56F degrees into
her room.
Another key to reducing your energy
consumption is to do something about your windows: The weakest
part of your thermal envelope. Please see this article regarding 'Thermal Shade".
The OxBow Energy Audit
can be used to
obtain special low-interest FHA or other very special
financing
to help pay for the energy efficiency upgrades that are outlined in the
report. An OxBow home energy audit can drastically lower your
electric/propane/oil/gas bills; save power in Idaho; make your home
more comfortable during
all seasons, and help us all to lessen our dependence on foreign oil.
Here is an example:
We
purchased our current home in 2002. The home is all electric,
and
is about 35 years old. The previous owner was on a "level
pay"
plan, and was paying $240 per month for utilities. After
conducting my own energy audit and acting on each one of the
recommendations, it added about $100/month to my mortgage as we had to
finance the improvements. But... our monthly "level pay"
electric
bill is down: from $240/month to $74/month, and is still
decreasing! So... we are paying about $100/month for the
improvements, but have reduced our utility bill by $166/month!
So, we have new appliances, new insulation, new windows, and
numerous other improvements, along with a house that is much more
comfortable and worth a lot more, and gained $66/month in the process!
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Heating
Costs Seen Jumping This Winter
By JOHN
WILEN |
Associated Press Business Writer
11:25 PM EDT, October
9, 2007
NEW YORK -
Almost all Americans will
pay a lot more to heat their homes this winter, even though
temperatures are expected to be warmer than average. That's
the
sobering message from an Energy Department report Tuesday that
estimates heating oil costs are likely to jump 22 percent and natural
gas bills, on average, will rise 10 percent between October and
March.......... get
the rest.......
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How Can a Home Energy Saving
Audit Help?
- Find out
which
improvements to make. The energy audit report will estimate
the
costs involved and the projected savings of each repair, maintenance,
or upgrade. The report will also show you how, and in how
much
time, your money saved on utility bills all by itself will pay for the
costs incurred.
- Increase
the comfort
of your home. You will reap the benefits immediately; have
lower
heating bills in the winter; have lower cooling bills in the summer,
and you will have less operating time on your heating and air
conditioning units, thus extending their service life
- Increase
the value of
your home. Each dollar spent on the maintenance and
improvements
recommended in your energy audit will increase the value of your home
by more than a dollar
- Save
Money! The
results of each energy audit vary based upon hundreds of factors.
The bottom line is: on average, homeowners who heed
the
recommendations of their energy audit will see an immediate reduction
in their monthly energy costs by 25%. Additionally, the costs
of
many of the improvements recommended are also tax
deductible
The Four Easy Steps of a Home
Energy Audit:
- THE
INSPECTION: A certified
energy
inspector examines and measures the home to find all the opportunities
for saving energy. Thermal Imaging and more...
- THE
DETAILED ANALYSIS: Specialized
software produces a report which shows savings and costs for energy
efficiency improvements, and provides tips on ways to save even more
energy and reduce utility bills. More....
- THE
IMPLEMENTATION: The report
provides
access to a database of contractors, a direct line to an energy expert,
and access to other energy products and services. More...
- THE
FINANCING: The report lists
the
improvements that, when financed, will save you more money than they
cast. It includes information on various financing options as
well as government subsidized programs designed to assist homeowners in
making these energy saving changes. More....
Proudly
Serving the Following Counties:
Ada, Adams, Boise, Canyon, Gem, Payette, Valley, Malheur and Washington
Oxbow Home Inspections • PO Box 2144 Eagle, ID 83616 • 208.573.5300
Troy Farmer: Owner/Inspector • E-Mail: info@troyfarmer.com
© 2007- 2011 Oxbow Home
Inspections and Radon Testing, LLC
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