by Lynn Nadler

Back in November, the Columbus Dispatch published an article about the Home Performance Solutions program through Columbia Gas.  If you've been reading our blogs you may remember that I signed up to have the auditor done at my home.  Last week it happened.

The Home Energy Auditor, Kevin, came to my home right on schedule.  They do appointments in the morning, afternoon and early evening; mine was in the evening to accomodate my schedule.  Kevin arrived with a lot of equipment--a huge fan, an infrared camera, ladders, carbon monoxide testers and, of course, a laptop.

He started in the basement where he checked my furnace and the hot water tank to see how they are  functioning and to check for carbon monoxide.  He got into all the crawl spaces to check for insulation and heat loss.  In the basement he found that my furnace had rather high levels of CO2 but was otherwise functioning well.  Luckily, by crawl spaces are well insulated so he didn't find significant heat loss there.

Next he got into the attic to check for insulation and air flow. He found that my "R" factor for insulation was sufficient but that over the years the insulation had settled, plus the new standards for insulation had increased, so I could use some more insulation in the attic.  He then checked out all my can lights upstairs.  I didn't know that there can be significant air loss around can lights--you could see from his infrared camera just where the air loss was coming from.

Lastly, he opened my front door and attached a large "screen" to the opening into which he inserted a large fan.  He turned on the fan and then walked around the house with his infrared camera to see where air was escaping.  Luckily for me, there was very little air loss, but you could see where it was occurring.

At the end of the audit, Kevin printed me out a report detailing all he had done.  The great thing about this program is that if I HAD some major problems with energy loss in my home, Kevin, and therefore Columbia Gas, could help me with ways to decrease the losses.  They give suggestions and some discounts to those who have problems with their homes. 

This Home Performance Solutions program was a great learning experience for me.  I highly recommend it to families who have older homes and high heating/cooling bills.  I can see how with the proper information and help, families can really save on their energy costs.  So, call today at 877-644-6674 to have an audit done for you!