It’s & We’re Always Open! 
Many homes have one room that always seems uncomfortable. The upstairs gets hot every summer, while a bedroom stays cold all winter long. A room over the garage may never feel comfortable, even after upgrades. Meanwhile, your HVAC system runs constantly, and your energy bills keep going up. The cause may involve more than one appliance. Your home has many connected components, and you may need an energy audit to find the exact problems.
What Is a Home Energy Audit?
A home energy audit looks at the entire house for energy loss or wasted energy. Instead of focusing on one appliance, it studies how different parts of your home interact. This includes insulation, air leaks, ductwork, HVAC equipment, and more. Our goal is to find the actual cause of comfort or energy problems before you choose any improvements.
For example, replacing an air conditioner may not solve an upstairs room that stays too hot. The audit might reveal air leaks or inadequate insulation instead.
What Happens During a Home Energy Audit?
An energy auditor examines several areas of your home to find where energy losses occur. The process can include a visual inspection, testing, and evaluation of the building seals and HVAC system.
The audit usually begins with an inspection of your home and heating and cooling system. The auditor checks the HVAC system equipment and ductwork, along with insulation and areas that may need air sealing. They may also look for visible comfort or moisture problems.
A blower door test measures how much air leaks into and out of your home. The auditor puts a powerful fan in an outside doorway. The fan changes the pressure inside the house. This makes unwanted air movement easier to detect and helps locate areas where outside air enters. The test can identify leaks around windows, doors, attic openings, plumbing, wiring, and other areas.
Insulation slows the movement of heat between your home and the outdoors. During an energy audit, we check accessible insulation for its condition and coverage. This may include the attic, accessible walls, basement, crawlspace, and rooms over garages.
Uneven insulation can cause some areas to gain or lose heat faster than others. That may contribute to cold bedrooms below an attic or uncomfortably warm rooms over garages.
Ductwork carries heated and cooled air from your HVAC system into different areas of the home. During an audit, the auditor checks for leaks, bad connections, and other problems that affect air distribution. They may also look for ducts without adequate insulation.
What Can an Energy Audit Reveal?
An energy audit uncovers problems that are difficult to notice during everyday use. Some issues hide behind walls or above ceilings. Others involve several parts of the home at once.
Small gaps can let outside air into your home without being obvious. An audit may identify leaks around attic openings, plumbing, wiring, or an addition. It can also find gaps where an addition connects to the original house. Sealing these openings can reduce unwanted air movement.
An audit can show where insulation is missing, too thin, or unevenly distributed. This may explain why a bedroom below an attic feels cold. It can also explain why a finished attic gets too hot. A room over a garage may struggle when the space below doesn’t have the right insulation.
Ductwork problems can affect how much heated or cooled air reaches each room. Leaks may send conditioned air into spaces where it can’t improve comfort. In some homes, the first floor stays comfortable while the second floor struggles.
An energy audit may also uncover HVAC system problems. Equipment that runs for long periods may seem like the obvious cause of high energy use. However, the system may be working harder because of problems elsewhere in the home.
Comfort issues are not always due to equipment size. An audit can show whether the equipment needs help or another issue is making it work harder.
An audit may reveal conditions involving moisture or ventilation. These issues can affect how well a home performs when you don’t properly control air or moisture. Finding these issues does not automatically mean the home has an indoor air quality problem.
Older Home, New Addition? An Audit Can Help Connect the Dots
Many North and Central New Jersey homes go through multiple upgrade stages. An older house may have newer windows, a kitchen or family room addition, or a finished attic. It may also have updated HVAC equipment. Insulation may only remain in certain areas. Each improvement may work well on its own, yet the home can still have comfort or efficiency problems. An energy audit figures out how these parts interact.
How Can an Energy Audit Help Lower Utility Bills?
The main benefit of an energy audit is knowing where to focus your money. Instead of guessing, you can use the results to address the actual cause.
For example, you might assume you need a larger air conditioner because the upstairs gets too hot. An audit could reveal attic air leakage or poor insulation. If your furnace runs constantly, major air leakage may be the real issue.
A cold bedroom over the garage is another good example. Improving insulation and air sealing there may help more than replacing your heating system.
The Benefit Is Not Only Lower Bills
Lower energy costs are one possible benefit of addressing problems. Improvements may also reduce drafts and help rooms stay closer to your preferred temperature. You may notice more even temperatures, warmer floors, and better comfort between upstairs and downstairs.
Addressing the actual problems may also reduce how much your HVAC system runs. This may lead to improved energy efficiency and lower utility bills.
When Is a Home Energy Audit Worth Considering?
An energy audit may be worth considering when utility bills are getting too high or certain rooms stay uncomfortable. It can also help when your house feels drafty, or your HVAC system runs for long periods.
An audit can be useful if you’re considering new insulation or HVAC equipment. It may also help if previous upgrades did not solve a comfort problem. Homeowners who recently purchased or are renovating an older house may benefit from understanding how it performs.
What Should You Do With the Results?
An energy audit gives you information, but you don’t have to complete every improvement at once. Start by addressing safety or moisture problems. Then seal major air leaks and improve insulation where needed. Next, repair or seal problem areas in the ductwork before correcting HVAC problems. Consider replacing equipment when necessary.
Find the Right Solutions for Your Home
A home energy audit can help explain why your home feels uncomfortable or uses more energy than it should. Instead of guessing, you can identify where improvements may make the biggest difference. Pipe Works Services handles HVAC, insulation, air sealing, ductwork, and home energy audits. This allows the team to evaluate more than one part of your home’s comfort system.
Ready to find out what may be affecting your home’s comfort and energy use? Contact Pipe Works Services for a home energy audit in North and Central New Jersey.
