House-energy.com launches an information campaign on the need and importance of Home Energy Audits
Industry: Home & Garden
When buying a home or renting an apartment or a house, you should schedule an energy audit. It may save you thousands of dollars.
Portugal (PRUnderground) October 28th, 2013
According to the House-Energy organization, an energy audit is the best way of safeguarding your interests as a prospective home buyer, during the negotiations with sellers and home realtors. It may save you many thousands of dollars.
In the US you can add a professional energy audit to the standard inspection, for a few hundred dollars. The best known energy audits are the HERS (Home Energy Rating System), and there are about 4,000 auditors in the US alone, which you can find at Resnet.
Still according to House-Energy, when buying, you should prefer an Energy Star home (in the US and Canada), or a 6+ Star home (in Australia) or a home with a high energy rating (in Europe); these homes meet minimum energy standards.
But there are other things that you should keep in mind when buying or renting a home. There are other elements that energy audits and official energy standards may not consider and that are at least as important for efficiency as «what’s behind the walls»: the house siting and orientation to the sun, the shape of the house, the landscaping (www.house-energy.com/Landscape/Trees-House-Landscape.htm) around it, the position and dimension of its windows (www.house-energy.com/Windows/Windows-Size.html) on the different sides of the house…
All these elements are critical for comfort and for reducing your utility bills and carbon footprint. Many homeowners and designers do not recognize their importance, and they end up with homes that are uncomfortable and expensive to heat and cool.
About House Energy
House-Energy is an organization committed to promoting energy efficiency in our homes.
