Energy Audit

We had an enegy audit 2005-08-06. Andrew, the guy who did the audit, was very thorough. The first thing he did was look at the insulation and whatnot in the attic. I had a look too and he explained about the places I could see light coming in. There was light coming in all along the peak. That means we have a ridge vent, which is an excellant type of vent, but not used much any more. Because there was only light coming in from the middle of the side, near the floor of the attic, we must have a blockage at the soffit. The other side of the attic was fine. He explained other stuff too. We have sprayed in cellulose insulation, with an R factor of about 28, which is pretty good. But, he recommended that we Add fibreglass insulation in fall.

Then he did a pressure test of the house. He hooked up a fan to the front door opening with a whole contraption that neatly fitted the opening. He says our house leaks as much or more than most houses twice as big as ours :(

Then we walked around and looked for leaks. He tied a stick of incense to the end of his tape measure and lit it. He used the smoke to spot air movement around windows, baseboards, electrical outlets, etc. The reason he had the incense on the end of the tape measure was so he could reach it further.

We will get a written report with recommendations in five to six weeks. We have 15 months from the date of the audit to make changes and apply for the subsidy. He said we get triple the regular subsidy because our house is all electrice.