Anyone sign up for CLECO or other Home Energy Audits?

Though I’m not on Cleco, I paid in June to have both a duct leakage test ($350) and blower door test (house leakage test, $300) on my house (1993 build). Why - I plan to replace my HVAC this winter and I wanted to identify and address any significant air leakage issues to determine if I could down-size HVAC tonnage perhaps as much as a 1/2 to 1 ton not only to reduce initial purchase price but more importantly HVAC cooling and heating operating cost over the anticipated 15 year life span of the HVAC. Of course improving potential home comfort as well - not just $ energy savings. Info from these tests are also used in manual J, manual S and manual D calculations to properly size the HVAC tonnage, and duct work.

Results show my 27 year old rigid HVAC ducts in the attic are very tight with every little leakage - thus saving me the $1500-2000 it would cost to re-seal and re-insulate the attic duct work - no way I could have known this without the duct leakage test. In my opinion $350 well spent.

Blower door test also showed house to be tighter than I anticipated but also showed/identified some leakage areas that I was aware of but other areas of significant leakage that I didn’t anticipate (a smoke pen is used to show leakage infiltration areas while the blower door is running and house is under negative pressure) - the leakage areas can easily be addressed (sealed) which will likely allow me to reduce HVAC tonnage and downsize the BTUs of the natural gas furnace. And I do plan to add additional insulation to already existing R-30 attic. I easily expect to the re-coup the $300 I paid for this test from energy savings within a year. .

Anyway - that’s my long way saying having the energy audit done can and likely will provide you with valuable information that can save you $$$ down the road. Having it done at no cost to you is that much better. A number utility companies around the country do cover the costs of these energy audits. I can’t see any downside - you won’t be obligated to address any issues they find, and issues they do find you might be able address them by DYI or hiring who you want to address air leakage or insulation issues at any time of your choosing. .

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So you are expecting to recoup your money back just in sealing? Or with adding insulation as well?

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We’ll in terms recouping my cost of paying for the blower test, $300, certainly sealing will easily recoup that cost quickly. Recouping the cost of sealing, that will take longer depending on whether I do that myself or hire it out, but the cost of hiring it out should be less than $2K according to the guy who did the blower door test.

Though my attic insulation is not bad, meets current code at R-30, it’s settled in areas over the years and there are pockets where the depth of the insulation is not uniform and “hot/cold spots” exits - my intent is to take it to R-38/40, which although exceeds code, is now what is recommended for our area (south LA) - I’ve not gotten estimates yet on that cost.

I plan to buy a “cheap” or rent a good thermal imaging camera to make sure the cold and hot spot in the attic are clearly identified and addressed.

If the pay back on all this is 5 to 10 years that’s fine with me, but that remains to be determined, but you also need look at it not in strictly monetary terms but in terms of generally improving home comfort for the family - hard to put a $ value on that.

Although there is a tremendous amount of good info on the web, I found this book very informative, helpful, and very readable. The Home Comfort Book. You can download a chapter or more off the internet for free. I bought a copy but if you don’t want to shell out the $ check to see if the library has a copy and if they don’t sometimes they can get it for you on inter-library loan. The author does home energy audits for a living and explains the process and what the numbers mean in a simplified way.

Thanks for sharing the update. They did much more than I would have thought. You can DYI an attic door tent and seal your recessed can light yourself. And the bottom line is you now have better comfort which is the top priority, and if you save some $$ on utilities that just a bonus.