Having an energy-efficient home doesn’t mean that you don’t use your HVAC system and other electrical appliances. However, there are steps that you can take to improve your home’s efficiency, which allows you to save money on those monthly utility bills. Learn more about our home energy audits and the benefits they provide.
Understanding Home Energy Audits
When it comes to evaluating home energy use, the main factors are safety, comfort, savings, and sustainability. Home energy audits, also known as residential energy assessments, provide an analysis of your home’s energy consumption to identify specific aspects for improvement. An audit evaluates all the installed equipment that uses electricity and fuel. This includes heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, appliances, circuits, devices, controllers, materials, insulation, weatherstripping, and household activities.
Benefits of Residential Energy Assessments
An audit provides an understanding of how your home uses and wastes energy. Based on the evaluation, you can unlock many benefits, starting with monthly savings on your energy bills. This is the benefit most of our customers inquire about; nonetheless, it is not the only benefit.
Issues like drafts, uneven temperatures, and poor ventilation are detrimental to household comfort. When you address these issues through professional solutions, you can increase comfort around your house throughout all seasons.
Concerning safety, our technicians look at issues related to faulty wiring, leaks, or failing equipment that can become hazardous to your household. There’s also the carbon footprint factor; by improving energy efficiency, you would be contributing to environmental protection with lower carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Higher efficiency translates into a more responsible consumption of natural resources.
The financial benefits of home energy audits do not stop with lower monthly bills. When you optimize the performance of your HVAC system and other appliances, you can potentially extend their lifespan and reduce the potential of costly repairs.
If you take action on all the recommendations of the audit, you could increase the value of your property while making it more attractive to prospective buyers who specifically look for energy-efficient homes. To this effect, you can keep copies of the audit and receipts of the improvements. You may also take advantage of rebates and credits offered by Eversource and the Internal Revenue Service for specific upgrades such as heat pumps and solar panels.
What Issues Do Home Energy Auditors Look For?
Statistics from the Energy Information Administration indicate that HVAC systems account for more than 40% of total household energy use. For this reason, our technicians focus on HVAC first. Outdated or inefficient HVAC systems often consume far more energy than necessary. Oversized units can cycle on and off too frequently, thus causing inefficiency.
We not only check the condition of the HVAC equipment but also its ratings. We look at the Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio (SEER), which divides the cooling output by the energy consumed over a season. A higher SEER rating indicates greater efficiency. For heating systems, we check the Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency (AFUE) rating, which measures how efficiently a furnace converts fuel into heat. There’s also the Energy Star rating of the Environmental Protection Agency, a trusted mark of energy efficiency. We consider these ratings and compare them to current standards; then, we let you know if the equipment is performing optimally or if it should be upgraded.
Inadequate Insulation in attics, walls, and crawl spaces can be a major source of energy loss. Our technicians check the type of insulation and its R-value, which measures the thickness and density of the material. We also look for damage, gaps, or compressed sections, reducing insulation effectiveness.
If you have a central HVAC system, leaks in the ductwork can waste a significant amount of energy. Instead of distributing cool or warm air into living spaces, leaks will direct air into attics or crawl spaces. Ductwork leaks are mostly caused by cracks. However, loose connections are sometimes to blame in this regard.
Weatherstripping refers to the materials and techniques used to keep the elements out and conditioned air in. Many of our customers are surprised when their audits reveal how much energy is wasted through aging or deficient weatherstripping. Our technicians look for gaps or cracks causing air leaks, which can be on your home’s exterior or inside your living spaces. Doors and windows are not the only elements we inspect; we also look at gaps around pipes, wiring, and the foundation to spot air filtration or infiltration.
Auditing Beyond HVAC Systems
Older appliances can significantly damage your home’s energy efficiency. Our technicians assess the efficiency of refrigerators, washing machines, dryers, dishwashers, and other major appliances. As with HVAC systems, we look for Energy Star certifications that meet energy efficiency standards, and we also check for overall functionality plus aging.
When it comes to residential lighting systems, incandescent light bulbs are far less efficient than new LED options. Our technicians will invariably¿ recommend switching to LED lighting, including outdoor systems for security. In some cases, they may also discuss the benefits of potential daylight strategies.
Water heating accounts for a significant portion of your home’s energy use. We inspect the heating unit’s age, efficiency, and insulation. Our recommendations may extend to installing low-flow showerheads and faucets to reduce hot water consumption.
Modern home energy audits include smart home technology considerations. This can include programmable thermostats for the HVAC system, smart lighting controls, and energy monitoring systems. These technologies can help you to optimize energy usage and further reduce your monthly bills.
Depending on the square footage of your home and the equipment installed, audits may take two to four hours. You can take time to read the report and consider our recommendations. Our technicians will answer all your questions and provide more information. As previously mentioned, many audits recommend weatherstripping, an impressively effective solution available at a low cost. Other recommendations may range from solar panel installations, if feasible, to replacing HVAC systems and appliances.
If your HVAC systems need repairs, we can schedule visits that can be followed with a maintenance plan to prevent future issues. Our Aeroseal duct sealing service is highly recommended to customers who want to avoid future issues with their central HVAC systems. Aeroseal is a patented process that seals the ductwork from the inside out, thus improving efficiency and reducing energy waste by eliminating pinhole or fissure leaks. This innovative sealing can significantly improve airflow and comfort across all living spaces to lower your monthly energy bills.
Learn More About Our Home Energy Audits
Our company history dates back to 1870 when we operated as a general store. These days, we are a family-owned business offering professional HVAC and electrical services with energy conservation solutions for you. If the recommendations of your home energy audit include HVAC system maintenance, repairs, upgrades, or replacement, our skilled technicians can handle them. All the same, our electricians can install new energy-efficient appliances and upgrade your home’s wiring accordingly. Financing for new equipment installation is available on approved credit.
To get more information and schedule a home energy audit, contact F.F. Hitchcock Plumbing, Heating & Cooling in Cheshire today.
Frequently Asked Questions
Make it easy to access key areas like the attic hatch, basement or crawl space, mechanical room, and the main electrical panel. Replace any burnt-out bulbs in frequently used fixtures so the auditor can note lighting patterns, and have a recent utility bill handy if you can. If there are comfort problems like a cold bedroom or a drafty entry, jot them down so they do not get missed during the walkthrough.
Many audits can include diagnostic tools that make hidden issues easier to spot, such as a blower door test to measure air leakage or infrared imaging to reveal insulation gaps and temperature differences behind walls. Not every home needs every test, so it helps to ask what methods will be used based on your goals and the type of home you have in Connecticut.
A useful report should be specific, not generic. Look for clear findings, photos or notes tied to locations in the home, and a practical list of recommended fixes. The best reports also explain why an improvement matters, what problem it solves, and how to prioritize it so you can plan upgrades without guessing.
In many homes, air sealing and insulation improvements come first because they reduce heat loss and heat gain, which helps everything else perform better. From there, duct improvements and HVAC adjustments often make more sense because the home is tighter and more stable. If you are not sure where to start, F.F. Hitchcock Plumbing, Heating & Cooling can help you sequence improvements so you get real comfort gains without doing work twice.
Yes, because moisture problems are often tied to air leaks, insulation gaps, and ventilation that is not balanced. An audit can identify where humid air is getting in or where cold surfaces are causing condensation, especially in basements and attic areas. Fixing airflow and sealing issues can make a noticeable difference in comfort, not just cost.
Older homes often have more air leakage, uneven insulation coverage, and mixed construction that makes comfort issues harder to pinpoint. An audit can be especially helpful for identifying hidden pathways where air moves through rim joists, attic penetrations, and older additions. In New Haven County, it is also common to find upgrades that were done in stages, so a room-by-room approach can uncover what is holding the home back.
Online calculators can be a decent starting point, but they usually rely on averages and cannot see your insulation levels, duct condition, air leakage paths, or how your equipment is actually running. An in-home energy audit is more reliable because it is based on real observations and measurements from your house. That makes the recommendations more targeted and easier to act on.
Some changes, like sealing obvious drafts or updating thermostat schedules, can show results in the next billing cycle. Larger improvements, like insulation upgrades or major equipment changes, typically show the biggest impact over a full season because weather and run time vary month to month. Tracking your bills year over year is the easiest way to see the true difference.
They often can, but permissions matter. Renters should confirm what changes are allowed, and condo owners may need approval for work that affects shared systems or common walls. Even without major upgrades, an assessment can still identify practical steps like air sealing at accessible points, improving weatherstripping, or adjusting heating and cooling settings.
