What is a Home Energy Audit? A home energy audit is a comprehensive assessment of how your home uses and loses energy. Using specialized diagnostic tools, a certified building analyst evaluates your home’s insulation, air sealing, moisture levels, and air quality to identify exactly where problems exist. Think of it as a physical exam for your house. Instead of guessing
What is a Blower Door Test?
What is a Blower Door Test? A blower door test is a diagnostic tool that measures how much air leaks in and out of your home. It’s the gold standard for evaluating a home’s airtightness and is now required by Minnesota building code for new construction. For existing homes, a blower door test reveals hidden air leaks that are costing
How X-Ray Vision in Your Home Can Improve Your Home’s Performance
Did you know that just like an X-ray to find broken bones, you can use X-ray vision to find cracks and leaks in your home? Professionals can use infrared technology to find the leaks in your home that are unseen to the human eye. There are many benefits to completing an energy audit for your home using thermography, including improving
What is Your Home’s Envelope and Why is it Important?
Have you ever heard of a building’s envelope? Most homeowners understand that proper insulation is important in keeping a comfortable home and lower utility bills without giving the idea much more thought. Your home’s defensive barrier against the elements is known as the envelope. When you use electricity and resources to create clean, filtered, and comfortable air flowing in your
Why You May Need to Redo the Insulation in Your Aging Home
Older homes often have poor Indoor Air Quality. Aging materials and outdated construction practices offer little to pest control, air sealing, moisture control, and other important air quality measures. Air leaks, unwanted moisture, and even pests can enter your home through the attic, crawl spaces, or unsatisfactorily seals in your home. It is possible to redo the insulation in your
How to Save Energy and Reduce Utility Costs This Summer
The higher temps and humidity spikes for summer have returned again. Each year, Minnesotans find themselves thankful to be rid of winter, then slowly dreading venturing outside in the high summer heat. If you haven’t already, it’s important to make a plan for yourself and your family to combat the summer sun without driving up your energy usage! Follow these
Controlling and Preventing Spring Mold Growth in Your Home
Spring is the season of new growth. The grass is growing again, flowers a jetting out of the ground, and trees are budding. In Minnesota, this also means the last of the snow is melting (or still falling, depending on the day) and ice-covered lakes and rivers are exposed again. All this extra moisture has the opportunity to grow more
Blower door testing: What is it and why it’s now required for new builds
Identifying where air leaks are inside your building is a bit of detective work. New on the insulation market scene is blower door testing, which has now become a mandatory test in Minnesota’s building code. Blower door testing has transformed energy audits on buildings, new and old, by pinpointing exact areas that are not airtight. What is blower door
What to Expect During a Home Energy Audit
You pay enough each month for your electric bill—you don’t want to be wasting that precious energy you’re paying for. To ensure your home is operating safely and efficiently, schedule an energy audit to determine your home’s energy effectiveness. Before you schedule, let’s discuss what happens during a standard energy audit. An energy audit can take several hours depending on