After months or even years of saving money, you’ve finally reached the point where you can afford to treat yourself to an energy-efficiency overhaul at home. There are a lot of good reasons to upgrade your home to make it more energy efficient. First, the less energy you use at home, the lower your utility bills will be in the long term. Second, energy efficiency updates can add value to your home, and given the current state of the housing market, you’ll be granting yourself a competitive edge in the event that you decide to sell sometime in the near future. Finally, plenty of energy-efficient upgrades can make a home more comfortable from a climate perspective. For example, if you’re thinking of adding insulation or updating your heating system, your efforts are likely to result in an improvement in your day-to-day quality of household life.
While it’s easy to see why the idea of implementing energy-efficient upgrades is appealing, you may want to think twice before rushing to the nearest home improvement or appliance store and stocking up on all the latest earth-friendly models. Kerry Hollenbeck is the owner of Advantage Diagnostics Energy Services, a home energy auditing business serving customers throughout Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania, and according to him, it’s a good idea to get a home energy audit before making any sort of changes to your property.
Why wait to update?
In Hollenbeck’s experience, the average homeowner tends to get influenced by hype more than by necessity. Let’s use replacement windows as an example. These days, the media seems rather fixated on the notion of replacing older, outdated windows with energy-efficient counterparts. And since the U.S. government is offering a $1,500 tax credit on replacement windows that are purchased and installed in 2010, it’s easy to see why so many homeowners are jumping at the opportunity to take advantage of this potential free money. The problem, however, is that replacement windows aren’t always the most cost-effective way to make a home more energy efficient. And since the average homeowner doesn’t possess the knowledge to determine which upgrades will best serve his house, he’s likely to make the mistake of updating his windows instead of paying for the upgrades he really needs.
And it’s not just windows…
The same concept applies to all sorts of energy-efficient upgrades, from appliances to water heaters. As a homeowner, you may think that you need certain upgrades to improve your home’s energy efficiency, but without the advice of a seasoned home energy auditor, you could easily waste your money. A home energy auditor, on the other hand, can evaluate your property on the inside and out and make recommendations that will offer you the best bang for your buck. Most importantly, a home energy auditor can also advise you as to what types of upgrades are actually safe for your home so that your choices don’t end up backfiring, compromising your well-being, and costing you even more money in the long run.
Don’t forget about added incentives
If you’re still not convinced that it’s best to go through a home energy audit before upgrading your home, consider the following: These days, plenty of local and state incentives are available to homeowners who implement eligible energy-efficient upgrades. Since these programs are not nearly as well-publicized as the federal programs out there, you’re less likely to know exactly what they entail. As a result, you could end up cheating yourself out of a state or county rebate by simply not being aware of local program requirements. A home energy auditor, by contrast, is going to come equipped with all of the facts about any local and state incentives for energy-efficient improvements, so he’ll be able to suggest upgrades that will get you the rebate or tax credit you deserve.
If you’ve been waiting for a long time to start making energy-efficient changes to your house, then the idea of putting off your purchases even longer is likely to throw you off. However, if you truly want to make the most out of your money, you should do the smart thing: Have a home energy audit done before upgrading your house, and get ready to enjoy the benefits of this wise decision for many years to come.
