Do you want to know how energy efficient your home is compared to other homes? Now you can with Energy Star, they have a free online tool called Home Energy Yardstick. With this tool you can compare your home’s energy use compared to other similar homes across the country.
Photo from: www.energystar.gov
The tool is pretty simple to use, and doesn’t take too much time to do. To receive an energy score, what needs to be entered is your home’s annual energy usage, the number of occupants, conditioned square footage, and your zip code. You will also need to enter your past 12 month’s utility bills. To get your utility bills you can look them up on the utility website or some utility companies provide customers with a green button. You then will get a score from 0 – 10 with 0 being the worse and 10 being the highest.
Once you have a score, your home’s energy efficiency can be compared with similar homes across the country. The Home Energy Yardstick tool is a good way to get a understanding of your houses energy efficiency. A low energy efficiency score on the Home Energy Yardstick would mean a house is not very energy efficient and would mean that home should start looking into upgrading their houses energy efficiency. If a home ends up with a high score, it means that the home is energy efficient. But even if your home is energy efficient, there are always ways to make a home more energy efficient.
Of course, this Home Energy Yardstick cannot replace getting a home energy assessment by a professional. Here at 401(e), once we complete a home energy assessment we will create a customized report with recommended ways to improve your energy efficiency in your home. So, if you want to see how energy efficient your home is or are thinking of improving your homes energy efficiency, Energy Star’s Home Energy Yardstick could be a good tool to start with.
