Home Energy Audit - Some Good, Some Bad

Several years ago I was having lots of headaches and couldn't figure out why I was having so many more than usual. I get headaches when I have a change in pressure. For example, when I go up a canyon, if there is a steep incline, the altitude changes the pressure and since I had nose surgery years ago, my sinus and equilibrium don't adapt with pressure changes. If there is a high pressure storm, I get really intense headaches to the point I throw up. When traveling, if I don't take something before a certain point when driving to my brothers house, almost at the exact point on the trip each time, I have to pull over and vomit on the side of the road. Not a nice thing to post about but what has worked for my headaches in the past is about 20 oz of Coke, two Tylenol and a Sudafed. If I take that before or at the vert beginning of the pressure change, I can ward off the worst part of the headache.

I had more headaches that year than in several years combined and someone suggested that it may be my home. They suggested that perhaps I get an Energy Audit and have them come test for Carbon Monoxide and other things, such as, how the home is vented, exhaust etc. I went in and signed up to have that done but they warned me they had a huge back log.

Imagine my surprise when I got a call last evening saying they would be coming in the next two days. I thought they had just thrown out the list and started over each year or something. I was not expecting a call. I got a call about 8:45 a.m. today saying they were coming over. I had a dentist appointment at 9 so they said they would start on the outside doing windows and when I arrived home, they would do the inside.

They were just finishing up outside when I arrived home. I really lucked out. There were four men, which at first, I thought was over kill. Then, they explained that two were from the state capitol and were doing training for the new man on the job. So, I had the window expert and the furnace expert for the state in my home auditing my house. I learned so much from them. The new guy learned about tools he would need to buy that come in handy and I learned as well.

I had the gas company come and do their audit a few years ago but their check up wasn't anything like these men. They measured the insulation in my attic, measured the depth of the doors and windows, they put a cover over the door with a high power fan causing a vacuum effect in the house and we walked around doors, windows and other areas finding breezes and leaks in the oddest of places. I put my hand over the light switch and could feel a breeze. One spot I showed them was something I found just the other day. I was taking a bath in our big whirlpool tub and the furnace intake was on. I could feel cold air coming in through the cupboard behind the tub. It was pulling in cold air from around the fixtures and exhausts.

They also found several violations to "code" with my furnace and bathroom vents. The vents stop in the attic so they will vent them out through the roof. They also found that my furnace most likely has a crack in it and is over heating and turning off because it gets hot.

They also check your fridge to make sure it is energy efficient. I told them I had CO2 detectors but they told me that they are only good for about five years and then they aren't accurate anymore. I wish I had known that because mine are over ten years old. They said that the same goes for smoke detectors as the sensors go out after that amount of time even though they still sound when you push the buttons. I was glad for this information and will purchase new one's to replace my old one's as I can.

They found that I needed a bit more insulation in my attic but that my windows were good for the most part. They liked that I had compact fluorescent bulbs in my home in almost every light fixture. I did that a few years ago and my power bill went down visibly. I knew it was worth the investment. There is one fixture that has the tiny bulbs so I can't replace them without replacing the whole fixture. The other place I haven't put cf bulbs is in my bathroom that has light strips across the top. There about 10 bulbs on one and 8 on another so I avoided spending the money on them. However, the girls use the lights to get ready in the morning and sometimes leave them on. The cost is huge. It probably would have paid for the bulbs already in savings if I had put in cf lights.

I even put new ballasts in my long kitchen and basement fluorescent lighting with energy efficient bulbs. I replaced the three small fixtures in my basement family room with three of those larger lights that I got at a second hand store and my brother the electrician gave me the ballasts and bulbs for free and talked me through replacing them over the phone.

There are so many types of cf bulbs that many of my fixtures have two or three different sized and shaped bulbs in them. For the most part, I have been really happy with the bulbs. I did get a batch from somewhere that are dim and take lots of time to "warm up" and come on with an amber color and less than desirable amount of light. Here is a picture of my hall and you can see, one came right on when I turned the light on and one was dim and will take a few minutes to lighten up. You can see that in the picture to the left.

If you are going to replace your light bulbs with cf bulbs, I suggest you buy 1 package of the type that you can find that are inexpensive, take it home, put them in the fixtures and try them for a week. If they take time to come bright, try a different brand. They have many now that just come right on and are bright. It all depends on the brand of bulb. I have some in the lights on my porch and driveway that I haven't changed in 8 years or so. They are still bright as ever but are saving me each time they are used.

I even replaced the spot lights that I have in my living room that shine on the artwork on the wall. I had 6 spotlights in there and now, they are all replaced with the cf spotlights that they sell with a few smaller bulbs inside but still look like spotlights.

In my bathroom, I purchased some "vanity" cf bulbs and they aren't as bright as I would like and they do take more time to heat up and are dim at first. One of them burnt out and I didn't replace it with the "vanity" one again as I get better results from the regular cf bulbs.

If there is a light that you leave on when you leave home or when you are sleeping, that is a good one for a cf light and one with less watts than others. I leave a light on over the stairs in case one of the kids gets up in the night and so for years now, I get the 40 watt equivalent and put that in the light fixture as it is on most of the time. Even in my garage, I have cf lights in the garage door openers and fixtures.