This past weekend I went to a seminar at my town hall that was about ways to save energy in the home. The focus for the seminar was energy auditing. An energy audit is when a specialist from Mass Save (for Massachusetts) comes and evaluates your home's energy efficiency free of charge. The audit is free of charge because you already pay a little in each bill towards programs like this. Most people are not aware that they are paying for this, so they are less inclined to get the audit! In my town less than 3% of residents have had their free audit done. That is a crazy small number!
They evaluate parts of your home including insulation, heating systems, water systems, lighting, thermostats, and windows. Their goal is to "tighten up" your home and make it as efficient as possible. This benefits the energy company because less demand on their generators means less chance that they will have to activate their inefficient back-up generators in order to supply the excess power. This benefits you because you save money on your energy bill. Plus, it benefits the environment because fewer power generators are needed, and since your home is using less energy it is also producing fewer greenhouse gases etc.
The day of your audit you are essentially guaranteed to receive up to hundreds of dollars worth of free items. These items include CFL light bulbs of all shapes and sizes, electronic thermostats, and rebates on things such as water heaters. C'mon, who doesn't love free stuff?
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