Who doesn’t dread the day the energy bill arrives?
For homeowners, the arrival of the energy bill can send blood pressure through the roof, especially if they own an older home or are on a limited income.
Thankfully, the state’s EmPOWER Maryland program helps homeowners reduce electricity consumption and save money with the Home Performance with ENERGY STAR Program.
As a homeowner, it is quite easy to participate in the Home Performance with ENERGY STAR Program:
Contact Pepco, BGE or Potomac Edison, and schedule the Home Performance with ENERGY STAR Audit. The cost is the same regardless of your utility at only $100 (a $400 value). Some utilities may let you choose your contractor.
A certified contractor will visit your home and perform a Home Energy Assessment. They will walk through your home with diagnostic equipment to perform a comprehensive home energy audit and determine how improvements throughout your home can work together to maximize energy efficiency and savings. Some of these tests may include:
After the audit, a home energy expert will provide you with a comprehensive report with a Prioritized List of Measures to help you determine the best improvements for your home. It will also provide a list of available rebates.
The expert will help you identify energy efficiency improvements that may qualify you for 75 percent of the costs — or up to $7,500** — to cover energy-saving home improvements, including air sealing, duct sealing, insulation and HVAC equipment upgrades.
“I have recommended [the program] to many people because people don’t realize how much energy they are losing – especially in older homes,” Murray said. “[The contractors] walk you through what will make your home more efficient and how you can save in the long run.”
For Kathleen Murray of Silver Spring, starting the process was mainly about making her drafty house more comfortable.
“All the houses in [my] community are mostly older and big and…we all say we are freezing to death,” she said. “So I decided to have the audit to see what changes I could make to better the heat situation in my home.”
Even after waiting a few months once her audit was done to begin the improvement process, she said the air sealing and installation installed made a drastic difference in the drafts – and her PEPCO bill went down, too.
“I have recommended [the program] to many people because people don’t realize how much energy they are losing – especially in older homes,” Murray said. “[The contractors] walk you through what will make your home more efficient and how you can save in the long run.”
For a more detailed story on a resident’s experience with the Home Performance with ENERGY STAR program, read this blog.
Sections of this article written by Kimberly Hodges and Felicia Hodges
It’s good to know that a home energy assessment can get you the information that you need to improve your home and make it more energy efficient. My wife and I have noticed that our energy bill has been higher than it used to be over the past couple of months. We’d like to bring our energy bill back down, so we’ll be sure to look further into our options for getting an energy assessment done on our home.
Thanks for having this article, it helps a lot. It’s a well-written blog and it is very informative. Keep on blogging, looking forward to see more of your posts!
I didn’t realize that a home energy audit could save you money on your energy bill in the long run. We recently moved into an older home, and want to see if there are any ways that we can save money on our energy bill. I will have to talk to my husband about having a home energy audit done, and see what he thinks about it.