Reduce Your Power Demand through Energy Efficiency before Going Solar
Would you like to pay only the monthly service charge for your electricity, be more comfortable and save money on your solar PV system? Investing in lowering your home's energy usage and improving your comfort and indoor air quality is more cost-effective than buying Solar PV.
A drafty home, rooms that are too hot or too cold and high energy bills are all common complaints for homeowners. Installing a new heating or air conditioning system, buying replacement windows or adding more insulation may fix part of the problem. However, the way to determine the most cost beneficial solutions is through a comprehensive "whole-house" approach that looks at your home as a system. Reducing your electricity use will result in either purchasing a smaller solar PV system or having your installed system offset a larger amount of your usage, saving you more money and reducing your system's payback!
Benefits of a Home Energy Assessment
Residential users in Southern Nevada consume about 45% of the valley's electricity (average 14,600 kWh/yr - NV Energy). Treating your home as a system yields the greatest energy and dollar savings. A comprehensive and qualitative "whole-house" Home Energy Assessment provides cost-effective recommendations based on their interaction with one another (i.e. replacing incandescent light bulbs with CFLs reduces lighting and cooling usage). This approach is the most effective method to improving the energy efficiency, comfort, health, safety, durability and value of existing homes compared with addressing one issue at a time.
Who Performs Home Energy Assessments?
There are many companies marketing their expertise. Make sure and ask if they are approved by HomeFree Nevada, Nevada's Home Performance with ENERGY STARĀ® (HPwES) program which requires all auditors and contractors to be nationally certified HERS Raters and BPI Building Analysts, be mentored to ensure their competency, agree to have their work reviewed and carry required licenses and insurance. Les Lazareck, the owner of Home Energy Connection, is responsible for establishing the HPwES program. All assessments are performed based on RESNET's National Standard for Comprehensive Home Energy Audits.
Home Energy Connection operates from a net zero electric building.
www.homefreenevada.org
www.resnet.us
www.bpi.org