energy audit | Experts pinpoint problems, fixes
Tired of being chilly in her Belmont Cragin bungalow, Lisa Hurley spent thousands on a new boiler. She also took out a home-equity loan for $14,000 in new windows.
After all this, Hurley was still chilly -- and a little poorer.
"I know I can do better, but, at this point, I don't know where to put the money," said Hurley, a medical researcher at Northwestern University.
She hired Informed Energy Decisions. The company helps developers, contractors and homeowners improve buildings' energy performance. Using everything from high-tech infrared heat scanners to old-fashioned expertise, they look for air leaks, building shell problems, insulation deficiencies, faulty heating and cooling equipment -- anything that might waste energy.
"We've only had one person call us because they were concerned about global warming," said John Porterfield, a co-owner of the company who has been doing energy audits on buildings since the 1970s. "Most people call us and say one of two things: 'I'm freezing in here, and look at these fuel bills,' or, 'Look at these fuel bills, and I'm freezing in here.' "
Porterfield, who helped write Chicago's energy code, said homeowners often target the wrong suspects in identifying drafts. They usually think windows are the culprit, only to find out it's something less obvious, like recessed lighting or a plumbing chase.
"That's why our motto is, 'Stop guessing,' " said Porterfield, whose company charges about $400 to do an energy audit on a typical home.
Over the course of three hours, Porterfield and his team poked around in Hurley's attic, peered in to her basement's crawl space and searched for problems in between.
They drew up a detailed plan that Hurley could follow to make her 1925 bungalow more energy-efficient. It called for adding a foot of insulation to the attic, replacing a basement door and applying low-density foam around the perimeter of the first and second floors to seal air leaks.
Some of the major fixes won't come cheap, so Hurley plans to start small with some DIY weatherstripping and caulking.
"I'm going to have to save up money to do the other stuff, but at least now I know where the money should go," she said. "I could've spent $3,000 replacing basement windows, and that wouldn't have made a difference."
