My Energy Audit

Long before we moved in Shana had made an appointment for an energy audit from Cape Light Compact. It's a pretty general organization which does all kinds of things to help in energy issues for consumers on the Cape: energy audits, consumer advocacy, information. We had a team of two engineers come out at no cost to us to look around and see what we could do to control our energy costs.  Roxy was thrilled because not only were there two men to sniff around, but they came with lots of bags and equipment she could investigate.

They set up equipment to see how tight our house is; our house is nice and tight due to good modern windows and appropriate sealing of openings. They went all around the attic recommending additional insulation on the floor if we did not need to use the attic for storage and pointing out the need for more air circulation in the attic in the form of soffit vents.

 They tested our refrigerator for energy efficiency and pointed out that there are government rebates for the purchase of energy efficient units. A new refrigerator would save us enough energy to pay for itself in 10+ years. I think we'll keep our unit for a while. There were also other recommendations: raise the dehumidifier up at least 12 inches, add window treatments and use the microwave as much as possible. In addition to that they replaced every single one of my incandescent light bulbs with CFLs, including good looking spots that will work with dimmers,  and 3 way bulbs for lamps. I probably got a good $50.00 in free light bulbs guaranteed for 1 year.

They left me with loads of information about energy conservation and an estimate to put in soffit vents, additional insulation, programmable thermostats for a very reasonable cost. If our income had been only a little smaller they would have offered to make the improvements for free. It's a great program that everyone living on the Cape whether rents or homeowners can benefit from.