Home Energy Audits & Efficiency Guide

An energy audit's job is to replace guesswork with measurements — turning "the house feels drafty" into a specific list of where air is leaking and how much it's costing, in an order worth fixing them in.

What a professional audit actually measures

A real audit includes a blower door test (pressurizing the house to measure and locate air leakage) and often a thermal imaging scan to spot missing or compressed insulation that isn't visible by eye. Our guide to what a professional audit checks walks through what each test reveals and what the resulting report typically recommends first.

DIY has a real place — just not the same place as a professional audit

A DIY walkthrough (checking for drafts by hand, reviewing your utility bills, looking at attic insulation depth) can catch the obvious, cheap fixes without paying for a full visit. It won't quantify air leakage the way a blower door test does. Our DIY vs. professional energy audit guide covers which specific problems each approach can and can't catch.

Once you know the gaps, size insulation correctly for your climate

R-value recommendations aren't one-size-fits-all — the right attic insulation level depends on your climate zone, and under-insulating a cold-climate attic gives up far more savings than over-insulating a mild one costs. Our attic insulation R-values by climate zone guide gives the actual recommended ranges.

Estimate the combined savings

Use our Home Energy Savings Calculator to see the combined effect of stacking multiple upgrades (air sealing, insulation, a smart thermostat) rather than evaluating each one in isolation.