Environmentally Conscious Real Estate of Cincinnati

I recently had Brent Quebman from Energy Que out to preform an energy evaluation on my little house in Norwood.  I was both excited and nervous about the process.  Being energy & price conscious, I was sure that he would find a million ways I could save money and the environment at the same time.

First a little background history on my humble abode.  I live in a typical Norwood/Oakley/Hyde Park bungalow; 3 bed 1 bath and REALLY OLD (approx 100).  Throughout the years there have been some upgrades made.  I have newer vinyl replacement windows, I insulated both the attic and the space between the basement and the first floor and I have a programmable thermostat.  The biggest thing I have against me is the age of my furnace and AC unit.  Both of these are pretty expensive to replace and although I will probably do it, I can’t do it right now.  So, my thoughts were in the mean time, get an energy audit done and be creative on other ways to save.

So, Brent came over with his sweet looking thermal imaging camera and gave me a lesson on my home’s energy envelope.  We put the heat on high and went to work.  He mainly checked out common problem areas of my house.  We looked around the windows and doors, my furnace vents in my basement, my attic space, etc.  As we walked through the house he pointed out simple energy saving solutions for me.  My biggest problem area seems to lie in my basement.  I can’t wait to see how the images turn out.  The biggest surprise to me of the day was something that I should have caught myself, but didn’t.  As we are taking pictures of my furnace (which is a HUGE old green Williamson) we go to the back side of it and low-and-behold, I’m missing a tube connecting my non-working humidifier to the intake and hot air is just gushing out into my basement!  AHHHH, all winter long, I’ve been paying to heat my cold damp basement.  YIKES!  Silly me, I just don’t go to the backside of my furnace.  Let that be a lesson to all of you out there.  Do a thorough check of you home.  I don’t even want to think of all the money I spent heating my basement this winter.

All in all, my energy evaluation was a success.  Brent was in and out in about an hour and it was all for a reasonable price!  He charges you based on your homes square footage, but a typical home is going to run you about $150.00.  When all is said and done, you’ll get the thermal imaging report and a baseline data review (compares your energy usage to the past 5 years of weather in Cincinnati).  You’ll also get a section of reporting that will help outline where your biggest problem areas are and how to best maximize your efforts.  I’m anxiously awaiting my report!  In the mean time, I’m going to run around my house and “green” what I can.