Take this test at home: A new online tool helps gauge your house's energy efficiency

Monday, October 23, 2000

By Liz Poppens
Inman News Features

Winter cold has yet to arrive in most areas of the country, but concerns about energy efficiency are continuing to heat up with higher home heating oil prices predicted.

To help homeowners take a quick survey of their homes’ energy use, the U.S. Department of Energy has introduced a new interactive tool on its Web site.

To use the tool, dubbed the Home Energy Saver, you simply enter the ZIP code of your home to pull a detailed readout comparing the annual energy costs of an average home and an energy-efficient one in your area.

You can then enter specific information and statistics from your home, including square footage, number of windows, front-facing direction, construction and kind of insulation, to pull up a similar readout customized for your home.

In both cases, you are likely to get a shock at how much money you presumably would save by taking basic energy-conserving measures. The energy bill for an average home may be twice as much as that for an energy-efficient model.

At the end, this very useful tool lists recommended energy-saving tactics for your home, based on your input, including upgrading your insulation and tightening up your home in a variety of ways.

You also can go back and change the parameters you have entered into the tool (such as a higher degree of insulation) to see that affects your energy bill estimate.

What makes this tool so good is the fact that the results are very specific because they are based on local data and your own information.

And if you need more information, you can either check the site’s lists of tips and tools or e-mail your question to an expert at the department’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Clearinghouse.

That’s pretty good value for a government site.

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