BELFAST, Maine — Few people go to one car mechanic for a diagnosis of a rattle in the engine, then go to another to get the necessary repairs. But that’s the way Maine’s nascent home energy audit and weatherization work has been done.
Under a new consumer program offered by Efficiency Maine, homeowners can have an energy audit and six hours of work improving a building’s heat retention done all in one day by the same contractor.
The Direct Install program pays contractors $300 for work, which includes an energy audit and the six hours of air sealing or insulation work. The air sealing work typically focuses on stopping air leaks around doors, windows, plumbing, exhaust fans, chimneys and the foundation.
What’s new about the program, explains Keith McPherson of the Albion-based Home Energy Answers, is that the work is done by the same person who conducts the energy audit.
Until now, energy auditors typically have acted as consultants and referred the actual work to other contractors. Though a law had been considered to prevent energy auditors from earning money from insulation work they had recommended, Dana Fischer of Efficiency Maine said it did not win legislative approval.
McPherson said it simply is more efficient to fix the leaks that become obvious during an audit, rather than write a report prescribing what another contractor must do at a later date.
An energy auditor comes into a home and sets up a blower door, which is a vinyl curtain of sorts that hangs in an open exterior door frame. A fan blows the air outside, with a device measuring the volume of flow and temperature changes. Inside, the auditor is able to locate the sources of air infiltration around windows, doors and other parts of the house using a little smoke to identify moving air sources and an infrared camera to locate cold spots.
Homeowners often imagine big-ticket fixes must follow, such as installing new doors and windows or adding significant amounts of insulation. In fact, McPherson said, big energy-saving rewards are reaped in small fixes. These include adding weatherstripping and caulking to doors and windows, using spray foam to fill gaps around building penetrations for pipes and exhaust fans, insulating around the sill in a basement and around an attic hatch door.
“We spend 90 percent of our time in attics or basements,” McPherson said jokingly. But the work yields substantial improvements, with as much as 25 percent of air flow reduced.
If a house is sufficiently tight, the six hours of work can focus on improving ventilation, if needed, or insulating knee walls or wrapping an electric hot water heater with insulation.
McPherson, who now has an employee working with him, had worked as an energy auditor for four years before venturing into the energy retention work. He was trained by MaineHousing to do the auditing work, then got certified by the Building Performance Institute.
Efficiency Maine lists auditors on its website, but Fischer stresses that hiring one should include the same sort of due diligence on the part of the consumer. Just as someone might solicit references from a carpenter or electrician, the same should be done for those doing energy audit and insulation upgrade work.
Efficiency Maine asks contractors using the program to complete a 40-question survey about the house, detailing insulation, electric usage and other information. The nonprofit also will send out inspectors to randomly review the work completed through the program.
McPherson said he likely will charge his customers $300-$400 for an audit and the six hours of work, but they are actually receiving $700 in improvements, thanks to the $300 he will get from Efficiency Maine.
The Direct Install program can function differently for community action programs, Fischer suggested. They may send their auditors and weatherization crews into low-income households and complete $300 in work at no charge to homeowners.
Both Fischer and McPherson said the Direct Install program also serves as a conduit for Efficiency Maine’s PACE and Power Saver loan programs, which provide low-interest funds for larger weatherization or energy related improvement work.
For information, visit www.efficiencymaine.com or call toll free 1-866-376-2463.
Why is he posing in front of such a dilapidated entry way?
$700 for 6 hour work? Wow sounds like he could make a killing at those prices. Ok maybe $100 in parts still that is a $100 an hour . Now we know where are tax dollars are going.
It’s $300 for six hours of work. That’s $50/h9ur, which is reasonable considering labor, insurance, materials, overhead, etc.
In order to do an energy audit, the auditor must be BPI certified. That represents a significant cost and time commitment on the part of the auditor. Add that to the cost of the equipment needed (blower door, infrared camera, etc) and you’re talking thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours.
Also, the energy audit includes a written report that requires hours of data entry and computer modeling to produce. This is not a “buy a hammer and paint your name on your truck” business endeavor.
Best of luck to you . You sound like a hard worker . This will keep cost down . I hope your reports tell people what needs to be done also to make the house heat better not just the work that can be done in 6 hours. An gives than an Idea what than might cost. Not lead people to believe that everything is fixed is fixed in the house . Just takes care of the most basic easy things that can be done in a lot of cases. Sorry I was wrong about a few things. Now I think I understand this better thanks. I was not trying to put you down in any way .
I might have read this wrong but i thought is says charge the customer 300 to 400 and get another 300 from The direct install program. Now my math tell me it is 6 to 7 hundred the contractor is paid . Customer pays half and gov program pays other half . I am In the wrong line of work.
Bob, the six hours of air sealing is $300. Because it’s being done at the same time as the blower door test, the homeowner can see the results and will start saving money on heat immediately.
The energy audit is separate and usually runs $300-$500 and usually takes about four hours at the home inspection and several more hours of computer work. If you want to perform energy audits, you need to become a BPI certified building analyst and you need to invest $$$ in the necessary equipment. Of course, very few auditors make a living from audits only. Most need to have steady work elsewhere and many are builders or insulation contractors or home inspectors.
“The Direct Install program pays contractors $300 for work, which includes an energy audit and the six hours of air sealing or insulation work.”
The $300 paid by this program to the contractor includes an energy audit and six hours of insulation work. Something doesn’t sound right here.
That is in addition to what the homeowner pays.
I’m an energy auditor. I’m not a contractor, and I wish the legislature had the courage to sort this out. We need auditors to be independent, and not treating the audit as a sales call. An audit is much more than a site visit. A good energy audit includes a lot of analysis, which can show the client what work makes best economic sense, and what work is a bad idea.
This program is designed for the auditor-contractor crowd to sell a quick fix. It’s like going to the dentist, who takes one look and says “Oh, I see the problem. Let me get the pliers…” The article even starts out by comparing auditors and contractors both to car mechanics. Auditors are not mechanics. We’re analysts. On my BPI certification card it says “Building Analyst Professional”. Likewise, a good contractor is a craftsman. These are different skill sets.
My typical audit includes a couple of hours of driving. I spend an average of 4 hours on site, inspecting, measuring, evaluating, taking notes, and discussing what I see with the client. I crawl through attics and basement crawlspaces. I use a flashlight and a thermal camera to look at things in ways most people don’t and can’t. I consider moisture issues, and how tightening up the house will effect those moisture issues.
Then I do the math. I work through a detailed spreadsheet that adds up all the energy losses. It helps me calculate the air changes per hour for the house, the airflow per person, and the annual heat loss due to this air flow. I add up the heat loss from each surface. I compare these results to the heating bills. I make recommendations, estimating what each task will cost, and save. I estimate the payback period for these tasks. Then I write the report for the customer.
That’s why a weatherization project driven by one of my audits costs significantly less than the state average: About $2000 less than the $8800 estimated by Efficiency Maine. And when done, the project has saved my client more. We average 47% savings, rather then the state average of 41%. That’s comparing my work to other auditors’ work. If you just have a contractor’s salesman with no analytical background selling jobs, you’ll find yourself with new windows and the same old heating bills.
So if you want to criticize Efficiency Maine, here’s what to say: This program discourages the real analysis needed to do the job right, and it encourages the auditor-contractor(-salesman) model that has been proven to be a poor value for the client. It devalues the auditor, and raises the final cost to the client.
Just another way to do away with qualified professionals in place of cheap labor. Look at what LD 1833 really dose to electricians .
You’re not making any sense. No one has been replaced. The auditor still does the audit. If he/she is a contractor, he/she can do the air sealing. If not, the auditor can bring an air sealing professional with them. No qualified professionals have been replaced.
I know nothing about home audits I have to admit that. I am an electrician . Now that being said MOST home inspectors no nothing or little about Inspecting electricial work .They are not electricians or electrical inspectors . I was under the impression a home audit was a much bigger job than maybe a few hours on a job. You are correct $600 to $700 includes both inspection and work still one days work. Yes for the most part you can make a difference in a house with 6 hours work. That will not include doing thinks like blowing insulation in attics walls etc for the most part. You could not even hire an electrician to move the wires needed for $600 or buy the insulation. Yes caulk on windows and places does help but it will not be the same as fixing major issues in a house . Might save 20% on heating cost as compared to 45% is my best guess . Good luck to you I home we do not get to many auditors that do not have proper training or a bit dishonest.
I’m supposed to bring an air sealing professional with me when I don’t know if the house will need air sealing? Yeah right. That’s cost effective.
You could always go back at another time. However, I haven’t yet seen many houses that couldn’t use some air sealing. Can only think of one right at the moment…
Go back at another time and you loose the $300. It’s got to be done in one day.
I am a contractor and a BPI certified building analyst and I disagree that they are different “skill sets”. These skills complement each other. While I agree that this program could be abused, I doubt we’ll see much of that. All of the auditors who work with Efficiency Maine have been vetted and are subject to random reviews. And the homeowner can and should protect themselves by doing their own research. I can provide numerous references attesting to my professionalism, ethics and quality work.
All of the auditors who work with Efficiency Maine have been tested by BPI. I don’t think that qualifies as vetted. Yes, many are good. But we’ve seen some who have had numerous complaints made against them to Efficiency Maine for unprofessional behavior, and they’re still sanctioned as Efficiency Maine approved.
As the article mentioned, legislation has been proposed to separate auditing from contracting. The reason for such a law remains valid, yet the current system works against those who value providing an independent assessment.
If we want the profession to grow, then we need to stop devaluing it. And we know that growing the profession will benefit the state. Time after time, Efficiency Maine devalues energy audits. The only way an audit can be done for $400 (more or less the going rate) is if it’s done as a loss leader or as a sales call for contracting work, yet this is about what Efficiency Maine sets as the price clients should expect. I can’t do an audit that cheap. However, if I’m paid what I’m worth, the client wins in the long run.
Contracting and auditing may be complimentary, but they are different skill sets. When I do an audit, I shoot for the most cost effective technique to save my client money. That may be spray foam, carpentry, gutters, furnace work, excavation and exterior drainage, masonry, loose blown cellulose, dense packed cellulose, careful caulking, flashing repair, duct work, electrical work, or some other specialized trade. No one contractor has all the skills. I don’t pretend I do.
You’re correct, they really are different skill sets – I’ll give you that. But they can exist in one person. And Efficiency Maine should be doing more to ferret out bad actors. I just haven’t heard the complaints you have, so maybe my outlook is more rosy. I do know that I refer homeowners to other professionals who can do work better than I can. We do our one dense-pack cellulose and we do a very good job of it. Of course, the homeowner can choose whomever they like to do the work.
Can we call the Better Business Bureau and get a reference for
Hogarth Hopplemeyer?
You can find me on the Efficiency Maine website. We’re in York County.
Okay, forget it. I’m not driving to “eastern nude hampster” to buy you a beer. ;->
And we should be clear – the homeowner gets everything you described above, the inspection, the modeling and the report with recommendations. The “direct install” program just allows us to do some air sealing while we’re there. It’s an effective way to get some improvement for the homeowner in a single day.
No. It’s not.
Lets say that the majority of the air leaks are in the basement, with most of the rest in the attic and just a few on the living space levels. This is typical.
The work in the living area would be caulking and door weatherstripping. This is exacting work, with a high time cost per area sealed. I’ll recommend it, but if the client wants to do it themselves (and many are capable, once shown how) then I’d put it as a low priority for the professional work to be done, because this will save the client money.
In the attic, I want the chimney chase sealed, any open wall tops sealed, the hatch sealed, and electrical and plumbing penetrations sealed. It’s uncomfortable, messy work that involves digging through any existing insulation. It’ll also save money and heat and lower the infiltration measurement, which is what this program is shooting for. But it won’t reduce it by 20%, which is the goal of the program.
While we’re up there, I want the space under the proper-vents blocked up so that soffit vents don’t blow the insulation around. That won’t show up as a blower door test change. If the attic needs cellulose (least expensive option) to top up the insulation, that will have some air-sealing effect, but nobody is going to bring a full crew and cellulose blower for an audit.
To get real air sealing, and savings, you have to pay more attention to the basement. There are a lot of houses where I specify 2″ of spray foam, from the top of the rim joist to 2′ below grade. This is insulation and air sealing all in one shot. On a materials plus labor basis, this is often the cheapest way to do that job. It costs a lot less than having a guy with cans of Great Stuff trying to get the same results. It’s not worth it to try going the fast and expensive route.
The bulkhead door is going to need a hatch kit to air-seal it properly. Is the contractor going to carry bulky materials to do that job with him on every audit? There won’t be time to do both that and the audit. Something similar applies to the attic hatch.
My point is that doing a full audit and finding the cost effective ways to fix problems together is often more cost effective than doing air sealing as a single, stand alone project. The goal should be to get it done right, rather than to get it done in a single day.
Is this another Democratic Party employment scheme for ex legislators and operatives? It’s been done before.
Maybe they’ll have a job for Paul. Can you picture LePage on a ladder trying to chalk a window!
That’d be some ladder.
Hogarth, look me up. I wanna buy you a beer.
Looks like your out of work buddy . A home audit is only a $300 job. Like the home inspectors that inspect electrical work or other trades . I would highly doubt that it would be done In the same detail or level as you do your job. Now electricians can have 2 helpers . I bet the auditing process is much more basic . Than what you give people. Not saying it will not help just saying it will drive many higher paying people out of work replaced with lower paying ones. It will not make more jobs is my point.