Energy audit addresses drafts, light, heat leaks

East Lyme - Daniel and Jaye Storms suspected their two-bedroom Cape Cod-style home was leaking heat, electricity - and money.

The energy-conscious couple living at 6 Barrett Drive had installed solar panels on the roof, but persistent drafts had led them to consider installing new windows, insulation and possibly new siding. What could a home energy audit tell them before investing thousands of dollars in such measures?

This past week, they got an answer - and then some.

Like some 5,000 other Connecticut Light & Power customers this year, the Stormses, who have oil-based heat, took advantage of Home Energy Solutions, a program paid for with money from the Connecticut Energy Efficiency Fund and administered by CL&P.

The $75, two-hour energy audit helps homeowners discover where they may be squandering electricity and how to be more energy efficient. The value of a contractor's audit is about $650, CL&P spokesman Mitch Gross said, and the average energy savings an audit yields is about $200 a year.

CL&P is aggressively promoting the program, since CEEF provided $13.9 million for it this year, nearly double last year's allotment, Gross said. More than $16 million is expected to be available for 2010, plus $2.3 million in stimulus funding from the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act from Nov. 15 through the end of 2010, he said.

During the Stormses' audit, installing 13 new compact fluorescent light bulbs that last longer than incandescent bulbs and are 25 percent more efficient was one obvious step that Brad Smith and Marc Weber of the Northford-based Energy Resource Group Technologies, Inc. undertook to increase energy efficiency.

The company is one of 10 contractors hired by CL&P to perform the audits.

The more comprehensive assessment, however, involved a blower door test that provides a reading of the home's air tightness. Weber inserted a metal frame and flexible red fabric panel into the Stormses' exterior kitchen door, then hooked up a powerful fan and meter to it and let it run.

The fan pulls air out of the house. As inside air pressure drops, higher outside air pressure flows in through cracks or openings, and Weber is able to measure air filtration.

Weber measured 1,240 cubic feet of air pressure moving through the house when first testing it. Based on the home's volume of heated (or air conditioned) air space, that was only slightly above the 1,155 cubic feet considered optimal for the home's size. After caulking the air leaks, the measurement came in at 1,058 cubic feet.

"This house is tight," Weber pronounced. "In your case, the tightness of the home isn't the problem."

The results were startling to Jaye Storms, who soon learned that she had air leaks where she least expected them - where fireplace bricks met the living room wall, around the ventilation fan in the upstairs bathroom, and at seams adjoining the bedroom closet walls and ceilings.

Some simple caulking by Weber solved that problem.

The blower door test, however, confirmed that any exodus of heat is probably due to inadequate insulation, so the couple's renovation plans "are on the right track," she said.

Draftiness could also be a result of "ghost drafts" from the windows, which can be replaced with "low E" panes that help contain and reflect back heat, Weber said.

Kill-A-Watt meter

The Stormses also got a free Kill-A-Watt meter as a result of the home audit, which Jaye Storms said she plans to use to measure the energy usage of her refrigerator and other appliances. She is planning to replace the fridge, which is more than 10 years old, with an Energy-Star rated one.

"I can hardly wait to get started" using the Kill-A-Watt meter to find out how much extra electricity her older appliances are sucking up, she said.

The Stormses solar installation keeps their electricity bill low - about $20 a month, Jaye Storms said. But saving money on heat was just part of the motivation for getting the audit, she said.

"I know this sounds lofty and I don't mean it to, but we are trying to reduce our footprint more now, because we've got grandchildren," Jaye Storms said. "We're already handing the children of the planet big (environmental) problems."

CL&P hopes to conduct as many as 8,000 audits this year, said Craig Clark, program administrator for residential energy efficiency programs at CL&P. Last year, about 7,000 customers in 149 towns served by the utility took advantage of the audit. That could double next year since more funding is available, he said.

The program used to be free, but the $75 charge was added to extend the availability of funding to more people, Gross said. The program is also "fuel blind," Clark said - that is, available to any utility customer, regardless of whether the home is heated with electricity or natural gas.

"In the old days we used to only treat electrically heated homes," Clark explained. "Now we can treat any customer in our territory because we have the funding."

p.daddona@theday.com