Free Online Home Energy Audit Calculators Helping Do-It-Yourselfers Reduce Utilities

Image courtesy of Missouri Gas Energy.

With the tight economy over the last few years, there has been a growing trend toward do-it-yourself home energy audits, with the help of online calculator websites that are often free to use.

The great thing about the do-it yourself approach is that besides the fact that it’s often completely free, it gives you a lot of cost-saving information.

Home energy calculators range from the very complicated, where you feel like you need to be a professional to understand them, to the very user-friendly with large print, simple language, and lots of drop down menus.

These calculator websites  also often contain a lot of free articles and blog posts that are very useful. Two of the best and most user-friendly are the U.S. Department of Energy’s Home Energy Saver calculator and Microsoft’s Hohm calculator.

The Home Energy Saver calculator has a lot of drop down menus and after completing the survey, recommends energy saving strategies and upgrades that are appropriate for a home, depending on its structure, the local climate, and local energy prices.

The Home Energy Saver calculator starts off by asking the user to enter their zip code to receive instant energy cost estimates for both typical and efficient homes in the area.

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Free Home Weatherizing Services for California Residents in Select Counties

Graphic courtesy of Help - New Mexico Inc.

The weather is cooling and Fall is almost upon us. This is the perfect time to start weatherizing your homes and save some money when winter comes. If you’re residents of the California counties of El Dorado or Alpine, then you are especially lucky because they are offering free home weatherizing services to homeowners and renters that reach the middle income range.

The counties plan to use $1.5 million in newly received federal stimulus money to expand their home weatherizing assistance programs to help an increased number of residents over the next two years.

The program is being operated by the El Dorado County Department of Human Services in cooperation with the California Department of Community Services and Development.

Homeowners and residents who qualify may be entitled to receive up to $6,500 in services. This could provided eligible parties with:

• Attic Insulation
• Window Repair
• Water Heater Blankets
• Heating and Cooling Systems
• Energy Efficient Refrigerators
• Ceiling Fans
• Weather-Stripping
• Energy Efficient Lighting
• Microwaves

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Do-It-Yourself Home Energy Saving Tips From an Expert

Courtesy of Greenovationtv.com.

WASHINGTON - With winter and the recession going strong, homeowners are looking for ways to cut their energy costs. Pascale Maslin, green executive officer of Energy Efficiency Experts LLC, shares a host of low cost do-it-yourself and professional suggestions to ease the pinch on homeowners wallets during these difficult times.

Ms. Maslin discusses everything from how much can be saved by simply changing a few light bulbs to buying an insulation jacket for your water heater (which is cheaper than you might expect) to which are the most available and environmentally friendly home insulations.

The first and easiest things that can be done to lower costs are to replace incandescent light bulbs with compact florescent ones. Using florescent bulbs that meet U.S. government Energy Star standards require about 75 percent less energy than incandescent bulbs and last up to 10 times longer.

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