An energy audit would be a great way to figure out what is going on with your Washington, D.C., home and why your energy bills are so much higher than your friends! Because each home works as a system, there could be several different areas in your home that aren’t performing up to par, which together, would drive up the cost of your bills.

Even though your home is only five years old, the original builders may have missed areas of insulation or air sealing. This is especially common in homes that have fireplaces or cantilevers, and it can make a big difference on your utility bills and your home’s overall comfort. An auditor can perform a pressurized blower door test, which will depressurize your home by blowing air out your front door. This will cause air to seep in through any areas the original builders may have forgotten to air seal or insulate. By blowing a colored smoke into the air, you can actually see the air moving into your home. More information about energy audits is available in the Topics + Community area of our site.

For a 2,000 square foot home with a gas water heater, furnace and air conditioning system, energy auditors in the D.C. area charge around $320 for a comprehensive audit. These audits generally include combustion tests for your gas heating and cooling systems, blower door tests, infrared scans and other efficiency tests. If you follow through with the most cost-effective improvements your audit suggests, you’ll likely be able to recover the initial audit costs through savings on your utility bills.

If you’d like to do a quick, free online test to see where you home’s energy efficiency ranks compared to your neighbors, use our online energy audit tool for a better idea of how well your home performs.