Madison: Audit Your Energy Usage For $49

MADISON, NJ - Winter's icy grip continues to hold the area in its clutches and the Madison Environmental Commission, along with Ciel Power, who oversees the Borough’s $49 Home Energy Audit Program, have put together tips to help residents combat winter drafts and leaks.

To help residents combat winter drafts and leaks, the Madison Environmental Commission along with Ceil Power have put together some simple winter energy saving tips, as recommended by Ceil Power’s founder, Scott Thomas Fischer:

• Add weather stripping. The New York Times reports that “as little as $3 worth of window caulking can reduce home energy usage by as much as 20 percent.” Adding weather-stripping to the doorway of your attic or pull-down staircase helps keep heat from escaping into the attic.
• Pay attention to cobwebs and melting snow. If the snow on the shady side of your roof is melting quickly, there’s a good chance that warm air is reaching the underside of your roof, causing the snow above to melt. Seeing cobwebs? These abandoned spider webs nature’s way of pointing out gaps in your home that might benefit from a bead of caulk or a touch of foam.
• Insulate your attic. For Beth, an energy auditor for Ciel Power LLC, a lack of attic insulation is an all-to-familiar sight. “For me, it’s like wearing your hat in the winter.” In Beth’s evaluations, a yardstick is helpful to measure the depth of attic insulation. “It’s really important and I’m always happy when I see more than fifteen inches, particularly in older homes.”
• Retrofit recessed lights. Older recessed lights are ventilated to allow heat generated by the bulb to escape the fixture. Lights located in the ceiling of the rooms beneath your home’s attic can transform light fixtures into not-so-little chimneys, providing an unobstructed escape route for warm air. What to do with these older lights? A simple solution is to replace the bulb and decorative housings of your lights with LED retrofit kits. These kits combine the bulb and housing into an aesthetically pleasing one-piece retrofit that saves energy two ways; by using less wattage to generate light, and by cutting off air-flow to the attic above.
• Don’t forget the basement. As warm air escapes through the attic, it simultaneously pulls air into your home through a home’s lower regions, including basements and crawlspaces. An afternoon of caulking around basement windows and sealing electrical and plumbing penetrations with spray foam will make a noticeable difference in your home’s comfort.

The Borough of Madison Mayor and Council, along with Ciel Power continues their $49 Home Energy Audit program. The Borough of Madison $49 Home Energy Assessment program streamlines the process of choosing a home energy auditor, making the process more understandable, accessible and safer. Ciel Power has also administered similar programs in Summit, Millburn, Princeton, Glen Rock, and Highland Park, New Jersey.

To learn more about Madison’s $49 Home Energy Audit visit: the website.

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