Project details
Skill
Cost
Estimated Time
Infrared monitor camera
Utility knife
Staple gun
Pro Tip: A proper energy audit goes beyond just checking your insulation. As demonstrated in a This Old House episode, auditors start by evaluating everything that uses energy in the house — appliances, lighting, water heater, and heating system — before moving on to diagnostic testing of the building envelope. Make sure your auditor covers both the energy supply side and the heat loss side for a complete picture.
In this video, This Old House host Keven O’Connor assists in performing a whole-house energy audit.
Steps:
1. Use an infrared camera to detect hot and cold areas around all doors, windows and walls on the first floor.
2. Go upstairs and use the camera to check along the corners between the walls and floors.
3. Also audit un-insulated partitions (interior walls) looking for areas that reveal cold air between the wall studs.
4. Put on a dust mask and work gloves, and climb into the attic to inspect the insulation.
5. Lift the insulation batts covering interior partitions. Look for any gaps and spaces between attic floor and the top plate of the partition.
6. Stuff fiberglass insulation into large gaps, then seal over the top with expanding foam insulation.
7. Wait for at least 20 minutes for the foam to harden, then lay the fiberglass batts back down on the attic floor.
8. Check where attic insulation meets the eave. Be sure it’s not blocking the flow of fresh air from the soffit vents.
9. Cut cardboard baffles to fit between the roof rafters. Slip the baffles into place and staple them to the rafters.
Pro Tip: Tom Silva, This Old House general contractor, notes that windows tend to leak, but not necessarily through thin glass: “Typically, air moves through headers and below sills.” During an energy audit on a This Old House project, an infrared camera confirmed no insulation in the cavities above and below the windows. To trace smaller drafts, auditors use a candle-size smoke stick that emits a wispy column of nontoxic white powder — when held up to window casing, the trail of smoke quickly bends toward the trim and disappears behind it, revealing uninsulated voids.
