The auditor reviewed the following:
- All exterior walls, attics and spaces that require insulation to ensure the home is properly insulated
- Electricity use, including appliances to identify appliances that use a great deal of electricity
- All lighting in the house: He proceeded to replace the majority of the lighting with CFL's (Compact fluorescent light bulbs) for FREE.
- Did an efficiency test on our oil-fired heating system and recommended that we replace it as soon as we can afford to (it is only heating at 75% efficiency: They test this by putting a probe in the vent pipe of the heating system. The probe tests combustion, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide levels to determine the efficiency level it is operating at)
- The windows in the house to determine if they are performing adequately
- Among many other features of our home
The gentleman from National Grid provided a report at the end of the appointment summarizing his findings and counting the number of lights we changed to CFL's. In total we replaced over 30 lights in the house valued over $400 in lights for free.
We also found that we had inadequate insulation in the attic. He provided a quote over $2,000 for installing new insulation in the attic and proceed to inform us that it is heavily subsidized through an efficiency program and that we would only have to pay $700 of the total cost to have the work performed.
This appointment absolutely exceeded our expectations. The auditor mentioned that the free lights are sponsored by a program funded by all National Grid customers automatically, through a small fee paid by every customer per month.
I strongly recommend setting up an appointment for this audit to all home-owners. Although I live in MA, the auditor mentioned that RI has a similar program also.
Keep in mind, I made my appointment on December 9, 2008 and my appointment was on March 5, 2009, but it was well worth the wait!
To request an appointment click on the following link: (For MA Customers)
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