DIY vs. Professional Home Energy Audits: Which is Better?

Finding ways to save money on your energy bills starts with knowing where your home wastes energy. This is where a home energy audit comes in handy. When it comes to choosing the right approach, the key decision is between a DIY vs. professional home energy audit. Whichever option you choose, you’ll learn how your home uses energy and where you can make improvements that actually save you money.

Both of my old homes in Massachusetts taught me a lot about energy waste. After getting energy audits done, I discovered problems I never knew existed. These issues were causing drafts, wasting energy, and even creating safety risks. Without doing the energy audit first, all the smart gadgets and new appliances in the world wouldn’t have helped me save money on my energy costs.

My energy audits found problems in the walls, attic, floors, and heating system. Even worse, I found dangerous old electrical wiring throughout both homes that could have caused a fire. This experience showed me how important it is to understand the difference between a DIY home energy audit and a professional audit.

Quick Summary

• DIY home energy audits cost very little and help you spot obvious problems, but they might miss hidden issues.
• Professional energy audits give you detailed results using special tools, finding hidden problems and safety risks you can’t see.
• The best approach often combines both – start with a DIY audit for simple fixes, then get a professional audit if you need more help.
• Cost difference ranges from $0-$100 for DIY audits vs. $300-$600 for professional audits.
• Professional audits typically help homeowners save 5-30% on their utility bills when they follow the recommendations.

What Is a Home Energy Audit?

A home energy audit is like giving your house a complete checkup to see how it uses energy. Think of it as a doctor’s visit for your home. The audit looks at every part of your house that affects energy use, including insulation, heating and cooling systems, air leaks, appliances, lights, and windows.

The main goals of any energy audit are simple: use less energy, pay lower utility bills, make your home more comfortable, and help the environment. During an audit, you’ll discover exactly where your home is wasting energy and get a clear plan for fixing these problems.

Just like you wouldn’t ignore health problems, you shouldn’t ignore energy problems in your home. The longer you wait, the more money you waste on high energy bills. Plus, some energy problems can create safety issues that put your family at risk.

DIY Home Energy Audits: What You Need to Know

Who Should Consider DIY Energy Audits

A DIY home energy audit lets you check your home’s energy use without spending much money or needing special training. While it’s not as complete as hiring a professional, doing your own audit can still find many common problems that waste energy.

The DIY approach is particularly beneficial for homeowners who:

• Don’t have much money to spend
• Know some basics about how homes work
• Want to start understanding their home’s energy problems
• Like working on home projects themselves

Complete DIY Home Energy Audit Steps

To do an effective DIY home energy audit, follow these steps carefully. Take your time with each step because rushing through the process means you might miss important problems.

Air Leaks

• Check for drafts around doors, windows, outlets, baseboards
• Look for old or cracked caulk and weatherstripping
• Don’t forget attic hatches, basement doors, and mail slots

Insulation

• Look in your attic: Is there enough insulation?
• If possible, check wall and floor insulation
• Inspect crawlspaces and basements
• Check if hot water pipes and ducts are wrapped properly

Heating and Cooling (HVAC)

• Change dirty air filters
• Make sure vents aren’t blocked
• Look for loose or leaky ducts
• Write down the age of your heating and cooling units

Water Heating

• Check the thermostat (120°F is enough)
• Make sure the water heater and pipes are insulated
• Time how long it takes for hot water to reach sinks or showers

Lighting

• Count how many incandescent (old-style) bulbs you have
• Mark high-use lights that need switching to energy-efficient lighting

Appliance and Electronics Evaluation

• List appliance ages and their Energy Star ratings
• Unplug items not in use or use smart power strips
• Check fridge seals and vacuum the coils

Best Tools for a DIY Home Energy Audit

Several affordable tools can make your DIY audit much more effective. You don’t need to buy all of these tools at once, but having a few key items will help you find problems you might otherwise miss.

An infrared thermometer is probably the most useful tool for beginners. Point it at different surfaces to find temperature differences that might show insulation problems or air leaks. Areas that are much colder or warmer than they should be often indicate problems you need to fix.

What DIY Audits Can’t Do

While doing your own energy audit is helpful, it has some drawbacks:

• You can’t do special tests like blower door tests or full thermal imaging that show where air leaks are
• You might not know enough to find complicated problems or suggest the best solutions
• You could miss hidden problems inside walls, in air ducts, or in heating and cooling systems
• It’s hard to measure how much energy you’re wasting or figure out exactly how much money you’ll save by making improvements

My own experience shows these limitations clearly. When I started with my own energy audit, I quickly found drafts around windows and doors. After replacing the weatherstripping, things got a little better. But the real problems only showed up when I hired a professional auditor.

The professional audit found major air leaks in my attic, rim joists in the basement, and main entry door that were costing me hundreds of dollars every winter. Even more important, my house still had dangerous old knob and tube electrical wiring that created a serious fire risk. I never would have known about this safety problem without professional help.

I explain more about my experience with professional home energy audit in my YouTube video here.

What to Expect from a Professional Energy Audit

A professional home energy audit provides a more detailed and scientific assessment using advanced tools and techniques.

What Happens in a Professional Audit

A typical professional audit includes:

First Look

• Check your utility bills to see how much energy you use
• Talk with you about cold spots, problems, and what you want to fix
• Write down facts about your home (size, number of windows, etc.)

Special Tests

• Blower door test to measure how much air leaks in and out
• Infrared camera to find missing insulation and cold spots
• Safety and efficiency tests on furnaces and water heaters
• Measure leaks in air ducts
• Check if your home has enough fresh air

Report and Recommendations

• List of suggested fixes, most important ones first
• How much each fix will cost
• How much money you’ll save on energy bills
• Information about rebates and ways to pay for improvements

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, when people make the improvements suggested in professional energy audits, they usually save 5-30% on their utility bills.

How Professional Energy Audits Work

Professional auditors follow these steps to check your home thoroughly:

• Outside Check: Look at your home’s exterior, which direction it faces, and things around it that affect energy use
• Set Up Equipment: Install measuring devices and prepare testing tools
• Air Leak Testing: Use a blower door to measure and find where air is getting in
• Thermal Camera Scan: Use special cameras to see heat loss, moisture problems, and insulation gaps
• Heating and Cooling Check: Test how well your heating, cooling, and ventilation systems work
• Air Quality Check: Look for things that could affect your health or damage your home
• Collect Information: Take measurements and organize all the data
• Write Report: Create a detailed document with findings and recommendations
• Explain Results: Go over the results with you and answer questions about how to make improvements

Professional audits are conducted by certified auditors and typically take 2-4 hours to complete. In our case, a professional auditor took about 8 hours to do a complete assessment of our home.

DIY vs. Professional Home Energy Audits: A Side-by-Side Look

* These costs are rough estimates. Real costs will vary from location to location. Our home energy audit was partially covered by our local utility and we paid about 25% of the cost, i.e. $2,000. In many areas, utility companies, state energy offices, or local governments offer subsidized or free energy audits to promote conservation.

DIY vs. Professional Home Energy Audits: Accuracy and What You’ll Find

DIY audits can find obvious problems like drafty windows, doors that don’t seal properly, and missing insulation in visible areas. However, they often miss hidden energy problems that require special equipment to detect. You also can’t measure exactly how severe problems are or put them in order of importance effectively.

Professional audits find hidden issues within walls, floors, and other building parts you can’t see. They use calibrated equipment to measure actual performance and provide exact data on energy loss. Professional auditors also identify safety issues that might otherwise go unnoticed and apply building science principles to analyze your home as a complete system.

Time and Effort Requirements for DIY vs. Professional Home Energy Audits

• Research and preparation: 1-2 hours
• Conducting the audit: 3-5 hours
• Analyzing findings: 1-2 hours
• Learning curve for understanding energy efficiency principles

Professional Approach:

• Scheduling and preparation: 30 minutes
• Being present during audit: 2-4 hours
• Review of findings: 1 hour
• Minimal learning curve; relies on expert knowledge

When DIY Audits Make Sense

Choose a DIY audit if:

• You’re just getting started and need a free or cheap option
• Your home is fairly new and built to modern energy codes
• You enjoy home improvement tasks
• You want to fix basic issues like leaky windows or old bulbs

When to Go with a Professional Audit

Choose a professional audit when:

• Your home is over 25 years old
• You have high utility bills and comfort issues
• You’re planning a big renovation
• You’re applying for rebate programs
• You’re worried about indoor air quality or safety

You want solid advice backed by data

Combining DIY and Professional Approaches

Many energy efficiency experts recommend a staged approach that combines DIY and professional methods:

• Start with a DIY assessment to identify and fix obvious issues
• Monitor energy bills for 3-6 months to establish baseline usage
• Consult with your utility company about free or discounted professional audits
• Invest in a professional audit if problems persist or if you’re planning significant home improvements
• Implement professional recommendations in order of priority and ROI
• Consider DIY implementation of simpler recommendations to reduce costs

Final Verdict on DIY vs. Professional Home Energy Audits

A DIY home energy assessment is a great way to learn about your home and fix small problems without spending much. But for bigger results, especially if your house is older or your bills are high, a professional energy audit can give you answers you can trust.

My own experience showed me that both methods have value. I found drafts and old bulbs on my own, but the pro helped me uncover dangerous wiring and major insulation issues. We also replaced our old boiler, which made a huge difference in both safety and savings.

Wrapping Up

Remember that the most important thing isn’t which type of audit you choose, but what you do with the results. Even the best professional audit won’t help if you don’t follow through on the recommendations.

My homes benefited significantly from the professional audit findings. We removed dangerous knob and tube wiring, added proper insulation, and replaced an old oil-burning boiler with a much more efficient gas system. These improvements made our homes safer, more comfortable, and much less expensive to heat and cool.

Start with the improvements that cost the least and save the most energy. These usually include sealing air leaks, adding insulation, and upgrading to efficient lighting. Larger improvements like new heating systems or windows can wait until you have more budget available.

By carefully checking your home’s energy use – whether through DIY methods, professional help, or both – you’re taking an important step toward saving energy, making your home more comfortable, and helping the environment. The key is getting started and taking action on what you learn.

Frequently Asked Questions About DIY vs. Professional Home Energy Audit

What’s the difference between a DIY and a professional home energy audit?

A DIY audit helps you spot basic problems like drafts and old light bulbs, while a professional audit uses special tools to find hidden issues, safety risks, and energy leaks you can’t see.

How much money can a professional energy audit save me?

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, following the recommendations from a professional audit can save you 5–30% on your utility bills.

When should I choose a professional energy audit over DIY?

Go with a professional audit if your home is over 25 years old, your energy bills are high, you’re planning renovations, or you want detailed data and safety checks.

Can I combine both DIY and professional audits?

Yes! Many experts suggest starting with a DIY audit to fix simple issues, then getting a professional audit for deeper problems and bigger savings.