Looking for a way to lower your utility bills while making your home more comfortable year round? Two of the biggest energy wasters in a home are leaky ducts and a leaky building envelope. The ducts distribute air conditioned or heated air throughout your home. The building envelope is simply the barrier between the inside of your home and the outside (including walls, doors, and windows). If your ducts aren’t properly sealed, the air that you are paying to heat and cool to condition your house will instead leak out and condition your attic and crawl spaces. And if your building envelope is leaky, then that conditioned air is headed right outside.

Through GIPL’s Power Lite program, members of your congregation can sign up together to have a Southface certified Home Performance with Energy Star contractor come and test your home for duct and air leakage. He or she will do a visual inspection of the interior and exterior of your home as well as running diagnostic tests to measure leakage. The contractor will then prepare a report that makes recommendations for needed improvements to increase your home’s efficiency. Some of the recommendations will be things you can do yourself while others may require the contractor to do some or all of the work. After the contractor has made the improvements you select, the diagnostic tests will be run again to confirm the reduction in leakage. Contractors can offer financing, and if many members of a congregation wish to have work done, group discounts may be available.

The cost of the initial inspection and diagnostics may vary based on the number of homes being done, but should range from $200-350. However, many contractors will deduct some or all of the inspection price off the cost of any improvements you choose to have them make. The cost for improvements will vary based on the type of work being done, but usually range from $1000-2000 if the contractor does all the work. 

How much could you save?*

* Model shows savings based on duct sealing alone and does not include additional savings from sealing the building envelope or other improvements.  Savings represent reduction of duct leakage from 25%  to 2.5%.  System efficiency is based on actual performance.  Any system older than about 10 years that has not been maintained will run at about 8 Seer efficiency.  Percentage numbers are the efficiency of the gas furnace.  HP systems use an electric heat pump.  Cost savings are based on 2005 GPC rates and the average price of gas in Atlanta in October 2005.