Home Energy Audit: What to Test and What the Report Should Include
Learn what a home energy audit should include, how to prepare, which tests to ask about and how to turn the report into a practical upgrade plan.
A home energy audit is an investigation of how your house uses and loses energy. A useful assessment connects measurements and building observations to a written improvement plan. It should help you decide what to do, what to leave alone and which conditions must be resolved before work begins.
The best service for your home depends on your question. A utility walkthrough may identify basic opportunities; a diagnostic assessment can investigate persistent comfort problems or prepare for major HVAC and envelope work. Ask what is included rather than judging the service by its name.
Choose the assessment around your decision
Before calling providers, write down the decision you need to make: whether to insulate an attic, why one room is hot, or whether a replacement heat pump needs the same capacity as the current system. Send that question when requesting a scope and price.
The Department of Energy’s home energy assessment guide distinguishes homeowner observations from a more detailed professional evaluation. Equipment-based testing may include a blower door, infrared imaging and duct-leakage testing. Confirm availability and suitability for your house before booking.
Ask whether the provider sells installation work, whether assessment findings remain available if you choose another contractor and what written deliverables you receive. An assessment fee and an installation estimate answer different questions; a low-cost visit is not automatically comprehensive.
Prepare bills and a comfort diary
Gather a year of available electric and fuel bills, equipment service records and information about additions or renovations. Our energy-bill worksheet helps separate usage from rates and unusual billing periods.
Make the house’s patterns visible. Instead of “upstairs is always hot,” record “west bedroom becomes uncomfortable after 3 p.m. on sunny days; other upstairs rooms are acceptable.” Note whether doors are open, shades are closed and the system runs continuously. These observations give the assessor a hypothesis to test.
- Identify condensation, roof leaks, odors or areas with visible damage.
- Describe thermostat settings and how the home is normally occupied.
- List planned equipment, EV or major appliance changes.
- Tell the provider about combustion appliances, fireplaces and known hazardous materials.
- Ask how to prepare the building and appliances safely for the scheduled tests.
Do not create your own depressurization test by running exhaust fans or manipulating combustion appliances. Let the assessor control diagnostic conditions and safety procedures. Keep preparation limited to accessible observations and the instructions provided for your visit.
Understand what the measurements can tell you
A blower-door test evaluates air leakage under a controlled pressure difference. Ask for the result, units and test conditions. CFM50 is an airflow measurement at a specified pressure; ACH50 relates leakage to the building’s volume. Neither number is a direct measurement of annual energy savings.
Infrared images show surface-temperature patterns. A cold patch may suggest an issue worth investigating, but the image alone does not prove missing insulation or a water leak. Ask what conditions affected the scan and what corroborating evidence supports the interpretation.
Duct testing addresses a different boundary. Ask whether the test measures total leakage or leakage to outside conditioned space, and how that distinction affects the recommendation. Our duct diagnosis guide explains why an airflow problem should not automatically become an insulation quote.
Ask for a report that can become a work scope
A report should make the reasoning traceable. A colored score or a list of products is less useful than a finding tied to a location, a proposed action and a way to verify completion. Request photographs and measurements where they support the recommendation.
| Report item | Question it should answer |
|---|---|
| Observed condition | What was found, and where? |
| Evidence | Which measurement or observation supports it? |
| Recommended work | What exactly should the contractor include? |
| Dependencies | What repair or safety work comes first? |
| Expected outcome | Is the benefit energy, comfort, durability or a combination? |
| Acceptance check | How will successful completion be demonstrated? |
For example, “improve attic” is not a scope. An illustrative report entry might identify an unsealed hatch, describe the proposed durable air seal and insulation treatment, and specify how the assessor or installer will inspect the finished condition. The exact materials and clearances still belong to the qualified project team.
Make safety and ventilation part of the plan
Energy work changes how air and moisture move. Ask how proposed measures affect combustion appliances, exhaust systems, outdoor-air ventilation and moisture control. A plan that ignores these interactions is incomplete even if its savings spreadsheet looks impressive.
PNNL’s home-performance assessment framework puts safety and durability within the whole-house evaluation. Use that principle when comparing providers: you want an explanation of interactions, not a blanket instruction to seal every visible opening.
If insulation is recommended, ask how the contractor will resolve air leakage first and preserve required ventilation pathways. The air-sealing comparison and attic guide explain the decisions in more detail.
Turn the findings into a realistic sequence
Group the report into immediate conditions, coordinated improvements and optional later projects. Obtain itemized quotes against the same scope. Ask which savings estimates overlap and which rely on changes in occupant behavior.
A report may recommend several measures without requiring all of them this year. Use our upgrade-order guide to handle budget limits and urgent replacements. Retain the report so future contractors understand what was tested and what remains unresolved.
After installation, request the agreed completion checks and keep the results with your bills. Return to the home energy efficiency roadmap when the next decision comes up. The audit earns its value by changing decisions and verifying work, not simply by producing a document.
Common home energy audit questions
How much does a home energy audit cost?
Request a quote for the actual scope rather than relying on a national price alone. A walkthrough, a diagnostic visit with testing and a larger assessment with modeling can have different costs. Ask which tests, written findings, travel charges and follow-up checks are included. Check whether your utility offers an assessment program before booking; availability and eligibility vary.
Can I do a DIY home energy audit?
You can document bills, comfort patterns and safely accessible conditions yourself. Those DIY observations are useful preparation, but they do not replace professional leakage measurements, combustion checks or an investigation of hidden assemblies. Use the report checklist above to decide when the unanswered question warrants diagnostic help.
How do I choose an assessor?
Ask about relevant training, credentials, experience with your type of home and the diagnostic work included. Verify any claim that the assessor is certified with the issuing organization. Ask for a sample report and find out whether recommendations are independent of purchasing installation services.
Conclusion
A worthwhile home energy audit leaves you with findings you can act on: evidence of the problem, a defined scope, an appropriate sequence and a way to verify the work. Choose an assessment around the decisions you need to make, then use the report to compare proposals on the same basis.
Ready to turn the findings into a plan? Keep reading our Energy Efficiency articles for help evaluating the improvements that fit your home.
Scott Harding
Scott is the main author of DIY Home Comfort. Learn more about the team and our approach on the About page.
