Before spending money on materials and equipment, it is important to identify the energy efficiency strategies that are most cost effective in a specific situation. An energy audit is a way to gather this information. Tools are available to perform these audits, including the resources provided below. The DOE hosts a website of useful energy audit tools as well.

Consumer Energy Audit Tools

Several websites allows consumers to perform their own energy audit. A consumer brief on home energy audits is available from the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Clearinghouse.

The Lawrence Berkeley Lab has also created the Home Energy Advisor, which will use detailed information to estimate a home's energy usage. You can use the Energy Advisor to examine how changes to your home (such as increasing the insulation in the attic) will change your home's energy usage and monthly energy bills.

Additionally, the Home Energy Audit website provides information for performing an energy audit. The Home Energy Audit Survey allows residential customers to give a detailed account of their household energy usage patterns. This Survey is broken into several pages devoted to various areas of energy usage, such as: air conditioning, heating, appliances, etc.

Finally, all grantees should contact their state to determine if state or local standards for acceptable energy audits have been established.

National Energy Audit Tool

An easy-to-use but advanced computer audit software, the National Energy Audit Tool (NEAT), was developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) for DOE's Weatherization Assistance Program. Designed for state and local agencies and utilities, this computer program helps determine the most cost-effective retrofit measures for single-family homes to increase the comfort of occupants and reduce monthly utility costs.

After the user inputs data on building characteristics, including the types of heating and cooling systems, NEAT produces a prioritized list of cost-effective measures customized for each dwelling. The output also includes an estimated dollar value for the projected energy savings, savings-to-investment ratios, and a list of the quantities of materials necessary to perform the recommended retrofit.

Manufactured Home Energy Audit Tool

Like NEAT, the Manufactured Home Energy Audit (MHEA) was also prepared for the Weatherization Assistance Program. The Center for Buildings and Thermal Systems of DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado, developed the software. MHEA is a tool that predicts manufactured home energy consumption and recommends Weatherization retrofit measures. MHEA evaluates each manufactured home individually and takes into account local weather conditions, retrofit measure costs, and fuel costs. The recommended package of Weatherization retrofit measures is tailored to the home being evaluated.

MHEA stands apart from other building energy analysis tools in many ways. Calculations incorporated into the computer code specifically address manufactured-home heating and cooling load trends. The retrofit measures evaluated by MHEA are all applicable to manufactured homes. Help messages describe common Weatherization practices for manufactured home and provide hints on how to install retrofit measures. These and other features make MHEA easy to use when evaluating energy consumption and the effects of Weatherization retrofit measures for manufactured homes.

The Weatherization Assistant package, which includes both NEAT and MHEA, can be ordered through the Energy Science and Technology Software Center (ESTSC). The package is available at no cost to regional, state, and local weatherization agencies. Other organizations should contact ESTSC for pricing information.