WHAT IS AN ENERGY EFFICIENT HOME?

An energy efficient home is one that uses substantially less energy than the average American Home. These “high-performance” homes are more comfortable and healthy, a great added benefit for the owner. A truly efficient home starts off using 30% less energy than the average home, and can increase in some cases to being a home that creates more energy than it uses.

The Home Energy Rating System, or HERS scale, is a convenient measure of the efficiency of a home. The scale goes from zero to a theoretical maximum of 500. Like a golf score, lower is better, with a zero being a zero-energy home (one that averages zero net energy use over the course of a year), and a score of 100 being the average new home built to energy code minimum. Each point added represents a 1% increase in energy efficiency. Older, leakier homes with minimal insulation can score well over 200 on the HERS scale, and these homes can benefit the most from a basic home retrofit.

At Meadowlark Energy, we shoot for a maximum HERS score of 80 for the houses we retrofit, representing a 5-star+ home in the federal Energy Star program. Where possible, we go much lower however. A well-insulated home with geothermal heating and cooling and efficient mechanical and electrical systems can score in the low 40’s, while the addition of solar panels can bring this down into the 20’s. These are homes that cost very little to operate, sometimes as low as $40 or $50 per month. Generous federal and utility company incentives for renewable energy can make these “deep green” upgrades have a payoff period of less than 12 years, while a more basic retrofit package can have a payoff period of 7 years or less.

The real benefit of an energy efficient home lies in it’s comfort and healthy air quality. This is something that has to be experienced to understand the difference. Our customers tell us they can feel the better air quality, and could not go back to living in a home that was not upgraded. With up-front low-interest financing programs and generous incentives, there has never been a better time to realize the benefits of an energy efficient home!