How a Mass Save Energy Audit Can Help You Save Money and Improve Efficiency
If you’ve been looking to save money on your home energy costs and increase your energy efficiency in the process, you’ve probably heard of the Mass Save® program.
Maybe you’ve even read some things and explored how it works, but you’re not sure about exactly what it offers and whether the time investment is worth it.
It very much is, but it’s important to know why. That means knowing the details about how Mass Save® works and what it offers, which can be boiled down to two things: saving money and increasing energy efficiency by getting a Mass Save energy audit.
What is a Mass Save® Home Energy Audit?
The terms “audit” and “assessment” can be used interchangeably in the context of the Mass Save® program, and for the sake of convenience we’ll stick with assessment and call the process a home energy assessment.
This term is less threatening than “audit,” and it’s more accurate when it comes to the process of evaluating your home energy usage and helping you make improvements and become more energy efficient.
Basically, it’s a three-step process, and all three steps are vital when it comes to helping you save money. They include the following:
- Inspection: The process starts with a visit from the home energy assessor, who will inspect your home. Part of this inspection is to take a detailed look at the structure of your home to see if it’s costing you money in your home energy bills, and part of it is to evaluate your heating and cooling system, your appliances and devices to make sure they’re energy efficient.
- Testing: After the inspection, the testing starts. This includes a blower door test to see if there are any air leaks and verify that your insulation is doing its job. Infrared cameras are another part of the test, and these are used to further analyze energy loss deep within the structure of your home.
- The report and recommendations: The assessment concludes with a report, along with recommendations for what to upgrade and how to save money doing it. This is a vital part of the Mass Save® program, and it includes helping you with the paperwork to get rebates and discount.
Money for Nothing: Is a Mass Save® No-Cost Home Energy Assessment Really Free?
Few things in life give you something for nothing with no strings attached, so this is a logical question to ask about this kind of assessment.
The answer is an emphatic “Yes!” Mass Save® has actually been doing no cost home energy assessments for years, with the idea of helping Massachusetts homeowners lower their utility costs and become more energy efficient in the process.
The program has been gaining more traction since the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which is designed in part to help the environment, lower our carbon footprint and reduce pollution.
The program does this by promoting and offering rebates and discounts on all sorts of energy saving products, from electric vehicles to heat pumps to more efficient heating and cooling systems.
Between the IRA and Mass Save®, there are many ways to save money, but with Mass Save® the process starts by getting a free home energy assessment.
The Legitimacy Test: Are Mass Save® Savings Real?
Once again, the answer to this question is yes, but this time around that “yes” is a little more complicated. There are some choices involved when it comes to the kind of savings you want for your home.
How does this work? The best way to answer that question is to use a few simple home savings examples.
Let’s start with air sealing, insulation and programmable thermostats. Under the terms of the Mass Save® program, you can get 100 percent off for air sealing your home, which is the equivalent of free after the fact.
Similarly, you can get as much as 75 percent off home insulation if you decide to upgrade after your home energy assessment. And you can get a complete rebate for programmable thermostats that can save you money in home heating and cooling costs, so those are free after the fact, too.
Save More Money on Home Energy Upgrades
Now let’s talk about the larger savings. Maybe you’ve been thinking about upgrading your HVAC system. I that’s the case, you’re in the right place at the right time. You can get up to $2,750 in HVAC upgrades, and you can get even more back if your upgrade involves a heat pump.
One of the specifics that gets covered in a home energy assessment is matching up your specific home energy needs with the best products to help you attain them.
It might be better for you to buy a more energy efficient furnace or hot water heater, for example, and if that’s the case there are specific numbers that the expert doing a home energy assessment can explain in more detail.
These numbers may seem prohibitive, but for many homeowners that’s not the case at all. You can cover the cost with a part of the Mass Save® program called a HEAT loan, which is a zero-percent loan of up to $25,000 to help you with whatever energy efficiency upgrade recommendations you get.
The Time Requirements to Help You Save with a Home Energy Assessment
For some people, this is the make-or-break question when it comes to getting involved in the Mass Save® program to save money on their utility bills and home energy costs. It’s easy to reach the conclusion that the process might be time consuming, but that is not true.
There are two ways you can do a home energy assessment, virtually or online. You can do the virtual assessment in about an hour, maybe 90 minutes tops.
You do need a device to take pictures of various parts of your home, though, after which you connect virtually with a home energy assessment expert and get recommendations via either phone or video.
The in-person home energy assessment takes a little longer–about three hours, usually. The benefit of taking the extra time is that you get a more accurate assessment that can save you even more money once you get the appropriate recommendations.
Get the Energy Savings You Deserve with a Mass Save® Home Energy Audit
At Revise, Inc., we’re committed to doing everything we can to help make your home more energy efficient and educating you about your home and what you can do to maximize savings under Mass Save®.
We’re proud to be a designated contractor under the Mass Save® program, and we’ve helped hundreds of customers save thousands of dollars while improving their energy efficiency.
We make the process as simple as possible. Our home energy assessors are professionals who are extensively trained to evaluate your energy needs, and we’re happy to answer any questions you may have or explain anything from the assessment. We want you to understand that it’s a lot easier to increase your savings than you think, and we can show you how to do it.
To start the process, call us at 800-885-7283 (SAVE) or visit our website, www.callrevise.com. We’ve got some great information about savings there, so it’s an excellent place to start if you’re curious and you want to get some background material about how to spend less while making your home more energy efficient.
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