This Mayor Hopes To Inspire Homeowners Across Her City
Mayor Nora Radest of the City of Summit opens her home to the Ciel team, members of the media, and a film crew from Summit's local television station to launch Summit's Home Energy Insight campaign.
Like community leaders across New Jersey, City of Summit Mayor Nora Radest has a gift for managing her busy schedule. On this day, briefly interrupted to officiate a wedding ceremony for a local couple, Mayor Radest opened her home to almost a dozen people to facilitate, produce, perform, film, report, and oversee one of the first Home Energy Audits taking place as part of Summit's newly launched Home Energy Insight program.
Here's just some of what John, Ciel's Home Energy Auditor, focused on during his time at Mayor Radest's home.
John Closely examined a crawlspace beneath a recent addition to inspect its ventilation, insulation levels, moisture levels, and to examine the condition of the ducts running through this unconditioned space.
A natural gas leak detector was calibrated outdoors, then brought inside to examine exposed gas lines for potential gas leaks.
An examination of the heating and hot water equipment utilizing specialized diagnostic tools was performed to ensure that the exhaust generated by these units was being properly evacuated, that chimney's draft pressure was within Its required ranges, and that excessive levels of carbon monoxide that might pose a danger to the occupants of the home was not present.
With the help of a thermal imaging camera that easily discovers temperature differences, John was able to inspect the exterior walls to determine the effectiveness of the insulation located inside the wall cavity.
A thorough inspection of the attic of Mayor Radest's home was performed to determine how much "stack effect" may be occurring inside the home during the colder winter months.
Finally, John measured the specific amount of air-leakage occurring within the home to understand how air-infiltration rates may be contributing towards comfort issues or excessive energy consumption.
If there is something that significantly contributes towards the overall energy consumption of the home, a home energy audit will likely cover it.
City of Summit Mayor Nora Radest looks on as Ciel measures the air-infiltration of her home.
Summit's Home Energy Insight program, created to promote awareness of practical resources available to residents of the City of Summit, offers Summit homeowners a reduced rate of $49 on Ciel Home Energy Audits. The program also connects Summit homeowners with incentives available through the 2016 New Jersey Home Performance with Energy Star program which is currently offering New Jersey homeowners up to $4,000 worth of cash-back incentives, and up to $10,000 worth of zero-interest financing or up to $15,000 worth of low-interest financing to install energy-efficiency upgrades. As a participating provider of the NJ Home Performance with Energy Star program, Ciel will facilitate the installation of upgrades along with the processing of cash and financing incentives.
Mayor Radest looks on as John demonstrates the capabilities of his thermal imaging camera.
The diagnostic portion of the audit is the first of two visits we'll be paying to Mayor Radest's home, a beautiful home that dates back to the nineteen thirties. During this visit, we'll collect data about the home that will be used by sophisticated software to estimate the projected energy savings of a variety of upgrades available through the New Jersey Home Performance with Energy Star program. This software will prioritize upgrade recommendations based on their overall return on investment and will estimate the specific efficiency gains a homeowner can expect to realize after the upgrades have been installed. These upgrades, when installed, will save up to thirty percent on the home's energy consumption and will significantly improve the home's overall comfort and energy-efficiency.
Thermal imaging is used to identify weaknesses in a home's thermal envelope.
During our next visit to Mayor Radest's home, we'll deliver a customized report that highlights the findings of her home energy audit in an easy-to-understand format. This report will highlight any health and safety concerns that might have been discovered during the assessment, information about the efficiency of the home's mechanical equipment, weaknesses in the home's thermal envelope, air-infiltration rates, and will provide Mayor Radest with a prioritized list of upgrade recommendations that, when installed, will have a significant impact on the comfort and energy-efficiency of her home. The report contains pricing on each of the recommended measures, along with information about specific cash and financing incentives available to help lessen the financial impact of installing the recommended items.
A device called a blower door is used to calculate a home's air-infiltration rate.
Here's just some of what John, Ciel's Home Energy Auditor, focused on during his time at Mayor Radest's home.
John Closely examined a crawlspace beneath a recent addition to inspect its ventilation, insulation levels, moisture levels, and to examine the condition of the ducts running through this unconditioned space.
A natural gas leak detector was calibrated outdoors, then brought inside to examine exposed gas lines for potential gas leaks.
An examination of the heating and hot water equipment utilizing specialized diagnostic tools was performed to ensure that the exhaust generated by these units was being properly evacuated, that chimney's draft pressure was within Its required ranges, and that excessive levels of carbon monoxide that might pose a danger to the occupants of the home was not present.
With the help of a thermal imaging camera that easily discovers temperature differences, John was able to inspect the exterior walls to determine the effectiveness of the insulation located inside the wall cavity.
A thorough inspection of the attic of Mayor Radest's home was performed to determine how much "stack effect" may be occurring inside the home during the colder winter months.
Finally, John measured the specific amount of air-leakage occurring within the home to understand how air-infiltration rates may be contributing towards comfort issues or excessive energy consumption.
We look forward to updating you on our next visit to Mayor Radest's home. In the interim, if you'd like to schedule a home energy audit, visit our scheduling page or call us at 201-632-3463.
Get started with a home energy audit.
The best way to get to know where to start with energy-efficiency improvements is to schedule a Ciel Home Energy Audit.