Kim Holt and his family have lived in their Caledonia home for close to a decade.
They’ve mastered interior design but they hadn’t been able to tackle some unexplained drafts.
“One room would be cool, one room would be overly warm, but we don’t know why,” Kim Holt, homeowner said. So they hired an expert.
“This is the infrared camera, so what we’ll do now is we’ll walk around the house and kind of see what’s going on behind the scenes,” Mike Youngblood with Wellhome said.
Armed with tools that can see what the human eye can’t, Youngblood detects where air leaks are coming from all over the home.
“We can see here in the display, the left window is not performing as good as the right window,” Youngblood said. He’s contracted to do the job through Better Buildings for Michigan, which administers a program called GR1K.
The group is helping one thousand homeowners save money on a 3 to 5 hour assessment. What could cost up to $500, only costs $99 thanks to rebates.
“You’re going to get a scientific report, someone’s going to tell you exactly how much energy loss your home has, and they’re going to tell you what’s going to be the best bang for your buck. What’s going to be your return on your investment,” Selma Tucker with Better Buildings for Michigan said.
Selma Tucker with Better Buildings says the average homeowner saves about 20% on their heating bill after making modifications. Holt had his assessment three weeks ago and he’s already feeling the difference.
“They took a lot of the drafts away. They found out, they identified where they were and they sealed it up. They even replaced the weather stripping in the doors,” Holt explained.
He added, “They made sure the window sealed tightly. They caulked around the insides to keep the cold air from infiltrating, they double my insulation in the attic. And all of it somehow combined made it quieter inside.”
“It certainly made the floors warmer. It just made the house feel warmer. The furnace doesn’t run nearly as much as it used to,” he said.
The group says a couple hundred people have already signed up for the program.If interested you can click here for more information.
