A home energy audit, also called a home energy assessment, is an inspection that works out how much energy a house uses, where it loses heat, and which fixes are worth paying for, in order. A thorough one measures the house: a blower door test for air leakage, an infrared scan, a look at the attic, basement and insulation, and safety checks on anything that burns fuel. The result is a report that ranks the work.
The Department of Energy puts a professional assessment at roughly $250 to $600 or more, and about four hours for a thorough one. In New Jersey, Connecticut, the Hudson Valley and Long Island, utility and state programs make it free or low cost for many households.
What a home energy audit includes
The Department of Energy describes two kinds. A simple audit takes about an hour, uses no special equipment and costs relatively little. A thorough assessment takes about four hours and uses diagnostic tests, such as a house air leakage test, a duct leakage test or an infrared scan, to find leaks, missing insulation and equipment that isn’t working as it should. It recommends a professional certified through RESNET or the Building Performance Institute.
Some assessors also produce a Home Energy Score, the Department of Energy’s 1-to-10 rating of a home’s estimated energy use, which it likens to a miles-per-gallon rating for a car.
What happens during a home energy audit, step by step
- The interview. The Department of Energy says to make a list of problems before the visit, such as condensation and drafty or uncomfortable rooms, and to have recent energy bills ready. The assessor walks through the house to see how it is used.
- Health and safety first. Connecticut’s Home Energy Solutions visit starts with health and safety tests. Assessors also look for the conditions Building America guidance says must be dealt with before any sealing or insulating: roof leaks, live knob-and-tube wiring, bath or kitchen fans venting into the attic, and vermiculite.
- The blower door test. A calibrated fan in an exterior doorway pulls air out of the house while a manometer measures the pressure, giving the leakage rate as CFM50 and ACH50. While it runs, the assessor finds the leaks with a smoke pencil. Details and code numbers are in our air sealing guide.
- The infrared scan. An infrared camera shows warmer and cooler areas along walls and roofs and around windows and doors. The Department of Energy says that with the blower door running, air leaks show up as black streaks. It needs a real temperature difference between inside and outside to work well.
- The attic. Insulation type and depth, dirty patches that mark air leaks, open top plates and chases, the hatch, recessed lights, fans and baffles. See attic insulation.
- The basement or crawl space. Rim joists and sill plates, holes through the floor above, pipes, ducts, and signs of water.
- Heating, cooling and combustion safety. The Department of Energy says assessors may inspect heating and cooling systems, test for gas leaks, check ventilation, and use a duct blower to measure duct leakage. Where a furnace, boiler or water heater draws room air, a worst-case depressurization test checks whether it could backdraft.
- The report. Findings and recommended improvements. Connecticut’s program report includes the blower door results, recommended upgrades and rebate and financing information. The Department of Energy also recommends a “test out” after the work, with safety tests and inspections; ask whether it is included.
How to prepare
Clear a path to the attic hatch, the basement and the furnace and water heater. Have recent energy bills and a list of problem rooms ready. If you use a fireplace or wood stove, clean out the ashes, since the blower door can pull them into the room. Keep windows and exterior doors shut while the fan runs.
How long a home energy audit takes
About an hour for a simple walk-through, and about four hours for a thorough assessment with diagnostic testing, by the Department of Energy’s estimates. Program visits can take one trip or two: Connecticut’s Home Energy Solutions does the assessment, safety tests and air sealing in a single visit when no barriers are found, and uses two visits for 2- to 4-unit homes, may recommend two for larger homes or those built before 1985, and always uses two for income-eligible homes.
What a home energy audit costs
The Department of Energy’s consumer guide puts a professional assessment at approximately $250 to $600 or more, and notes that many contractors reduce the price if you hire them for the upgrades. Where you live changes the answer, because each state runs its assessments through utility and state programs, each with its own contractors.
Connecticut: Energize CT Home Energy Solutions
Home Energy Solutions is open to customers of Eversource, United Illuminating, Connecticut Natural Gas and Southern Connecticut Gas, whatever fuel heats the house, for homes that haven’t had the program’s services in the last six years. Since 1 April 2026 the visit carries a $40 copay; it costs nothing for households in the program’s Enhanced Incentives and Income Eligible tiers, so ask which tier you are in before you pay. An authorized Home Energy Solutions contractor runs the health and safety tests and a blower door test, tests the ducts in a house with forced hot air or central air, and does up to seven hours of air sealing at no extra cost. Participants who opt in also get a Home Energy Score. The program warns of a possible waiting list. Customers of municipal electric utilities, including Norwich, Groton, Wallingford and East Norwalk’s Third Taxing District, can get a free assessment through their own utility’s program instead.
Long Island: PSEG Long Island’s free assessment
PSEG Long Island offers a free Whole House Energy Assessment with a check of insulation and drafts, a thermal scan and a blower door test. You choose one of its participating contractors and apply online, and its rebates are paid through those contractors. Income-eligible customers can also get a free in-home energy survey through its REAP program, which installs small items such as door sweeps and attic hatch covers but not insulation.
Westchester and the Hudson Valley: NYSERDA’s options
- A free virtual assessment. NYSERDA’s Home Energy Plan starts with an online Home Energy Assessment, no cost for owners of one- to four-family homes anywhere in New York.
- Comfort Home. For Con Edison, NYSEG, Central Hudson and Orange & Rockland electric customers, not PSEG Long Island, the program starts with a no-fee consultation with a NYSERDA-approved Comfort Home contractor and calls for a blower door test before and after the work. New York’s utilities plan to replace it with new weatherization programs around January 2027, so don’t wait if you want it.
- EmPower+. Income-eligible owners and renters of one- to four-family homes get a no-cost comprehensive assessment through an EmPower+ contractor, applying on the MyEnergy portal.
- Orange & Rockland also points customers to HomeBoost, a free self-assessment.
New Jersey: utility energy assessments
PSE&G, JCP&L, New Jersey Natural Gas, Elizabethtown Gas and South Jersey Gas each offer a free Whole Home Energy Assessment: a walk-through that installs small no-cost items such as LED bulbs, door sweeps and attic hatch insulation and points you to the rebate program. The fuller assessment behind the Whole Home Energy Solutions rebates is done by a contractor participating in the program, who sets the fee. Atlantic City Electric and Rockland Electric don’t list a free walk-through, though Rockland Electric homes have PSE&G gas and can use PSE&G’s. Start with the utility that bills your heating fuel and confirm with the other. Income-qualified households can get no-cost insulation and air sealing through New Jersey Comfort Partners and the utilities’ home weatherization programs.
Program rebates are covered in New York and New Jersey insulation rebates and Connecticut insulation rebates. The federal 25C tax credit ended for anything placed in service after 31 December 2025.
What our free energy audit is, and what it isn’t
Our free energy audit is a walk-through and a written estimate by our crew. We go into the attic, the basement or crawl space and the rim joists; look at the insulation, top plates, chases, hatch, recessed lights, fans and flues; ask about your bills and the rooms that are hard to heat; and note anything another trade has to fix first. You get a written scope of the air sealing and insulation we would do and what it costs.
It is not a certified program assessment. It isn’t a Connecticut Home Energy Solutions visit, a PSEG Long Island assessment, a Comfort Home or EmPower+ assessment, or a New Jersey Whole Home Energy Assessment, and it doesn’t qualify you for any program’s rebate. It isn’t a HERS rating either: that is a score calculated by a certified RESNET HERS Rater, on which a typical home built to 2006 energy standards scores 100, and lower is more efficient. And like any free audit from a contractor, it comes with a quote.
If a rebate matters most, book the program assessment first and use the program’s contractors. If you want spray foam, an area a program doesn’t cover, or a price without the wait, we will price the job on its own merits. You can get both and compare the price after rebates with ours.
A do-it-yourself home energy audit
A homeowner can find a lot in an afternoon:
- Smoke test. The Department of Energy’s method, ideally on a cool, windy day: close exterior doors, windows and fireplace flues; turn off gas furnaces and water heaters; turn on the bath fans and range hood; then pass a lit incense stick along likely leaks. Smoke drawn into or out of the room marks a leak.
- Light and paper. At night, have someone outside watch for your flashlight shining through gaps. A sheet of paper that pulls out of a closed door or window without tearing means the seal is gone.
- Where to look. Where brick meets siding and the foundation meets the walls, around outlets, switch plates, window and door frames, baseboards, attic hatches, wall and window air conditioners, and utility entrances.
- The attic. ENERGY STAR’s quick check: if you can easily see the tops of the floor joists, the attic needs more insulation. Darkened insulation marks air leaks, and frosty patches in cold weather mark warm, moist air escaping. Walk only on joists.
- The basement. Look along the top of the foundation wall, where ENERGY STAR says air commonly leaks between the masonry and the wood framing.
- The roof and the bills. Icicles and ice dams can point to heat escaping into the attic. Compare a winter bill with a mild month to see how much goes to heating.
Don’t disturb vermiculite, the pebble-like gray-brown or silver-gold loose fill some attics hold, and relight any pilot lights you turned off.
How to read the results and what to fix first
- Safety. Combustion problems, gas leaks, knob-and-tube wiring, roof leaks, fans venting into the attic and vermiculite come first, handled by the right trade.
- Air sealing. The Department of Energy’s planning advice is to start by sealing air leaks, and ENERGY STAR puts the hidden attic and basement leaks ahead of windows and doors.
- Attic insulation. Building America calls the attic the first place to insulate. Compare what you have with recommended R-values.
- Rim joists, basement or crawl space walls, and floors over unheated space.
- Walls, windows and heating and cooling equipment, which usually cost more; equipment decisions are better made once the house is sealed and insulated.
The Department of Energy notes that you may only need to air seal small gaps and add attic insulation, or that bigger upgrades may pay off. New York’s heat pump program is moving to reward, and from 2028 require, a sealed and insulated house before it pays for a heat pump, so insulate first. A blower door number means more with context: new homes are built to 3.0 ACH50 on the prescriptive path in most of our area, while NYSERDA’s Comfort Home program aims for 10 or lower in the existing homes it seals.
Common questions about home energy audits
What is a home energy audit?
A home energy audit, or home energy assessment, is an inspection that shows how much energy a house uses, where it loses heat, and which improvements pay off first. A thorough one includes a blower door test, an infrared scan, attic and basement inspection, combustion safety testing and a written report.
What is included in a home energy audit?
An interview about bills and comfort, health and safety checks, a blower door test to measure air leakage, an infrared scan, inspection of the attic, basement or crawl space and insulation, a look at heating and cooling equipment with combustion safety testing, and a report ranking the recommended work.
How much does a home energy audit cost?
The Department of Energy puts a professional assessment at approximately $250 to $600 or more. Programs change that: PSEG Long Island’s assessment is free, NYSERDA’s virtual assessment is free, Connecticut’s Home Energy Solutions visit has a $40 copay, and several New Jersey utilities offer a free walk-through.
How long does a home energy audit take?
The Department of Energy says a simple audit takes about an hour, and a thorough assessment with diagnostic equipment takes about four hours. Some programs split the work into two visits, the assessment first and air sealing or upgrades later.
Is there a free home energy audit in Connecticut?
For some households. Since 1 April 2026, Home Energy Solutions carries a $40 copay in its standard tier and costs nothing in the Enhanced Incentives and Income Eligible tiers. It is open to Eversource, United Illuminating, Connecticut Natural Gas and Southern Connecticut Gas customers, and several municipal electric utilities run their own free assessments.
Is there a free home energy audit in New York?
Yes, in several forms. NYSERDA offers every owner of a one- to four-family home a free virtual assessment. Comfort Home starts with a no-fee consultation for Con Edison, NYSEG, Central Hudson and Orange & Rockland customers. EmPower+ gives income-eligible households a no-cost assessment, and PSEG Long Island’s whole house assessment is free.
Does New Jersey offer a free home energy audit?
Yes, a walk-through. PSE&G, JCP&L, New Jersey Natural Gas, Elizabethtown Gas and South Jersey Gas customers can get a free Whole Home Energy Assessment, a visit with small no-cost installs. The fuller assessment behind Whole Home Energy Solutions rebates is priced by the participating contractor. Income-qualified households can get no-cost work through Comfort Partners.
What is the difference between an energy audit and a HERS rating?
An energy audit finds problems and recommends fixes. A HERS rating is a score calculated by a certified RESNET HERS Rater that compares a home with a reference home: a typical home built to 2006 energy standards scores 100, and lower is more efficient. Energy codes accept the same kind of score as a compliance option for new homes.
Do I need an energy audit before insulating?
Not by code, but it helps, and the rebate programs in our area start with their own assessment. At minimum, someone should look at the attic, basement and fuel-burning appliances before work starts, because air sealing comes first and some problems must be fixed before any insulation goes in.
Is your free energy audit the same as a utility program assessment?
No. Ours is a walk-through and written estimate by our crew. It is not a Home Energy Solutions visit, a PSEG Long Island or NYSERDA assessment, a New Jersey Whole Home Energy Assessment or a HERS rating, and it doesn’t qualify you for program rebates. If a rebate matters, book the program assessment first.
Energy audits in New Jersey, Connecticut, Westchester, the Hudson Valley and Long Island
Call 914-554-2289 or use the contact form, 8am–8pm, seven days, to book a free walk-through and written estimate. The Home Insulators is family-owned, based in New Rochelle, NY since 2015, with a 100-plus-person in-house crew that never subcontracts. We work across all of New Jersey, all of Connecticut, New York’s Hudson Valley including Westchester, and Long Island; see our service area.