Home Energy Audit

Interested in lowering your electric bill and making your home more comfortable? A Howell-Oregon Electric Cooperative Home Energy Audit may be right for you.

What makes up a Home Energy Audit?

• Conducting a Blower Door Test to find drafts and air leaks in your house.
• Changing your incandescent light bulbs to energy efficient compact fluorescent.
• Determining current insulation R-Factor ratings.
• Wrapping your electric water heater.
• Wrapping visible hot water piping from your water heater.
• Inspecting current heating and air conditioning for proper operation.

Information collected during the audit will be entered into a computer program designed to determine improvements which may be made to your home for energy efficiency. The resulting audit summary report will inform you what needs to be done, the order of importance, and the estimated time of payback in energy savings for each improvement measure.

What do you stand to gain besides a more comfortable home and lower electric bills?

• For any Home Energy Audit conducted after March 26th, 2010, members who act on improvements suggested in the audit summary can receive up to $500.00 reimbursement from the Cooperative in the form of a Weatherization Rebate. Members must complete improvements suggested in the audit summary report and submit proof of the improvements. The Cooperative will rebate 50% of the cost of qualified improvements with a total cap of $500.00.
• The state of Missouri has passed Senate Bill 1181 which allows a tax deduction of $1000.00 per taxpayer, per year, with a lifetime maximum of $2000.00. This deduction is available to Missouri tax payers through December 2013. The deduction may be taken with expenses incurred as a result of home improvements made, or the cost of the home audit itself.

How to begin: Home Energy Audits are available from Howell-Oregon Electric Cooperative for a $50.00 fee. Download and print the Home Energy Audit Request form, and complete and return the form to HOEC with your $50.00 payment to begin.

Important: If your home was built prior to 1978, make sure you renovate properly! EPA regulations have new rules for renovating homes that may contain lead paint. The Audit Request form below includes additional information on staying safe during the home renovation process.

After you have completed a Home Energy Audit and have made the suggested energy efficiency improvements, be sure to download the Weatherization Rebate Form from this site so you can apply for reimbursement of up to $500 from HOEC.

For more info call the HOEC Member Services department at 417-256-2131 or toll-free 1-888-HOE-POWER.

To view and print the Home Energy Audit Request form, you may need the free Adobe Reader program, which you can download here: