UNCOVERING ENERGY WASTERS: How our experts can help you identify and eliminate them for a more efficient home

For 18 years, Dean Pennington has been climbing in attics, using thermal cameras to check walls and insulation and inspecting windows and doors.

The Energy Solutions Specialist’s job is to do just that, find a solution to CoServ Member’s energy concerns by doing free Energy Assessments on their homes and businesses. They are trained to find potential trouble spots where energy could be escaping or wasted.

In addition to the usual advice, caulking windows, sealing doors and keeping the thermostat at the Department of Energy recommended temperature of 68 degrees or lower in the winter and 78 degrees or higher in the summer, Dean has seen some rather peculiar problems that greatly contributed to high energy use.

“For homes that are electric, your heat and AC can be on together at the same time,” Dean said. “If that happens, you are going to double your kilowatt-hour usage. I’ve seen someone use 500 kWh in a day.”

Even though CoServ's Energy Solutions team can't repair issues, they can help you identify them so that you know precisely what to tell the HVAC technician.

In addition to knowing about specific problems, Dean said that HVAC tune-ups are critically important and should be done twice a year, or at minimum, before summer in Texas.

For example, air conditioners that are low on coolant tend to run more often because they are struggling to reach the desired temperature. Dean said this problem can be identified by looking into the SmartHub analytics for your home’s electricity usage.

The data will show how often the air conditioner turns on and how long it runs. When CoServ completes the assessment, they share the results with the Member and show them how to track their electric usage themselves through SmartHub. Visit CoServ.com/SmartHub to get started!