Homeowner in FL on Reddit: Hi all. We have 15k saved for energy efficient improvements. The goal is to use less fossil fuels and preferably to deploy this money in a way that it has a pay back period. How should we do this?
(Followed by fifty comments, some of which are helpful.)
Intelligent Tinkering: You can keep guessing, or use Reddit to get what is hopefully a more inspired guess, or do an energy audit, either by yourselves or with an energy professional. The purpose of an audit is to find the most cost-effective ways to reduce consumption. It's essentially a rational comparison of alternatives. There are books and how-to websites and even online calculators if you do decide to do it yourselves. In Maine we subsidize audits using money from taxes on greenhouse gasses. You can get a free one if you are low or moderate income, and a subsidy of $500 towards one if your income is higher. It's well worth it. A good audit done by a professional will include a blower door test, which finds all the leaks in your home and measures the heat loss/gain directly. I don't know for sure, but somehow I doubt they are subsidized in Florida. You could subsidize lots of audits if you levy a tax on the specious hot air that comes out of Florida politicians mouths, especially when it comes to climate and energy!
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