Home Energy Detective Inc

Troy is very knowledgeable and an honest provider (which personally is more important.) He definitely has a passion for his work and it shows and I would definitely repeat and recommend to anyone who is searching similair work.

Outstanding. Focuses on 3 main items: 1. Meet and exceed the exceptations of the customer 2, Cost containment 3. Provide quality work and quality on schedules Very talented. My go to guy. Is saving me an average of $150 a month in utilities (electric and water) Listens attentively to what the customer is saying. Ability to translate wht the needs of the customer and provides detailed respones that are easy to understand. Is extremly passonite about his compony and word that he does.

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After the spraying and adding of a very thick layer of insulation, our upstairs rooms were significantly more comfortable. The humidity level dropped, and there was virtually no difference in temperature from the ground floor to the second floor (previously there was a ten degree increase in temperature). We were so pleased with these results that we opted for a stage 2 action, which cleaned and sealed the air ducts in our basement and first floor. The leaks within these air ducts caused a massive amount of cooled and heated air. The results of this stage was that our main floor felt cooler in the summer. In the winter, even though we increased the temperature setting the heating bills were lower than in years past. I was very pleased with how Home Energy worked with us to make our home more comfortable and to immediately see savings in our energy bills. I am certain that these improvements have added to our home's value.

After speaking with the Home Energy Detective, I hired them to do an energy audit. The results were pretty surprising even for me. The old, sheet metal ductwork was really leaky, and I had already seen that it wasn't sealed at all by the original builder. There was also a lot of heat coming from the attic door (no surprise here).
They presented different ideas about ways to better insulate the home and about sealing gaps. As we went through the house during the blower-door test, which blows air out of the home and allows air to enter, the auditor showed me areas with heavy airflow using a smoke pen and an infra-red camera (very cool!). So, I could see the hot spots and feel and see how much air was leaking from the walls and from the sheet metal ductwork.

The auditor told me the details about a process called Aeroseal to seal the ducts from inside. I had already heard of this process years ago. Given the that the former owner had already installed extra insulation in the attic, I decided to have the duct sealing and cleaning done and have an attic hatch installed.
The guys came and cleaned the ducts and then sealed them up. They are able to measure the airflow as the ducts are coated, and it dropped from about 28-29% to around 6-7%.
As we went through that hot summer, the temperature imbalance mostly disappeared. It was really amazing, and the electric bills never got above $150, and that's considering everything is electric. Also, the indoor air quality improved dramatically since the ducts were'nt sucking stuff in from the wall cavities. Seems we have to dust with much less frequency.
Before having the audit, I had thought that I might need a second system for the upstairs, but now NOT the case. I could have spent $5,000 or $6,000 on a new system when I didn't need it. The duct cleaning and sealing was about 30-40% the cost of a system, and it solved the issue.

Everyone involved was extremely knowledgeable, professional and on-time. The work quality was great and the crews cleaned up well.
I'd highly recommend them.

This is a hard review to write because part of the experience was perfect and the other part just very disappointing. Unfortunately with energy issues, it is often months and, depending on weather conditions, sometimes years before you see the real results. On the good side, the audit was very impressive. The auditor always came on schedule, showed us detailed results, and was articulate in explaining the issues to us and was extremely personable. We liked this part of the service very much. As an aside, he was also very interested in having us give him a positive assessment right away after his work was complete but before we really saw the outcome.
The auditor oversaw the subcontractors who came on schedule and performed the work as planned. Everyone seemed professional, arrived on time, was neat, respectful, etc. The work was done in October and early November. We did see some improvement, which made us hopeful. As the winter progressed, however, the temperature in the kitchen was still 6-8 degrees lower than the rest of the house (yes, I kept records!) The floor of the kitchen still feels cold.
I do not feel that the crawl space was effectively sealed. To be fair, it's not much fun to spray foam in that tiny space but I still think a better job should have been done for the more than $5,000 spent on that part of the project. I contacted Energy Detective to let our auditor know that things weren't great. I must say, I didn't push it because we are located far from their base, he was polite but it was clear that a follow-up would be difficult for him, and quite honestly I don't know how much improvement I should have expected.
Our energy bills may have come down some. It is hard to tell on electricity, which runs our heat pump but is also affected by other living circumstances. Our oil usage appears to have been reduced 20 to 30% in winters 2010-11 and 2011-12, although the latter was extremely mild and we also added a wood stove in 2009. Overall, the work done on diagnosing and fixing our energy problem appears to have helped some but it is frustrating to still have a problem after a fairly big expenditure.

The technicians were very professional and did a great job. When they arrived to perform the sealing, the initial analysis shows 767 CFM (cubic feed per minute) of leakage, which was equivalent to a 146 square inch hole. After they completed the sealing with AeroSeal, there was a 97% reduction in duct leakage. The end result was only 24 CFM (or 4 square inch hole equivalent). However, I must say that they did leave stains from the sealant on my driveway. I'm not too concerned since I have to seal my driveway every year anyway. The price seems a bit high to me though.

Initially, they did an energy inspection which was $400. I will use them again in the future.

We contacted Home Energy Detectives at the suggestion of two neighbors - we bought the house in late Oct 2010 knowing that we would need a new HVAC system and roof - the end results was a Home Performance evaluation that included options on what could be done - the options were entitled Good, Better, Best and had costs associated with all of them however they overlapped so you didn't actually know what you would be getting solely if you chose any of the options and then we received an email telling us if we chose a specific option we could get a $1000.00 reduction - which meant we needed to go back to the options to try to figure out which option or combination was being reduced.

Our main concern during that time was an HVAC system because it wasn't draining the water so we had to rely on bailing the water out of a large storage container every few hours or turn the unit off completely if we were away for an entire day - we are new to Va, we are native New Yorkers and really needed recommendations on who to contact for HVAC systems - Home Energy Detectives gave us 2 companies, one responded with an estimate but chose not to answer my specific questions and the other didn't even bother, I went back to Home Energy Detectives and asked for additional recommendations as we would never choose the first company and they didn't have any others, this all transpired in mid May, we had a new HVAC system installed in early July and for almost 2 months we never heard back from Home Energy Detectives so I finally reached out in an email asking them why did they just go silent, they knew we had an immediate need and they knew we were eager to do the work needed to make our home comfortable and efficient and there was never a follow up and I got an email from the owner of the company telling us the auditor was no longer with the company.

In fact when the salesperson came to speak to us from Adco (who we bought our HVAC system from ), he told us everything that was in the Home Energy Detectives report without ever seeing the report AND he gave us names of people and companies to call to clean and seal our ducts and to insulate the house which is exactly what was in the Home Energy Detectives report AND when we called those companies, and have since had the work done, we found a significant discrepancy in the cost of the whole house insulation we just completed - which resulted in our savings

The owner of Home Energy Detectives told us that the auditor was no longer with the company and was very apologetic about no follow through but said that the auditor had essentially wiped out his computer before leaving so he is only finding out about issues as people send emails or call, he actually told me I was 'I was not alone in this predictament' and offered to repair the relationship but there was nothing left to do, we had fortunately chosen companies that met our needs without a middle man and with a good amount of money left in my pocket. I suspect, but could be wrong, telling me that I wasn't the only one in this predicatament was to make me feel better but it didn't I felt like he wasn't listening to 'me' and when you are spending over $14,000.00 (HVAC, insulation, duct sealing) it should only be about 'me' - nobody else is paying the bills

We never had our home in Westchester County, NY looked at by an Energy Auditor, this was our first experience and it was a bad one - the people that come to talk to you about their services (HVAC, insulations, duct sealing) they all have the energy efficiency experience, many have been auditors for all sizes of companies, they are involved in the same organizations and meet at the same events so why pay anything to a third party when they wouldn't do the work to begin with - this is my 'lesson learned'

Recommend doing this in the depth of winter to get the best thermal contrast

An appointment was set with Lawrence Nightingale a week from initial contact, and Lawrence arrived exactly on the time and date arranged. He was very professional, first briefing me on his company and his LEED credentials before proceeding. My interest was focused on what I might do to reinsulate and seal my house envelope because I am about to replace the siding. We walked the house from the crawl space, through the basement, and finally the lower and upper floors as we discussed the various systems and the impact of adverse weather conditions on the comfort within the house. Even though I have heat pumps for both heating and cooling, we discussed the fact that I use a wood burning appliance to augment these pumps in the winter. Lawrence took copius notes as we inspected the various areas of the home. Attaching his air pumping system to the front door, he was able to reduce the inside air pressure in order to identify the various leakages in the house envelope. I was very surprised at how many places the outside air was drawn into the house. Afterwards we looked at all the inside wall and ceiling surfaces with a thermal detector for evidence of outside air leakage, and again found many areas of infiltration. His smoke bomb was essential to see the air flows. After the physical inspection, he prepared a computer compiled report of what we had seen. The report was very comprehensive and gave a list of improvements which could be made to increase the thermal effeciency of the house. We discussed the report in detail, and I was left with a fairly good understanding of the road ahead with regard to improvements. And finally, we discussed the siding replacement project, and Lawrence gave me good suggestions as to what I might specify to a contractor for pricing and before the project starts. He also showed me samples of various siding products that he would recommend. This information was very helpful.

Lawrence was very professional and accommodating and seemed very knowledgeable. He gave us some very useful things to do ourselves, which we have done and seen good results. He also suggested some additional work and provided an estimate. We have not yet decided whether to have that work done. Lawrence was very knowledgeable about the various systems in our home, and the audit was much more than the stereotypical "use CFLs" audit that we were expecting.

They went throughout the house and look for spots where your heat is escaping or cold air is coming, causing your furnace or air conditioner to over-work. This was done from attic to basement, including the garage. The supply a report at the end and explain the findings. The price depends on what you have done. They are able to indicate with the report things you are able to do yourself and things you can hire out to improve your savings. We have not made any decisions yet. They seemed very thorough, professional and knew what they were talking about. The price was fair.

Did not live up to my expectations which were set by talking with Troy. Lawrence did the audit. The results felt like their main goal was to sell me remediation services. I have a unique house with special energy challenges which were described before the work- they told me they do not use a cookie cutter approach. In fact their approach, not bad, was not that custom to my situation. Lawrence went fast and I tried to take notes- he said no need his report would cover it. NOT! Also, no photo's or images taken and included. Not good enough for me.

A energy audit helps find the leaks where heat can be leaking out of your house. it helps to determine how you can save energy. They found that we were leaking heat in the attic because we did not have enough insulation. They did a great job for us. The energy audit helped us a lot.

Overall the process went very smoothly. The drywall subcontractor who opened and repaired the ceiling was very good and the subcontactors who applied the insulation materials were also very good. Given the scope of the job, it was done as neatly and with as little disruption to our lives as one could reasonably hope for. So far the knee-wall insulation seems to be working (although keeping fingers crossed on that one til we see some single-digit temperatures). And the master bedroom is much warmer and more comfortable after insulating the floor.

Great! I wanted to get a professional assessment, not just someone with a quickie certificate capitalizing on the tax rebates. Two guys came out and really went over my house in detail. They backed up their assessment with sound logic, a very detailed walk-through, and prioritized recommendations clearly showing where I can get the most for my money. I was so impressed, I lpan to call them back after our remodeling to measure the improvement in our house. Highly recommend them - Troy was fantastic.

Troy was prompt and professional. Very conscientious, explaining what he was doing and the results.

Excellent. I had been told that the #1 place to spend money to reduce my energy bills was to replace my 1926 windows $$$$. After Ken's energy audit, he showed me that my biggest issue was air leakage in the basement between the house and the foundation. 2" of pink foamboard and some cans of great stuff solved the problem. He also suggested caulking around the electrical outlets, light switches, molding, etc. Ken saved me from removing my historic windows. Now that I have done the work, I want him to come back out to re-test and see how much improvement has been made. Ken was very professional and gave a lot of suggestions on how I can improve my energy efficiency. Ken is a former contractor and has a lot of insight into how buildings are constructed.

Troy was on time for the initial meeting, involving us in all his findings. When we signed the contract, we had a thorough understanding of the work to be performed. He and his crew arrived every day on time and cleaned up beautifully afterward. It took three days to complete the work. Our attic is now at about 85 to 90 degrees, which makes it much easier to use for storage.