Habitat Home Energy Specialist

He provided a detailed report of ways that I can improve my energy usage. It took about four hours. It was very helpful. He was very knowledgeable and was interested in sharing information.

The audit was very informative, and we were really glad we used Habitat. Charlie was very knowledgeable and personable.

I had Charlie come out to my condo today to perform an energy audit, as we have issues keeping our condo warm in the winter, and it gets hot and stuffy in the summer. We're also getting a new roof put in, and I had some concerns as to whether our crawlspace insulation would be adequate for the new ridge venting system that is going to be installed.
He gave me an extremely detailed, very informative analysis about all the areas where we were losing heat, and places where circulation could potentially be a problem. I feel much more well informed now about the issues that my wife and I will need to tackle - or hire someone to tackle - as the colder weather moves in. He was also very helpful in providing guidance on how I should prioritize the various tasks that we will need to get done in order to make our place more comfortable to live in.
I'm very glad I had him come out - this definitely was not a situation where he told me things that I already knew. I can't believe how much I learned in just a couple of hours. I highly recommend Charlie if you want to have an energy audit done in your home!

Fast, detailed and extremely informative audit and report.  Was even conscientious enough to take off his shoes, though I never asked him too.  He also went through all rebates and incentive programs that were available to help me pay for my homes' "deficiencies" and there were a few.

They were very knowledgeable.  One of the employees that came out actually teaches energy management at a local college.  We are pleased with the services they preformed.   We wouldn't hesitate to use them again in the future.

I am remodeling a basement and wanted an opinion on the best way to heat, cool and insulate the space.  Received very good information.

Charlie Rogers did the energy audit, including infrared camera, airflow testing, heating system, insulation, etc. He was on-time and prepared. He worked efficiently.

Following the work he discussed some of the findings. He was very willing to address any questions I had and we had a detailed discussion on several areas. I would recommend him for this reason.

He provided referrals for insulators, window restoration companies, etc. I was very satisfied with his work. My one quibble might be that the report format is not the most clear.  The information regarding specific recommendations and what was observed was fine, but the opening pages dwell on lots of "scores" and numbers, but lack clear, cohesive explanations of what they mean in practical terms or how they directly relate to the specifics of the audit.

Charlie was extremely professional and utterly thorough.  He spent a lot of time educating us on the various home energy issues that pertain to our home, as well as answering our extensive questions.  We received an extremely detailed report the next day, complete with recommendations, priorities and step by step to do lists for updating our home's energy issues.  We never would have realized how many things we could easily address to save money, respect the environment and make our home more comfortable if it hadn't been for Charlie's extensive review of our home and his detailed recommendations for changes.  Charlie addressed everything energy related in our home from insulation and air sealing to lighting, making clear suggestions for things we could easily address ourselves as well as providing information on larger projects.  He helped us prioritize upgrades based on our particular home and our specific priorities in our home, from budget to our estimated timeline in the home.  Charlie alerted us to several problems in our home that we definitely needed to know about and had no idea were happening.  From the first time I contacted Charlie to his visit and follow-up report, Charlie showed that he is a true professional and is extremely knowledgeable about home energy issues through and through.  He has equipment to analyze your home's energy leaks and shows you detailed information from his equipment in his report.  You can't go wrong with hiring Charlie to audit your home's energy use and situation.  He can definitely help you prioritize where to start to make your home more liveable, cost effective and environmentally responsible.

Quick response to our request for work, arranged time of work to fit my work schedule, arrived on time, explained the process and time needed well, had a very pleasant demeanor, was comfortable with me tagging along to watch and willing to explain findings as he went through the inspection. Picked up and cleaned after himself well. Provided a post inspection report with suggestions for improvement and was open to subsequent calls for further explanation. While the areas to be addressed were minor they were not apparent to me prior to his inspection. Areas include: reset furnace air re-circulation, calk around ducting and a few other areas, insulate air return ducts in crawl space, convert more incandescent lights to florescent, (provided most of them from City Light), replace old freezer. The punch list of areas to focus on had web links to additional resources and suggested technology developments to watch for future implementation. I was very impressed with how well equipped and thorough he was.

I initially contacted Charlie in June but waited until fall so he could more easily assess my house, as well as our rental house next door. He does a blower door (fan) test for air leakage and also uses infrared to look for heat loss. He has a neat system to check everything, including a form where I listed my areas of special concern. I was lucky to live in one of the areas where Seattle City Light is offering a rebate on energy audits, so my portion was only $95 per house (normally it is $400).

Charlie emailed me the very detailed reports of the two houses the next day. There is significant work to be done on the crawlspaces, and he provided photos of problem spots and highlighted pipes that needed to be wrapped. Recommendations were exact and the report spells out quite clearly what your energy savings and carbon footprint are currently and what they could be after doing the recommended upgrades.

What I liked about Charlie is that he took our living conditions/lifestyle into consideration while making his recommendations. For instance, we had taken out insulation in our attic and put down plywood flooring to use the space for storage as well as a play area for our cats. Since it is now essentially a living area, he said we ought to consider the attic as a heated space and should seal it all up (including the venting) and install insulation in the rafters.

Charlie was punctual, thorough, professional and yet very personable and seems to really care about what he does. Even if you don't qualify for the rebate, his assessment is valuable and highly useful. It gave us a game plan for our energy home improvement projects.

Great! Everything was as promised.

Charlie Rogers of Habitat Home did an excellent job. The audit was thorough and he provided a great deal of information in a friendly and professional way. He's also clearly passionate about energy efficiency. He answered my questions, offered advice when asked, and provided a detailed and highly useful report. I highly recommend this company. Note that the energy audit fee of 95$ was supplemented by a city promotion. The usual free is higher - and would be well worth it for the valuable information provided.

Charlie Rogers is extremely thorough, extremely professional, easy to talk with, and super helpful.  I honestly don't think that you're going to find anyone better than Charlie and Habitat Home Energy if you're looking to analyze your home's energy efficiency and then come up with a prioritized list of actionable steps that can be taken to improve your home's energy efficiency.  I'm just starting now to act on the detailed report that Charlie generated for me, by taking some steps myself and contacting other home energy related contractors for more detailed work needs.

Of course, I should mention that the price is right too.  I paid $95.00 as Charlie's services are usually able to be heavily subsidized by either Seattle City Light and/or Puget Sound Energy.  Charlie can step you through that and make it absolutely painless too. 

We knew going in that expensive upgrades would be needed in our 80-year-old house, but had no idea where to begin. I learned from a friend about the City of Seattle's voucher program subsidizing comprehensive energy audits and about Habitat Home Energy Specialist (also included on the City-provided list of auditors).  The audit was scheduled and completed as agreed, and the detailed score and report were completed and sent promptly.  The report provided exactly the guidance we were looking for. We later followed up with the recommended major insulation work and will complete the remaining upgrades (including installing energy efficient appliances) over time.

Overall, we were extremely happy with Habitat Home Energy Specialist's work and would recommend them to others.

Terrific

We got a voucher from Seattle City Light for a full home energy audit (typically a $400 service) for only $95 out of our pocket, along with a list of certified home energy auditors.  From that list, I chose Charlie Rogers from Habitat Home Energy Specialist because he has excellent reviews and also because he doesn?t offer any services other than auditing.  That might seem counter-intuitive at first, but it eliminates any potential conflict of interest.  An auditor working for a company that also does insulation and duct sealing has an incentive to advise customers that those upgrades should be at the top of their list.  I think it?s better if the auditor has nothing to gain from recommending certain upgrades over others.

The audit took a couple of hours and we really enjoyed it.  Maybe that?s because we?re obsessed with remodeling our house and we always enjoy talking about that with people, especially people who are knowledgeable and give us advice about it.  It might also have something with all the cool gadgets Charlie brought along.  Charlie asked us some questions and then checked out every room of the house plus the crawl space and the attic.  He did a blower door test using a fan and a computer to see how ?leaky? the house is.  Turns out it?s pretty leaky, but we now have a prioritized list to help us seal it up nice and snug.

Then we sat down and talked about his findings and recommendations, which was great because we could ask questions and discuss alternatives.  Later that day, Charlie emailed us a 16-page report which included the following:

• annual estimated energy use and fuel costs (current home compared to what it could be if we do upgrades)
• summary of energy performance related elements (how good our house is with regard to air leakage, insulation, windows, appliances, etc.)
• a To Do list in order of cost-effectiveness
• some resources for info on tax rebates and rebate offers from local utilities for energy efficiency upgrades
• a very detailed list of recommended energy upgrades, including descriptions of the current condition of our house, what the upgrade would entail, typical cost of upgrade, expected savings in $ and kWh, and no-cost or low-cost strategies to make a dent without doing a full upgrade 

We have already started on some of the upgrades and will plan to do the others as we are able to.  It's really helpful having a prioritized list.  Charlie was great.  I would recommend Habitat Home Energy Specialist to anyone.

I think they were excellent. They seemed very knowledgeable, and they were willing to explain their recommendations in detail. I really appreciate all of their effort.

I think their service was very personalized to me. Charlie did an awesome job, and really seemed to be expert in his field. He was polite and professional, and I’d have no problem recommending Habitat to others.

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Our experience with them was fine. We did think the feedback they provided was fairly general, and we would have liked more specifics.  

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Charlie is personable and knowledgeable. I felt confident in the assessments contained in the final report, which he produced almost immediately after our appointment. The report includes descriptions of the problems, photos, recommended actions, and estimated cost savings associated with each. Charlie further offered a referral to a company capable of doing the work (and he would have provided some follow-up at no cost). I didn't choose to use that contractor.

Please note that the cost listed was subsidized by the City of Seattle.  This testing usually costs in the $300 range.
Our energy audit was VERY helpful! Charlie Rogers from Habitat did a very thorough job and explained everything in detail to us. He was very helpful in telling us what our next steps might be. It was good to hear there were things we'd been worrying about that we DIDN'T need to worry about, and he prioritized our problems for us, so we would know where to start.  We will be getting the work done within a few weeks, and we're looking forward to much lower utility bills.

He arrived on time, let me watch what he was doing and explained everything he saw, and patiently and willing answered all my questions.  His report and advice was excellent.  I have since recommended him to a number of friends and they have been equally pleased.  Various contractors I have spoken to, all have high regards for him as well.

I have a large custom-built house with lots of interesting architectural designs that make the house a challenge to inspect but Charlie did it with ease.  He was wonderful.  He was very thorough in his inspection of the 2 crawls spaces and he came up with brilliant ideas to solve heating problems in 2 of the rooms.  In addition, he figured out that the new heater was not heating up the rooms properly because of flexible plastic vent that was installed years ago.  This of course was never mentioned to me by the HVAC guys who installed the new expensive heater!  The HVAC guy just told me that the rooms were not as warm "because the rooms are too far from the heater."  Charlie also save me few thousand dollars as he determined that my windows were not leaky and did not need to be replaced! 

As a first time homeowner, hiring Charlie was one of the best decisions I've made.  I became educated about my home and learned how to make my home more energy efficient for fraction of the cost I would have spend on "new" unnecessary replacements and repairs.