North Star Energy Consulting LLC

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unknown

Jim arrived promptly, brought tons of equipment and thoroughly checked out every nook and cranny of our house, with me accompanying him much of the way.  I asked many questions and he seemed to really know what he was talking about.  Super knowledgeable, friendly, and funny.  i also really like that he doesn't actually do the work, but rather tells you what needs to be done and provides a list of unrelated folks who he vouches for who can do different aspects of the job.  so, there appears to be no incentive on his part to sell you services you don't need.  highly recommend

unknown

Jim showed up right on time and set up his equipment. He explained everything he was doing as we progressed through his testing sequence. Besides providing the energy audit Jim tested ever gas appliance in the house for possible exhaust or gas leaks. Jim is very knowledgeable and answered all my questions about energy auditing and general home questions. What I like about Jim most is his common sense advice concerning any issues he may find during the audit. Jim fully explains any issues and recommends what needs to be done that will offer the most benefit versus cost. I got a complete report with all the possible changes that could be made to make my home more energy efficient.  I own a duplex so Jim had to do much more testing than a single family home would require. The total audit took about 3 hours but to my surprise Jim charged me the same cost as he would for a single family home.  I emailed Jim a number of times after the audit with additional questions and Jim promptly responded. I am very satisfied with North Star Energy Consulting and would recommend them to anyone.

He was extremely knowledgeable and willing to educate us as he went through the house during the audit. I was very impressed by his service and have recommended to several friends. Very glad we went with this company.

Very poorly. Was not able to look at results. Had to ask to see write up. hardly menationed window that was causing biggest problem.(icing)  All in all very bad experience.

This was added after their reply

First let me say I was vague on the first entry since I know you would put your own spin on anything I said and a good chance you would be insulting to me.  Slanderous ? really
 
Now here are some facts, we had to pick from a supplied list all of whom were talked to by the other party before we called(I have an email from them admitting this).  
 
You talked to the other party at least 3 times before us getting the report for all we know you could have been even more.
 
This was the last email between us which you didn't reply to. It was sent Feb. 12 2014.
 
James, (this is from xxx by the way)- First let me say that we are not  looking to have the windows ripped out and replaced and never asked for that although that is the wording xxxx used when he came to our home.  Why would anyone want their new home ripped apart?  It was my understanding from xxxxx's proposal relating to this testing that it was for our benefit but while you were here you made a point of addressing everything to xxx, showing him the infrared results etc. while we were not included in the exchange.  I was surprised that you were sending the test results only to xxxxx and had to ask to be included in the Email (which did not happen) so yes I feel you were working for xxxx only.
 
What I was expecting from the test was measurements or pictures showing the difference between the air leakage of the poorly performing windows compared to the windows that are performing better.  The purpose was to convince xxxxx that they still needed work and to get xxx's to commit to doing the calking on the outside of the double windows (recommended by the window representative) since xxxxx's opinion was that they were fine as is.  I was looking for a facts-just-the-facts type of report and yes I wanted your suggestions on how improvements could be made. Also, your report emphasized that the west-facing office window had the most air leakage and hardly touched on the west-facing bedroom window which is by far the worst and even had the heavy ice formed on it again by Monday morning (do you have a way to go back and check the results of the infrared test on that window?) 
 
It remains to be seen whether or not your report will convince xxxxx to do anything with the absence of back-up documentation and that would make this whole exercise and the testing a failure.  My opinion of the test remains unchanged.




















































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He spent a lot of time explaining how the tests worked and how his suggestions would improve our house.  I learned a lot!  This was by far the most useful experience in home ownership I have had so far!

What I really liked about this service was how timely and efficient it was performed.  Jim explained everything in great detail.  It was easy to understand what his concerns were with our home.  He was just honest.  For the information that we have received concerning the energy efficiency and safety of our house the price was well worth it.  We received our energy assessment in 24 hours as advertised.  I would recommend him to anyone.

Jim arrived on time. He was very professional and knowledgeable. Jim was very thorough during his analysis of our home. Jim explained the different aspects of his audit. The written audit was completed and emailed to me the same day. Jim quickly responded to my follow up questions via email. I would recommend Jim to my friends.

Jim was timely, curtious, and took the time to explain everything.  Following all the work he did a follow up and tested the home again.  

I called Jim a couple of times—the first time for a quote and the second time for some additional questions. I could tell right away that he was knowledgeable about the service he provides and related programs through Focus on Energy and other programs. Before hiring Jim I called other providers for quotes—some were contractors and offered heavily discounted energy audits while others, like Jim, were independent energy auditors. Though Jim was not the lowest-priced provider, based on my conversations with him I was confident that he was knowledgeable and that his price was fair. On the day of the audit Jim showed up early. He brought in his equipment and began evaluating my home, answering my many questions along the way. He performed the blower door test, used the infrared scanner, and tested my furnace and hot water heater for carbon monoxide. After Jim left he sent me a full report the same evening, as promised. I learned a lot about my home and making energy efficient upgrades from Jim. Of particular value to me was learning how various components within the home work together and ensuring that my home is operating safely. I am confident that Jim provided me with an independent perspective and that hiring him was money well-spent. I look forward to using the information he provided to make a number of upgrades to my home.

He was very professional and very educational. He was also very responsive when I had questions a year later. I thought his price was the best.

The whole process took about three hours to complete and I received the completed 5 page report that evening.  Jim was very through and I followed him along as he checked out things with the infrared camera.  He discovered a potentially dangerous situation with our gas hot water heater.  It failed the draft test when the kitchen fan was in use, meaning that carbon monoxide was not venting up the chimney while the fan was in use.  The blower test was a bit of a surprise too when it felt like a strong wind was coming from the basement up the stairs during the test.  The energy audit was a real learning experience for us and Jim is a great teacher.  After the audit we had a couple of questions which I sent to Jim via e-mail and he answered my questions very promptly.  We've completed step one of the recommendation (the most critical one involving safety) and will be moving down the list.  I am so glad that North Star did the energy audit.  Since Jim does not do any of the needed work himself, he is an unbiased in his recommendations.  We now have a much better understanding of how the house breathes and we also have a very detailed plan to present to the insulation installers (steps 2 thru 7).  This was such a wonderful experience.

The company was very accommodating when I needed to reschedule appointments. Information provided was appropriately extensive.

While Jim is busy, he called back the same day.  He scheduled the evaluation, showed up on time, was very patient with our many questions.  Extremely professional, thorough, prompt, detailed and knows his business.  No need to pay more for this type of evaluation.  We have recommended him to other friends and neighbors.  GREAT!

Needed to get done as quickly as possible to advise insulation team what they need to do and needed to complete prior to year end to receive energy credits from Focus on Energy.  Not only did Jim tell me which credits I was eligible for when he came back to verify I had completed all his recommendations he filled out the form for me.  This audit was extremely valuable not only because it showed me what I needed to do but it also showed what I did not need to do.  I was considering insulating the walls ecause of Jim's test I knew it was not necessary. 

I knew that I was using too much energy, and the 3 hour inspection made clear what I would have to do to remedy it.  He also left a list of recommended contractors to do the required work. After the work was complete, he returned for a completion inspection, and filed all the paperwork with the State of Wisconsin for my rebate.

He was on time.
He spent over 3 hours checking the house for air leaks, poor insulation, and problems.
He sent us a complete report of his findings.  He listed the work according to what would take priority to resolve the issues.
We hired a company to do the insulation work according to Jim Maletta's list of priorities.
Jim Maletta came back out two days after the work was completed and redid his energy audit.  He verified they had done everything on the list of work and that it was done right.
Part of the work required an electrician to install a continuous operating fan.  Jim Maletta noticed that the electrician had failed to install a shut off switch for the fan.  He stated that we should be able to shut it off in the summer when we open windows, since the purpose of the fan is to keep air circulating in a nicely sealed house.  Thanks to him, we called the electrician back, and he corrected the problem at no extra charge.
Thanks to Jim Maletta's audit our house is a lot more comfortable.  We are warmer and have the added bonus of the house being quieter due to traffic noise being muffled.
Worth every penny.

The whole experience was very positive, with one exception.  While using the infrared camera, we found one or two walls of the home that were giving unexplainable results.  Although he has performed very many of these inspections, he said he had never seen this happen before.  Unfortunately, this aspect of the inspection was left unresolved.

His report was very comprehensive.  I am using it to help guide home remodeling contractors in a basement finishing project.  I will be calling him back to perform a second evaluation to confirm energy improvements have been made.

When Jim and his son came here they started in the basement and worked their way up through my home checking my furnaces, water heater, exhaust fans, venting fans, the areas where the foundation meets the house, crawl spaces, attic areas, walls and everywhere where I may be getting drafts, losing heat, or spending too much money to operate things.  He then put a large fan in my door way and pulled air out of the house and then went to check the areas again to see if drafts were coming in.  He had a meter that told how insulated the house was and the quality of air in my home.  He also had an infrared scanner to show where there were cold areas in the house.  Jim and his son were here for almost 4 hours going over everything with me and my husband.  He explained what each area needed.  I had signed on with a local program called the ME2 program that was giving rebates both through the City and State for making your home more energy efficient.  Jim was one of the contractors on the list of approved contractors and I did my homework on Angies list to check him out.  Through the program the cost of the inspection was $100.00 The normal fee for this is somewhere between $400 - $500.  Jim then made out a detailed report itemizing the things that needed to be done.  This list included everything from small things that we could do to large things like replacing my water heater to a new energy efficient one.  Through the program I would get a rebate for each of the things that I chose to do.  What was really nice was that even if I could not do everything on the list now, I would know for the future what things to do.  Jim also recommended products that would fit the energy efficient bill.  The product range was from middle of the road price wise to higher end, but all would save us money on my heating and energy bills.  Jim made himself available both by phone and email for any questions that I had.  He came back after the work that I had chosen to do was done and re-inspected and re-tested my home, showing me the large difference in numbers for my home now be much tighter and better insulated.  Jim took care of the paperwork for the rebates through the program for us as well.  Jim was on time, very professional, paid great attention to detail and took the time to explain things to us.  The testing on our home surprised us as to how much energy we were losing and after doing some of the recommended things how much tighter our house is now and this will make us more comfortable and save money each month.  It was a pleasure doing business with Jim and his company.

Prompt response, arrived at my home on time, no added sales pitch or costs. Jim pointed out a lot of things that made sense, but I had overlooked. Gave me names of various contractors. The insulation contractor I used was great. Then Jim came back for follow up inspection and testing. I will not know the results on my utility bills for a while, but I now have a lot more insulation and I am sure the house will be warmer.

I contracted for a thorough energy audit of my 30 year old home. We had several initial discussions in which I provided inputs as to my expectations and points of interest for energy loss in my home before I actually signed a contract. On the day of the testing, we began by reviewing those expectations to make sure they were going to be covered in the audit and if I had any additional thoughts. North Star Energy Consulting did a very thorough job and provided me with more recommendations than I anticipated. I am certain it was money well spent.

He did a great job. Provided a very thorough set of recommendations and details about what needed to be done. He also recommended people to work with.

North Star did a good job. He was thorough and knowledgeable. He pointed me into doing some things to help me save money and I think it has been worth it.