File 03: Home energy audits
What an audit adds beyond a certificate, what an auditor checks, and how to turn a report into a plan.
The file guide
Working guides on this file
Home energy audits After the Audit: An Action Plan How to turn an audit report into a sequenced action plan with budgets, timings, design steps and checks, so findings become finished work. Home energy audits Airtightness and Blower Door Tests How blower door tests measure air leakage, what the result means, how to find leaks, and what a good or poor result implies for retrofit. Home energy audits An Audit vs a Survey How an energy audit differs from a building survey, a condition survey, and other property surveys, and when each is needed. Home energy audits An Audit vs an EPC Assessment The practical differences between an audit and an EPC assessment in depth, purpose, output and cost, and how to choose which one you need. Home energy audits Audit Costs and What Is Included What affects audit cost, what should be included for the price, what extras to expect, and how to compare audit quotes fairly. Home energy audits Audit Data Privacy, in General What personal and home data an audit collects, how it may be used, and what a householder should check about storage, sharing and retention, in general terms. Home energy audits Audit Follow-Up Visits What follow-up visits after an audit are for, when they are worthwhile, what they should check, and how they differ from a new audit. Home energy audits Audit Priorities, Ranked How auditors rank priorities, what ranking criteria matter most, and how a householder can sanity-check a ranking before spending. Home energy audits Audit Report Action Priorities How to extract action priorities from an audit report, distinguish urgent, high-value and deferred actions, and avoid treating every recommendation as equally urgent. Home energy audits Audit Seasonal Timing When in the year to commission an audit, how season affects what an auditor can test, and how to time an audit for the decisions it must support. Home energy audits Audit Tools and Equipment The instruments auditors use, what each one measures, and how to judge whether a tool's result is meaningful or merely colourful. Home energy audits Audits for Flats How audits differ for flats: shared fabric, communal heating, limited control, neighbours, and access constraints that change what can be diagnosed and done. Home energy audits Audits for Heat Pump Homes How audits examine air source and ground source heat pump homes: flow temperatures, emitter suitability, controls, and why a heat pump audit differs from a boiler audit. Home energy audits Audits for Heating Systems How an audit examines boilers, heat pumps, radiators, controls and distribution, and what heating findings should prompt design work rather than a like-for-like swap. Home energy audits Audits for Listed Homes How audits differ for listed buildings: consent, heritage significance, traditional materials, and measures that must be adapted or rejected for heritage reasons. Home energy audits Audits for Multi-Occupancy Homes How audits differ for houses in multiple occupation, shared houses and multi-occupancy buildings: shared systems, varied use, safety, and recommendations that must work for all occupants. Home energy audits Audits for New Builds Why a new home might still need an audit, what a new-build audit checks, and how it differs from an audit of an older home. Home energy audits Audits for Older Homes Why audits for older and traditional homes need different care: solid walls, lime, timber, heritage constraints, and defaults that misdescribe traditional construction. Home energy audits Audits for Solar Homes How audits differ for homes with solar panels: generation, self-use, export, storage, and how solar interacts with heating, hot water and overall performance. Home energy audits Audits for Ventilation Systems How an audit examines natural, extract and mechanical ventilation, airflow, humidity and indoor air, and what findings should change a retrofit plan. Home energy audits How to Read an Audit Report How audit reports are structured, how to find findings, evidence and priorities, and how to turn report language into decisions. Home energy audits Preparing for an Audit How to prepare a home and a household for an audit so the auditor can test real problems, access what matters, and produce a report grounded in evidence. Home energy audits Thermal Imaging in Audits What thermal imaging can and cannot show, the conditions needed for useful images, and how to read a thermal survey without over-interpreting colours. Home energy audits What an Auditor Checks, Room by Room A room-by-room tour of an audit: what the auditor looks at in living rooms, bedrooms, kitchens, bathrooms, halls, lofts and basements, and why each room matters.