What to Expect With Your Home Comfort Evaluation (HCE)

Okay, so you’ve called to schedule your free Home Comfort Evaluation (HCE) and you are now, as a homeowner, wondering what to expect next. As soon as you’ve completed your phone call from the appointment center, you can expect to receive our pre-mailer in the mail within a few days. This contains some information about who we are at Foam It Insulation, some information regarding insulation, and a profile sheet on your Home Comfort Advisor that will be coming to your home, as well as an appointment reminder. The profile sheet has a photo of the Advisor that is coming to your home so you know what they look like and some of their background personally and with the company before they come in to your home. This is to ensure that someone that isn’t a complete stranger is coming to look at your home with you.

Here at Foam It Insulation, we take pride in connecting with our customers. We give confirmation calls two weeks before the scheduled appointment, as well as a day or two before the scheduled appointment to confirm; and your Home Comfort Advisor will give you a call the morning/afternoon of your appointment to inform you that they are on their way and once again verify the address of your home so you as the homeowner have the peace of mind that your Advisor is on their way and is going to be on time to the correct address. We can also connect with our customers via text and email, whichever is your preferred method of contact.

When your Home Comfort Advisor knocks on your door, they will greet you and hand you their business card. They will come in your home and sit down with you and ask you questions about your home such as the number of people in the home and age range, how your home is during the cold and hot weather, as well as some questions regarding health such as allergies and then they will ask you what you’d like to accomplish for your home. These are known as our Homeowner Questionnaire and Accomplish List.

Once that is done, your Home Comfort Advisor will conduct an inspection of your home – referred to as the Energy Audit or Energy Assessment. This is to review your home’s energy performance and assess the energy features of the home as well as the household’s energy consumption patterns. The purpose of the assessment is to identify how efficiently your home is operating and where your home is wasting energy. This will help you as the homeowner discover the effectiveness of your home’s current insulation and equipment and what actions you can take to make your home more energy efficient. A health and safety test is also done on combustion appliances (ovens, hot water heaters, etc.) to ensure there are not hidden dangers within the home. What are some of the benefits of having a Home Energy Assessment done to begin with?
-Energy Usage. Assessments help you understand how much energy your home is using, and what equipment (such as cooling or heating appliances) uses the most energy.
-Unknown Issues. The assessment can uncover hidden problems such as leaky air ducts or uninsulated walls that may be making your home less efficient, making you uncomfortable and raising your utility bills.
-Health and Safety. Assessments can uncover potential hazards in your home such as improper ventilation from fans and dryer vents that could degrade air quality, or areas with high humidity and cold surfaces that may support mold growth.

Once the assessment is complete, your Advisor will sit down with you and go over all the findings from the assessment. They will let you know where your home is performing well, or not so well, and give you a prioritized list of potential improvements to help determine where your money could best be spent. By acting on assessment recommendations, it will not only help you save on your utility bills but also increase the overall comfort of your home by better moderating the temperature, eliminating drafts and improving air quality.

Depending on household income, you may qualify for free work through the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). You can ask your Home Comfort Advisor for more information regarding the NYSERDA program during your appointment.