Home Energy Audit Checklist

Assess your home's energy efficiency with our interactive checklist. Check off items as you inspect each area and receive an instant score with personalized recommendations.

What an Energy Audit Checklist Reveals

An energy audit checklist is a systematic tool that helps you evaluate the key areas where your home gains or loses energy. By walking through each category below, you will build a comprehensive picture of your home's energy performance and identify the specific improvements that would deliver the greatest savings. The checklist covers five critical areas: insulation and air sealing, your HVAC system, windows and doors, lighting and appliances, and water efficiency. Each of these categories represents a significant portion of your home's total energy consumption, and weaknesses in any area can lead to wasted energy and higher bills.

Arkansas homes face unique energy challenges. Our hot, humid summers drive air conditioning costs that often represent 40-50 percent of annual energy bills. Meanwhile, our moderate winters still require consistent heating that exposes insulation gaps and air leaks. The age of your home plays a significant role in your likely score. Homes built before 1990 were constructed under much less stringent energy codes and typically score between 25 and 45 percent. Homes built between 1990 and 2010 usually score 40 to 60 percent. Newer construction built to current codes often scores 55 to 75 percent. Regardless of your starting point, this checklist will help you identify your biggest opportunities for improvement.

How to Use This Checklist

Walk through your home with this page open on your phone or tablet. For each item, physically inspect the relevant area and check the box if the condition is met. Be honest in your assessment, as the value of this tool depends on accurate input. Some items, like checking attic insulation depth, may require a flashlight and a quick trip into the attic. Others, like confirming LED bulbs, simply require looking at your light fixtures. Your score updates automatically as you check items, and the grade and recommendations adjust in real time. When you finish, you will have a clear snapshot of your home's energy health and specific guidance on where to focus your improvement efforts.

Your Home Energy Audit

🏠 Insulation & Air Sealing

❄ HVAC System

🟧 Windows & Doors

💡 Lighting & Appliances

💧 Water Efficiency

Understanding Your Results

Your score updates in real time as you check items on the list. The grading scale works as follows: 90 percent and above earns an Excellent grade, indicating your home is already well-optimized for energy efficiency. Scores between 70 and 89 percent earn a Good grade, meaning you have solid fundamentals with room for targeted improvements. A Fair grade covers 50 to 69 percent and suggests meaningful savings opportunities exist. Scores between 30 and 49 percent receive a Needs Improvement grade, indicating substantial energy waste that can be addressed with focused upgrades. Below 30 percent earns a Critical grade, signaling that major efficiency improvements are needed and would likely deliver dramatic savings.

Do not be discouraged by a low score. In fact, lower scores often represent the greatest savings opportunities. A home scoring 30 percent has far more potential for improvement than one already at 80 percent. The personalized recommendations that appear with your score are prioritized based on which improvements typically deliver the fastest return on investment for Arkansas homes. Focus on addressing the unchecked items in the insulation and HVAC categories first, as these areas account for the majority of energy waste in most homes.

When to Get a Professional Energy Audit

While this checklist provides valuable insight, a professional energy audit goes much deeper. Our certified energy auditors use specialized equipment including blower door tests that measure exactly how much air leaks through your home's envelope, infrared thermal cameras that reveal hidden insulation gaps invisible to the naked eye, duct leakage testing that quantifies how much conditioned air escapes through your duct system, and combustion safety analysis for homes with gas appliances. A professional audit also includes detailed computer modeling of your home's energy flows and a prioritized improvement plan with estimated costs and projected savings for each recommendation.

We recommend scheduling a professional audit if your self-assessment score falls below 50 percent, if your energy bills seem disproportionately high for your home's size, if you notice significant temperature differences between rooms, if you are planning major renovations, if your home is older than 20 years and has never been professionally assessed, or if you are considering solar panels and want to optimize your home's efficiency first. Professional audits from Energy Future Arkansas cost between $200 and $500, depending on home size, and typically identify $500 to $3,000 in annual savings opportunities.

DIY vs. Professional Energy Audits

Our online checklist serves as an excellent starting point for understanding your home's energy performance. It covers the most visible and easily assessed efficiency factors and gives you actionable information you can use immediately. However, it cannot detect hidden issues like insulation gaps behind walls, duct leaks in inaccessible areas, or subtle air infiltration paths that collectively account for a significant portion of energy waste. Think of this checklist as a wellness screening and a professional audit as a comprehensive physical exam. Both have value, and the screening often motivates people to schedule the full exam.

Common Energy Audit Findings in Arkansas Homes

After conducting hundreds of professional energy audits across Arkansas, our team has identified several patterns that are especially common in our state. Inadequate attic insulation is the single most frequent finding. Many Arkansas homes built before 2000 have attic insulation rated at R-19 or less, when current standards call for R-38 to R-60. Upgrading attic insulation is typically one of the most cost-effective improvements, often paying for itself in two to four years through reduced heating and cooling costs.

Leaky ductwork is the second most common issue. In Arkansas, where many homes have ductwork running through unconditioned attics and crawl spaces, duct leaks can waste 20 to 30 percent of your HVAC system's output. Sealing and insulating ducts is a relatively inexpensive improvement that dramatically improves comfort and efficiency. Air infiltration around older windows and doors is the third most common finding, followed by outdated HVAC systems operating well below modern efficiency standards. Addressing these four areas alone can reduce energy bills by 30 to 50 percent in many Arkansas homes.

"Going through the online checklist before our professional audit helped us understand what the auditor was looking for. We scored 42% on the checklist, which motivated us to schedule the full audit immediately. After implementing the priority recommendations, our next self-assessment score jumped to 78%."

DK
★★★★★
Diane K.
West Memphis, AR
AB

Angela Brooks

Certified Energy Auditor

Angela has performed over 500 residential and commercial energy audits across Arkansas since 2019. She holds BPI Building Analyst and Envelope Professional certifications and specializes in identifying cost-effective efficiency improvements for older Arkansas homes. Angela developed the checklist categories and scoring methodology used in this tool based on her extensive field experience.

Your Efficiency Score

0% Critical

Check items above to see your personalized recommendations.

Common Questions

Energy Audit Checklist FAQ

A home energy audit checklist systematically evaluates the key areas where homes gain or lose energy: insulation and air sealing, HVAC systems, windows and doors, lighting and appliances, and water efficiency. By checking each item, you build a clear picture of your home's overall energy performance and identify specific areas where improvements would deliver the greatest savings. Most Arkansas homes score between 35% and 65% on their first assessment, indicating significant opportunities for improvement.

A DIY audit using our checklist covers visible and easily assessed items that any homeowner can evaluate. A professional energy audit goes much deeper, using specialized equipment like blower door tests to measure air leakage, infrared thermal cameras to find hidden insulation gaps, duct leakage testing, and combustion safety analysis for gas appliances. Professional audits also include detailed computer modeling of your home's energy performance and prioritized improvement recommendations with estimated costs and savings. We recommend using our checklist as a starting point, then scheduling a professional audit for a complete assessment.

A score of 70% or higher indicates good energy efficiency fundamentals. Scores above 90% are excellent and suggest your home is already well-optimized. Most Arkansas homes built before 2000 score between 30% and 50% on their first assessment. Newer homes built to current energy codes typically score 55% to 75%. The goal is not necessarily to reach 100% immediately, but to identify and prioritize the improvements that will deliver the greatest savings for your investment. Focus first on items in the insulation and HVAC categories, as these typically offer the fastest payback.

The savings depend on your starting score and which improvements you make. As a general guide, moving from a 30% score to 70% typically reduces energy bills by 25-40%, which translates to $600-$1,500 annually for the average Arkansas home. Insulation and air sealing improvements alone can save 15-25% on heating and cooling costs. Upgrading to a high-efficiency HVAC system can save 20-40%. LED lighting conversions save 75% on lighting costs. Our professional auditors can provide exact savings estimates for each recommended improvement based on your specific home and energy usage.

Schedule a professional audit if your self-assessment score is below 50%, if your energy bills seem unusually high for your home size, if you notice significant temperature differences between rooms, if you are planning major renovations or additions, if your home is older than 20 years and has never been audited, or if you want to prioritize improvements before installing solar panels. A professional audit costs between $200 and $500 but typically identifies $500 to $3,000 in annual savings opportunities. Many utility companies offer rebates that offset part of the audit cost. Energy Future Arkansas professional audits include a detailed improvement plan with cost-benefit analysis for each recommendation.

Want a Professional Energy Audit?

Our certified auditors use advanced diagnostic equipment to find every energy-saving opportunity in your home. Schedule your professional audit today.

Schedule Energy Audit Call (501) 414-9378