The Canadian homeowner's guide to energy audits

If your home is drafty in winter, uneven room to room, or just expensive to heat, a home energy audit is the usual place to start. It's a structured assessment of where your home loses energy and what to do about it — and across Canada it's often the first step toward provincial and federal rebate programs.

What an energy audit actually looks at

An assessment typically covers your home's envelope (walls, attic, insulation), air leakage (the drafts and gaps that let conditioned air escape), and your systems (heating, cooling and ventilation), along with windows, doors and weatherization. The result is a clear picture of where energy — and money — is going, and a prioritized list of improvements.

What happens during the visit

An assessor comes to your home, works through a consistent checklist, takes measurements and photos, and documents the condition of each area. A good assessment is thorough and repeatable: the same things get checked the same way, so the report is reliable and comparable.

Audits and rebates

Many Canadian rebate and incentive programs — provincial and federal — use an assessment as their starting point, and some require one before and after improvements. Program details change often and vary by province, so always check the current official source for your region rather than relying on a figure you saw once. The audit itself is what positions you to take advantage of whatever is available.

Getting one done

Norwon offers residential energy audits across Canada, and powers energy-assessment teams with the same booking, capture and reporting platform behind every Norwon visit. Get in touch to arrange one or to equip your own team.