"One Year Later, Home Energy Audit Pays Off", (c) Chase Scheinbaum, Recorder.com, March 09, 2009

It was like a shoemaker's child walking around barefoot, Marc Kaufmann says.

A home heating consultant, he was living in a big, drafty post-and-beam house in Buckland -- and paying oil bills that went through the roof.

But things have been different since an energy auditor visited his house last year.

Kaufmann paid $75 to have a representative of Mass Save, a public-private energy-efficiency partnership, diagnose the leaks and inefficiencies in his insulation on behalf of his energy service provider, Western Mass. Electric Co.

The auditor recommended sealing a bunch of cracks with caulk and adding some insulation to his walls -- around $1,200 of work -- as well as a contractor to do it.

And, Mass Save paid for half.

That's right: half. But that was last year.

Now they pay even more. As of Jan. 1, Mass Save now pays 75 percent of the bill for contracts up to $2,000.

Kaufman says he has since used 20 percent less oil and wood to heat his home.

''It's pretty easy from a homeowner's perspective,'' he said. ''I recommend it all the time now because of my own experience.''

Kaufman says he saved enough money in heating costs in just one year to cover the audit and insulation work.

''Given the cost of fuel today, I think most people would find that they would save the money invested the first year,'' he said.

''Even if you have a job that's going to cost $4,000 or $5,000, you should make that money back in less than three years.''

The kind of audit Kaufmann got through WMECO is known as an advanced audit. The $75 fee is refunded to anyone who chooses to go ahead with any of the contractors' major recommendations.

Everyone, owners and renters alike, are entitled to a basic, free energy audit through their energy service provider.

The advanced audit provides homeowners with a more thorough diagnostic test using something called a ''blower door'' that assesses how easily your home loses heat. It also offers a greater scope of efficiency-boosting recommendations.

''When you invest in efficiency, you begin to save immediately,'' said Alan Silverstein, director of Center for Technology, an organization that coordinates the audits.

''The audits are designed for people who really want to improve the efficiency of their homes,'' he said.

He stresses that people who want audits now can get them almost immediately, whereas audit requests were piling up and causing delays in the fall and early winter.

And many contractors are available to do the work right away.

Low-income customers may also be eligible for free services through Community Action.

Zero-interest loans are also available from participating lenders.