Your Home's "MPG"

I'm sure you're all familiar with the sticker on the windows of the cars at the dealership announcing their "Miles-per-gallon". What if when you went home-shopping, there was a sticker on the home's window giving you a similar rating that lets you know how energy efficient that home is as compared to any other home?

Considering that the purchase of your home will probably be one of the biggest financial investments you will make and considering that the energy costs for that home will be the largest bill associated with your home on a monthly basis, wouldn't it be wise to know how efficient (or how much of an energy hog) your potential home could be?

Enter the HERS score. HERS stands for Home Energy Rating System and it is a national home rating system that tells how efficient a home is. In order for a home to get a HERS rating, a certified RESNET rater must inspect AND test the home and all of its energy efficient features. After inputting that data into a nationally recognized software, the HERS score is produced and can be associated with that particular home.

So I could drone on for hours about how the HERS score works, but RESNET has come out with an easy to use website that explains it graphically. Check out this link to see the graphical explanation that outdoes any explanation I could give here on the blog. I hope you'll consider looking for that HERS score next time you are house shopping. It may save you a LOT of money!