DOE launches home energy score program

Vice President Joe Biden and the Department of Energy launched a new pilot program to give homeowners straightforward information about their homes’ energy efficiency. The Home Energy Score report will give consumers a rating based on a 1 to 10 scale that also includes recommendations for reducing energy costs.

A trained and certified contractor gives the score based on about 40 different home energy data points, such as heating and cooling systems and insulation. The entire evaluation should take less than an hour.

The rating is also independent of homeowners’ personal habits, so it wouldn’t matter whether they set the thermostat high or low.

“The Home Energy Score will help make energy efficiency easy and accessible to America's families by providing them with straightforward and reliable information about their homes' energy performance and specific, cost-effective energy efficiency improvements that will save them money on their monthly energy bills," said Steven Chu, secretary of the Department of Energy.