Home Energy Medics

Lauren Kuhn managed these different projects expertly. She was knowledgeable, and offered sensible solutions to remedy the townhouse's severe insulation problems. In addition she was a pleasure to work with. The crews she managed were skilled and professional. Projects started on time and ended on budget. I would unreservedly and enthusiastically recommend Lauren Kuhn and Home Energy Medics.

cleaned and sealed air ducts
added insulation to the attic
sealed soffits
installed air barrier between house and garage
sealed and added insulation around top of foundation wall
installed two bathroom fans
swapped out air registers
We are very happy with Home Energy Medics.  I would recommend them to anyone.  Have them do a home energy audit before you replace your windows.

Details are pretty straight forward:  Work crews came on time, took care to limit intrusion of dirt and movement of supplies and equipment, came and went on time, very pleasant folks.  What made the work they did most valuable, in my view, was the meticulous attention the manager, Lauren Kuhn, gave, first, to acquaint me with the technical options we had to deal with the several problems we had, and then to make absolutely sure that the work was done properly.  She even came back twice to correct or finish herself what had already been done.  She also rigorously tested the effect of the work, both before and after.
The work was not cheap.  I'm sure I could have had someone simply blow new insulation into the attic and not bothered with sealing all the leakage - I was convinced of the need when I watched her scan our upper floor with an infra-red camera.
In short, this was high quality work, and I believe we got what we paid for.

They came with an infrared camera and advice you on energy efficiency. They took two weeks to do the report.

I recently worked with Home Energy Medics (HEM) to do some pretty serious insulation work in my house.  We live in a 4 story townhouse that had some renovation work done prior to my purchase that involved changing/re-routing some of the ductwork.  The company that did the work clearly didn't know much about duct distribution or the potential side affects of making serious shifts/curves in AC/Heating ducts.  The short version is that my recently renovated home had many issues with duct condensation on the interior of the house.  The primary cause for this in addition to poor duct design was massive air leakage, specifically in the area between floors (the joist bands) and the new fireplace added during the renovations.  This massive amount of leakage caused both cold air to infiltrate the house in the winter and more importantly - hot, humid air to infiltrate in the summer.  This hot humid air would find its way to the interior of the house causing duct sweating in places where it should NEVER occur.  The straw that broke the camel's back was a frozen/busted pipe on the interior of my house that was the result of cold air infiltration during the cold snap of January 2014.
I first contacted HEM on a Thursday.  Barbara was super nice and immediately scheduled her husband to come out two days later on Saturday to perform an audit.  Scott arrived and quickly began a blower door analysis of our house and a full inspection of our home with an infrared camera along with other high tech tools.  He found many problems during his time at our house and was still diagnosing issues 7 hours later.  I don't think he had any intention of spending that long analyzing our issues on a Saturday but I think the problem ended up being larger than we thought.  The final analysis indicated that I needed serious work done to seal not only the joist bands around the exterior of the house but also several other problem areas identified by the infrared scans.
At the time, my wife was 8.5 months pregnant so we decided to move forward with the repairs ASAP to try and beat the birth of our child.  HEM was super flexible about scheduling and they were able to get things started very quickly.  The work was conducted in phases - Phase 1 was what I called the prep-phase - their crew came in and cut appropriate access points in all necessary places throughout the house.  This involved a lot of prep-work on our part (moving furniture, etc...) but HEM was very flexible and understood that we can move only so much.  Phase 2 was the "sealing" phase where they came in and used special material to form a complete air seal in all necessary places.  Once phase 2 was complete they came back in with the blower door test to perform a quality assurance check ensuring that everything was sealed up as tight as they thought.  Once the work was complete phase 3  involved repairing all of the drywall, etc where they had cut access points.  
Overall phases 1 and 2 were complete within 72 hours.  The phase 3 repair work took a bit longer but that's the nature of repairing drywall - it takes time.  The total amount of time was absolutely within their promised timeframe which worked out well since my wife ended up delivering our child early!  Along the way, they found a few other small things that needed attention; In a couple of cases they just went ahead and took care of it at no charge (such as cleaning up my crawl space as a result of the aforementioned pipe break).  In other cases, additional material was needed to complete the work and we worked together to complete appropriate change orders to incorporate the new things into the contract.  All in all I felt extremely well informed throughout the whole process and I felt totally comfortable that my home was in good hands. The end result was a house that looks even better than it did before they did their work - they even repaired a few pre-existing dings in ceilings and walls at no extra charge.
Much of the positivity of my review is due not only to Scott's initial time spent here but also the work, organization and attention to detail of our assigned project manager - Lauren.  As is the case with any job of this nature, there are a lot of moving parts and we always felt like she had her eye on everything.  She kept us informed throughout the entire process and made sure that the various pieces of the project were completed as promised.  Both Lauren and Scott are clearly very passionate about their work and they believe in what they do.  I absolutely recommend their services to anyone else having any sort of home energy issues - they eat, live and breath this stuff!
Thanks again!
PS - the only area where they did not get an absolute A+ is on price but to be honest this is one of the many cases in life where I believe that you get what you pay for.  You can absolutely find someone to do it cheaper but I don't believe they would do as good of a job.

From the moment I called the office, I knew we were working with a unique and wonderful company. The co-owner Barb took a lot of time with me by phone and couldn't have been nicer about picking up where I'd left off six months prior with another company - specifically in taking a look at my previous energy audit and coming out to provide their own quote on the work. Home Energy Medics sent one of their auditors, Lauren, within a couple of days. Lauren was a joy to work with - clearly knowledgeable, very responsive by email or text, a great listener about our home's challenges, and explained everything in an easily understandable way and without any pressure whatsoever. Although Medics did not provide the cheapest quote we received, we had the most confidence in them based on these initial interactions, and were sure that their responsiveness mean that they would be easy to work with (not always the case with contractors, as we all know). They were also wiling to work with us to scope the project within our budget, and didn't blink when we decided that we would need to delay some items until later. 
As expected, Lauren provided a multi-day work plan and followed up in the days beforehand to confirm. She was also willing to accommodate my and my husband's work schedules (which meant completing the project over non-continuous days). When the work crew arrived, they were very careful to lay down plastic sheeting over everyplace that they might end up walking, which included two full flights of stairs, two hallways, and our bathrooms. Lauren was clearly acting as the crew chief and inspector, and she came in and out throughout the day as her bathroom fan and insulation contractors did their work. Though we couldn't really see the air sealing and insulation (it's very challenging to get up into the attic itself), the visible work - like moving the bathroom fans and repainting the ceilings - were done flawlessly. Even better, when it turned out that there was a minor snafu with the bathroom fans -- the contractor realized he would need to move them a couple feet to allow enough room for the new duct work --  we weren't charged anything extra. 
When it was all done, there was absolutely no question that the upstairs of our house is immensely cozier. We also don't have to worry about the bathroom mirrors fogging up when we take showers anymore - an unexpected and surprisingly rewarding bonus. We highly recommend Home Energy Medics and loved working with Lauren. In fact, we're now thinking about using our tax return for phase 2 of improving the comfort and energy efficiency of our home.

The audit was comprehensive, including blower door test, infrared camera, flow meter, and vacuum tests, as well as combustion safety test and natural gas leak detection.  The auditor was able to diagnose large and small leaks of outside air penetrating into the house and identify which would be most cost effective to address. The auditor was knowledgeable, willing to listen, and thorough, taking several hours to complete the house inspection.   The company not only performs audits but is able to perform the work if the customer wishes to act on the audit.

It was excellent.  They were professional, knowledgeable, fast and could show us exactly where the problem areas were in our house.

It took approximately 3.5 hours.  Door blower test w/IR camera camera, climbed into my small crawl space attic and assessed the insulation, tested all bathroom fans for efficiency, looked at exhaust fan ducts, etc... 
Along the way, the technician provided tips on DIY improvements I could make.
One week after the audit, the technician came back to my home to do the report review and provided a quote for work I indicated we might move forward with.

Scott Donelson conducted a very thorough energy audit of the house.  In fact, he spent the entire day, most of which focused on air leakage.  Conducted a combustion safety assessment as well.  At the end, he prepared a 15 page audit report as well as cost estimate for remediation.

Performed parts of the insulation of my attic and repaired duct work in heat/cooling system. I was comfortable with the the evaluation of the job and the estimate came back punctually. She looked the job over thoroughly,the scope of work was explained to me so I could choose what parts I could have done within my budgetat the time. However the workmen did make me feel the job at hand was in good hands. I am very happy that the job was inspected by the estimators and corrected before the job was completed. This company seems very knowledgeble about home energy efficiency, I wish the workmen were more experienced.

I met the team at the Arlington Environmental Fair this year and chose them over two other possible providers for a home energy audit. Everything was highly professional, from arranging the visit to the inspection to the report and meeting. They are extremely responsive, knowledgeable and customer service-oriented. They ask specifically about concerns you may be having with the comfort or efficiency of your home. They explained a number of additional safety and comfort modifications we will consider.

The overall project went very well. Home Energy Medics are very professional, punctual, communicative, and easy to work with. The team clearly know their trade and are well-qualified to conduct an energy audit and implement the findings. The HEM team are clearly committed to a level of customer service that goes above and beyond expectations, and have been very attentive to follow up on even little details. Our project took around three weeks and was completed in a timely manner, and any changes that were identified by us or proposed by HEM were smoothly discussed, agreed upon, and implemented. Where errors or omissions arose, they were promptly addressed, usually with little or no follow up necessary. The subs that HEM works with are also professional and perform clearly high-quality work, and on more than one occasion it was clear that HEM's oversight of the whole project adds value to the subs' work, both logistically and by making sure that the subs take additional precautions to ensure that their work is consistent with the goal of improving the energy efficiency of the house, and the paradigm that the whole house is a single system (meaning no work should be done that doesn't consider how that work will effect the rest of the house).
I offer only one critique. HEM's work estimates are thorough and specific, and are well-laid out by project area. But they are not broken down by budget line. I think a client on a five-digit job is entirely within his or her rights to expect a general contractor to be up front and transparent in its anticipated supply cost, labor cost, P&O, etc. HEM's estimates make it difficult going in to the project to evaluate the value and price propositions of the offer, as compared to another contractor's offer. We did end up going with HEM and everything worked out as well as we could have expected and better, and we are very happy for the process and the result. But we started the project under more stress than we would have liked, in part because HEM's bidding process made it significantly more difficult to evaluate whether their offer was the best-value offer for implementing the audit report's findings.

Very, very well.   Home Energy Medics came highly recommended by a co-worker--and I can now strongly recommend to anyone else.   Scott's work went far beyond my expectations.   Spent more than half of a day going over our home with a fine-tooth comb pinpointing even the most minor of energy 'gaps'...    Used technology to speak for itself--with an IR camera etc.--made our energy troubles speak for themselves (my kids really enjoyed seeing this, and taught them about energy matters).

It went better than I had anticipated. Can't wait for next meeting and the prospect of updating the comfort level of our home.

The project went very well -- services were performed as scheduled and in an efficient and professional manner. Recommended contractors were excellent. Lauren Kuhn who conducted the audit and oversaw the project was a pleasure to work with.

Initially we met Home Energy Medics at the Arlington Green Expo and signed up for an energy audit which was discounted by a rebate available at the time through LEAP (leap-va,org).  That cost $398 and was very thorough.  We knew the house had energy efficiency issues and wanted to know exactly how bad so future work and potential remodeling could be planned and prioritized.  
 The 2nd floor of our split-level (house built in 1963) was difficult to get comfortable.  It was several degrees warmer or cooler than the first floor and we knew there was some attic insulation completely missing.  
 The energy audit found that not only was the attic insulation completely insufficient, but the air leakage was very high.  They also found safety issues with inadequate venting of combustion gases from the furnace and hot water heater.  
 A few days after the audit, they sent me a proposal for addressing the issues found then the auditor and company president presented it in person.  The solutions mainly focused on work Home Energy Medics performs (almost everything except windows).  The audit stood alone and I was under no obligation to hire them to perform the recommended work but I thought it would be easier if they did due to the level of effort and details already worked out by them.  I did not pursue other quotes.  
 There was a bit of pressure on me to decide to do the work because of an additional $500 rebate available through LEAP if the work was done by Aug 31 2013, but there ended up being way too many details to hammer out to make the deadline.  The work still qualifies for a $500 federal tax credit.  There was a tremendous amount of back-and-forth communication with the owner of the company to work out details, modifications, and clarifications to the workscope.  Also to explain materials and methods they would use.  He was very patient and thoroughly and very quickly answered all my questions. 
 The final workscope was scheduled about a month after I signed the contract and the work took a little over a week.
 Everyone involved at every step of the project, the auditor, the company president, the project manager and all the crews working on the house did a fantastic job.  At any point if there was a concern or question, it was quickly addressed, sometimes so quickly I wondered if they ever slept!  
 On the last day, the same air leakage and combustion safety tests, as performed during the energy audit, were repeated.  I didn't need a test to tell the work Home Energy Medics performed had a profound effect of the comfort level inside the house.  It was amazing, the second floor was the same temperature as the bottom floors with no hot walls and it stayed consistent throughout the day.  It's been nice weather since they finished but I haven't needed to turn on the A/C or Heat at all.  
 When I do turn on the A/C or Heat it should operate more efficiently due to the Aeroseal work.  They blow this atomized substance into the ducts which seals the holes so conditioned air isn't wasted leaking into the floors or walls.  They reduced leakage in the air ducts by the following amounts; supply side ducts 90% reduction, return side ducts 85% reduction.  It is equivalent to closing a 94 square-inch open hole in the ductwork.  So that was well worth doing.
 I knew conditions in the house were uncomfortable but I didn't realize just how bad until the work was finished.  Based on the cost of the work, it was a bit of a leap of faith.  In the end, it was absolutely worth the cost and the results are amazing.  
 Here are the air leakage test results as measured by the blower door (with house depressurized to (-50) Pascals with respect to outside). 
 Building Standards:
- Building Airflow Standard (where 1/3 of house air is exchanged naturally every hour): 1665 CFM (cubic feet per minute)
- Minimum Ventilation Level (below which mechanical ventilation is required): 1165 CFM
 Results:
- Airflow level at time of audit: 4320 CFM
- Airflow level at time of test out: 1855 CFM
Leakage Reduction: 57%
 Without replacing any of the original single pane windows, the air leakage was reduced 57% and the house is much more comfortable. Apparently that reduction beat their previous best results by 1%, so we're both happy!

Lauren Kuhn was the inspector/auditor. She was thorough, helpful and very well informed on the subject matter. She made lots of useful  observations that we will implement either through work to be done by Home Energy Medics or us.

The process was thorough with blower door testing and sensitive infrared photography showing air infiltration.

She provided a detailed list of prioritized recommendations, and a detailed proposal to do the recommended work (next job). She was flexible in working with us as we will complete (or have completed) many of the elements of the overall plan.

There is a strong emphasis on combustion safety and a deep knowledge there. We found our oven was putting out high levels of carbon monoxide. I was able to make some adjustments and retest on the spot.

Overall, the process was interesting and informative, and would be worth doing even if you don't carry out all the recommendations.

We're doing a lot of additional work, some ourselves and some through Home Energy Medics. We'll do another review on that work.

Very good and informative experience. My initial call to the company was handled very politely and professionally. Fees were explained fully and frankly up front. Lauren Kuhn conducted the audit. She was flexible about scheduling, showed up on time, was very professional, easy to talk with, and more than willing to answer questions as she went about her work. The audit seemed thorough; it included not only examining air flows, sources of heating/cooling losses, but also adequacy of ventilation of all combustion sources. She showed me infrared and other photos she took during the audit to help explain things she found that she recommended we address.
About a week after the audit, we received a written report. Though much of the document obviously was produced using standard industry-specific software (much like home inspection reports), it contained more than ample details about all the aspects of the audit and numerous (and good quality) photos taken during the audit. Lauren then met with us for 90 minutes to two hours, answering our questions or telling us when (just once or twice) she could not. She later followed up by email with information regarding the question or two she was unable to answer on the spot.
At the followup meeting, Energy Medics provided a proposal for the work they recommended based on the audit. We have had one
of the recommended services done - duct cleaning & sealing. The subcontractor Energy Medics provided for the work was very good, providing a well-trained, courteous and very neat crew. We don't yet know the effectiveness of the work.
All in all, though Energy Medics' price was slightly higher than some other energy audit companies I contacted, I think we got good value for the price.

It went very well. They were very professional and courteous, and I felt confident that they know what they are doing.

Home Energy Medics cares!  We wanted our home to be more comfortable to live in temperature wise and we wanted our home to become more Energy Efficient.  It is now both! The family oriented small business of Home Energy Medics made a huge difference to our home in a matter of days.  We now recommend this to everyone who lives in our neighborhood.  
The people at Home Energy Medics first completed a Home Energy Audit of our entire house.  This process took about 6 hours to complete.  Scott, the owner, did the audit himself.  He took the time to explain every detail of what he was looking for in our home.  One of us followed him around most of the time (2 adults took turns).  Following the Audit, Scott produced a report, with pictures and details, stating the problems noticed and the solutions for these problems.  It was all personalized and Scott came to our houes again to review everything with us.  We looked at the core areas and selected the problem areas that we most wanted to address to increase the comfort of our home.  Then came the action plan and work.  
All of the contractors who came to complete the projects were excellent.  They worked around my children, also a hard thing to do.  They completed all of the things listed above in 5 days.  Now our home feels comfortable and we can already tell a difference in our bills.  Previously I had to wear shorts and a t-shirt upstairs and pants, a long sleeve shirt, and socks just to go into our basement in the summer.  This was annoying to freeze on one level of the house and burn up on the other level.  Now I can comfortably shift from upstairs to the basement with out this extreme temperature difference and I no longer have to adjust my clothing so much in my own home.  
We all sleep better too and feel all over healthier since it is not so hot on our upper level.  We also are thankful for the safety features that we added with the spill alarm on the water heater.  Finally, we love our new bathroom fans!  Who knew bathroom fans could be so quiet and yet still effective?  The Panasonic fans are much higher quality than our old ones.
We highly recommend the Energy Audit by Home Energy Medics for one more reason....WINDOWS!  We were continuously told that we needed new windows...by window companies of course.  Home Energy Medics assessed our windows and told us that we did NOT need new windows, since that was not a huge problem area in the release of or bringing in of air to our home.  Our audit showed that we needed to work on the attic insulation instead.  We were thankful to have a professional tell us not to spend $30-$40K on new windows when they were not the cause of our discomfort in our home (although should that have been our problem area, they would have done new windows for us).  
 It is our recommendation that you go for the audit first!  You get to watch the whole thing and experience the results for yourself.  Them you can decide how to proceed.  We like the fact that Home Energy Medics did not cover up any problems, they truly fixed them.  Hopefully they will help you too!

They explained the ways I could gain more efficiency within my home and offered me quotes for the various options I had.  I didn't do any of the things they suggested - yet - but I hope to do so in the future.  When that time comes, I'd certainly consider using them to do the work.  They were professional and thorough.

We are entirely satisfied with the work performed by Scott Donelson and his team, including Lauren Kuhn.  We unequivocally recommend their services if you are hoping to make your home more comfortable and more energy efficient.  Scott and Lauren helped us at every stage of the process, from diagnosing the various energy-related challenges in our house, helping us select priorities for investment of time and money, and completing the various installations (or showing us what we could do on our own).  Every step was well planned and well executed.  Communications were always good, and whenever we had questions, we got answers.
Our house is an old log cabin, that has had a 1980's addition wrapped around two sides of the original structure, and extended above.  The original log structure had been a summer camp home, and the newer part had been installed with, at best, a casual approach to energy use.  We purchased it about three years ago and quickly learned that the lower floor was cold and drafty in the winter, and unevenly cool in the summer,.  There was a distinct smell of crawl space downstairs, and several AC vents seemed to discharge nothing but funky basement air.   The upper floor was hot in the summer, and when the hot water heat operated in the winter, it sounded like we were on the submarine ride at Disneyland, with all the gurgling and sloshing you could stand.
My wife and I are both in the energy business, both quite concerned about GHG emissions and our footprint on the environment, and we were, frankly, ashamed that our home was such an energy pig, and unhappy that it was so uncomfortable in the summer and winter..  We spent a lot of time with Scott and Lauren poring over the options to upgrade our home.  I doublechecked every one of their ideas, running comparisons of their pricing, looking over the specs for their suggested equipment, and making sure I could understand the logic and likely effectiveness of the many steps they recommended.  They never gave us bad advice, not once.  Moreover, they listened to our ideas and helped us understand which of our ideas would be useful and which might not.  They went way down into the weeds with us on geeky details whenever we wanted to be geeks. 
We enjoyed about a month of heating with the new system in place, and it was great.   Now we are enjoying the new AC, and it is working great, too.  We are seeing major changes in our energy bills, both for gas and electricity.  It's hard to make a valid comparison after just a few months, but it seems likely that we'll enjoy about a 50 percent reduction in gas use (due to upgrading the boiler/hot water system, and air-sealing/insulating the house) and about 30-40 percent cut in use of electricity for AC.  We'll know more in a year.
The most obvious, and most immediate benefit came with the installation of the vapor barrier and air-sealing of the underside of the house.  We had gotten used to drafts, cold floors, and bundling up with blankets to watch TV.  That all changed in one day.  By the time they'd finished sealing and insulating the basement -- a one day job -- we felt a dramatic change in the comfort of our main floor.  No more drafts, no more cold floor, no more bundling up.  It was amazing how effectively the work transformed the living space into something entirely comfortable. 
We are very pleased with the new thermostats -- they are easy to use and to adapt to our schedules.  The hot water pump in the master bath was a modest indulgence, but we love it.  Feel guilty running the water for two or three minutes in order to get hot water out of your showerhead or tap?  The pump allows you, with a push of a button, to displace the cold water in the lines leading to your shower or tap with hot water, so that when you turn on the tap, hot water is instantly available.  It uses a tiny amount of energy to move water around in your pipes, but saves a ton of water (and the energy that goes into treating the water before it comes to your house and after it leaves). 
We are overall quite impressed with all the technology and judgment that Scott and Lauren brought to bear on our very complicated job.  The subcontractors used for HVAC, insulation, ductwork, electrical, masonary, and other trades were all very skilled and professional.  R&B HVAC was great; those guys know what they're doing, and understand what types of cutting-edge goals Scott and we were trying to achieve.  You can't imagine the tiny spaces that the ductwork team had to work in, but they did amazing things.   When all the work under the house was done, it looked like something out of a sci-fi movie, all shiny, bright, clean and air-tight!
Finally, Scott and Lauren and all the rest of the team were nice folks.  They were a pleasure to work with.  I unequivocally recommend their services.

We live in a 1950's brick duplex that felt like an attic in the winter and summer months. It was cold in the winter and hot in the summer and in general it wasn't comfortable. After having HEM conduct an energy audit with a clear breakdown and recommendations for a variety of work, we decided to move forward with a pretty substantial, but necessary, insulation project as well as additional safety fixes. After receiving an estimate from Lauren and Scott, we ultimately worked with Lauren, our Project Manager, to make a good solid determination on what would help our comfort level as well as address items that would ensure the safety of our home after this, and potentially other, future projects. Lauren was very helpful in walking us through the process and working with me in particular to have a level of comfort with our decision.
Effectively we had no insulation and Home Energy installed foam insulation into our ceiling cavity and already it has worked wonders. I'll save you the details (pregnant wife, living in our basement for a week or so) and say that Home Energy Medics (HEM), and Lauren, made this as painless a process as possible. The work was done efficiently, was thorough and beyond that, it worked! Our home is already markedly more comfortable. Removing the ceiling was messy but the home/work area, was cleaned everyday and I felt confident in knowing what was happening and when, which is a testament to Lauren for communicating updates to us so we knew where things stood.
Throughout the energy audit process to the actual installation, I was very impressed with HEM and would certainly recommend them in the future. They're honest and they are concerned about our home and being more efficient with our energy and comfort, it was well worth it.

Long, expensive project, but it had to be done.  Home Energy Medics were wonderful and professional to work with from start (Home Energy Audit) to finish.  Highly recommend them.