Your Home HERS Rating

Everything has a rating or review these days. Think Amazon, Yelp or Facebook. We look to them and consider them when buying. What about your new home? How do you know it will not become an expensive energy hog costing you $$$ every month in high utility bills?

HERS Rating

The HERS Rating is the answer and an important question to ask when buying a new or used home. A home energy rating is an analysis of a home’s energy efficiency and operating cost. Simply put, the HERS rating is the Home Energy Rating System Index. The lower the number the lower the more energy efficient.

The HERS Index Score can be described as a sort of miles-per-gallon (MPG) sticker for houses, giving you  insight as to how the home ranks in terms of energy efficiency.

How Does a Home Energy Rating Work?

Any worthwhile review needs to come from a third party – not the manufacturer or seller. At Evans Coghill Homes, we use Southern Energy Management to independently test and rate all of our new homes.

Southern Energy Management is a certified, independent  RESNET Home Energy Rater.  Southern Energy Management does an  in-depth energy performance assessment of every new home Evans Coghill builds. This includes a multi-point computer simulation of the performance and onsite inspections and testing to confirm our homes are built for maximum energy efficiency. Although not required by building codes, Evans Coghill  believes it is important to test every new home built with a  blower door test and  duct leakage test to confirm the home is built to reduce air leakage. Less air leakage leads to lower HERS rating and maximum energy efficiency. Southern Energy Management conducts both of these test on all our new homes, including yours!

What Does the Rating Mean?

Lower HERS Rating =  Lower cost and more energy efficient home  

• A typical resale home represents 130 on the HERS Index while reference home (a standard new home built in 2006) is rated at 100.
• A home with a HERS Index Score of 70 is 30% more energy efficient than a standard new home.
• A home with a HERS Index Score of 130 is 30% less energy efficient than a standard new home.

HERS History if you really want some more details:

Developed by the Residential Energy Services Network and introduced in 2006, the HERS Index is the industry standard by which a home's energy efficiency is measured. Government agencies such as the Department of Energy (DOE), Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recognize the HERS Index as an official verification of energy performance.