Contact 6 showcases energy inspection that can save you money

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- When winter comes and temperatures drop, you could be letting energy escape from your home, and with it -- your money! Contact 6 demonstrates a simple and visual test to help you lower your heating costs.

It takes just a few minutes for Weatherization Services to set up a blower door test. It changes the pressure in your home, and draws air out -- making it easy for owner Devin Hawthorne to see where energy is being sucked out.

"It's showing me if there is any void in the installation and it's also showing me if there is any air leakage. A lot of people just think that the infared camera is going to show us if we are lacking in insulation but one of the best things is actually just to find air leakage," Hawthorne said.

So if it's not the windows -- where does the infrared camera zero in?

With the device, Hawthorne can see whether the walls are missing any insulation, but he actually sees air.

"That's just showing all the air that is leaking around the air switch and that's pretty common. What you can install is a foam gasket around outlets and switches just to stop air leakage," Hawthorne said.

The foam covers cost just a couple bucks, and solve problem number one in this test.

The next cold spot is found near recessed lighting in the home. Recessed lighting is like having a hole right into the attic with no insulation above.

"Some of the houses may have five or 10 of them and it's like having five or 10 cracked windows in the house," Hawthorne said.

The fix? Put in LED bulbs that will seal the hole or make a box above the outlet in the attic. The bulbs cost about $35, and building the boxes is about $45.

"LED insert is something you could do yourself. Boxing it is a little more time consuming. That's something you're going to want to have a contractor do," Hawthorne said.

Weatherization Services $100 test also comes with a look around the home to test the furnace for carbon monoxide -- and seeing whether there are any exterior problems.

It's all part of a Focus on Energy program to save you more cash in the long run.