"One generation plants the trees; another gets the shade." -- Chinese Proverb

HERS Rating

HERS ratings are a great way for homeowners to continue saving on utility costs. A good HERS rating can be used to apply for special mortgages and other money-saving programs such as:

  • Certifying a home as Energy Star, ensuring your home is as energy efficient as possible.
  • Applications for Energy Efficient Mortgages, with lower interest rates and benefits than traditional a mortgage.
  • Applications for Energy Improvement Loans, which allows homeowners to fund energy efficiency improvements through their mortgage.

A HERS rating is a process of collecting information on a house's energy use. This data is entered into an industry-certified computer program to produce an individual rating. In order to qualify for an Energy Efficient Mortgage or Improvement loan, the improvements need to reduce the mortgage the same amount or more than the additional cost of the new loan, thus making your home more efficient will not increase your overall monthly expenses.

For Example, say you add $7650 to the principle of your mortgage through an Energy Efficient Mortgage in order to pay for new insulation, furnace, and water heater.  Adding this principle would increase your monthly mortgage payment by $40.  However, the average savings on monthly utility bills will be $52.  This gives you $12 in savings each month.  The additional mortgage is paying for itself.

Often people worry about the up-front costs of energy efficiency upgrades.  This is the perfect way to spread the savings and the costs out, while enjoying the upgrades right away.

We can help you find a bank or a broker to finance Energy Efficient Mortgages or Energy Improvement Loans.

Energy Efficiency Experts will perform a full HERS rating for only $650 in the Metro DC region.

For additional information on HERS ratings visit http://www.natresnet.org/