Trusted Home Energy Audit for Chicago Homeowners
A Home Energy Audit in Chicago typically costs between $300 and $650 for a full assessment with a blower door test and thermal imaging, and most audits take two to three hours to complete. We schedule audits within five business days across Chicago and the inner suburbs. If you’re tired of rooms that never hold temperature in January or AC that can’t keep up in August, a measured audit identifies exactly where your building envelope is leaking, not just where you suspect it might be.
Topside Attic Insulation has sealed and insulated more than 9,000 homes since 2016, every one with a written price before work started and a documented record when the crew left. Wes Okafor leads our Chicago operation, and our auditors show up with calibrated blower-door equipment, an infrared camera, and zero interest in selling you something your house doesn’t need. Call (218) 261-7714 to schedule, or keep reading to see exactly what an audit covers and what you’ll walk away with.
Key Takeaways
- Our Chicago home energy audits average $300-$650, depending on home size and the number of systems tested.
- Every audit produces a written report with specific findings and a flat price for any remediation work we recommend.
- We run a measured blower-door test on every audit, and we publish the before number in your report.
- You get thermal imaging documentation included, not as an add-on line item.
- All work is priced before it starts, under Haven Standard: Have it in writing.
What Our Home Energy Audit Service Includes
Our audit is a measured assessment of your home’s air leakage, insulation coverage, and duct performance. You’ll receive a written report with numbers, photos, and a scope of work if repairs are recommended. Here’s what each component covers.
Blower Door Test
A blower-door test measures how much air your home leaks, expressed as CFM50, or cubic feet per minute at 50 pascals of pressure. The door-mounted fan depressurizes the house and the gauge reads the leakage rate. In Skokie and other Chicago-area homes built before 1990, we regularly see readings between 3,500 and 5,500 CFM50, while a properly sealed home of the same size often tests below 1,800. Envelope technicians run the test, mark the leakage points, and record the number in your written report, so you’re not taking anyone’s word for anything.
Thermal Imaging Inspection
An infrared camera shows temperature differences in walls, ceilings, and around windows that indicate missing insulation or air bypass. The tool doesn’t see through walls, it reads surface temperature patterns that point to what’s happening inside the cavity. During a Chicago winter this is the fastest way to locate bays where insulation has settled or was never installed at all. Every audit includes thermal images with notes in your documentation, not as a premium add-on.
Insulation Inspection
We measure existing insulation depth and condition in your attic, exterior walls where accessible, and crawl space or rim joist areas. Chicago’s climate means code minimums change; a 1940s bungalow in Jefferson Park and a 2018 frame construction in Oak Lawn require different assessments. You’ll receive specific measurements, not generalities, including the R-value currently present and what we’d recommend to bring the assembly up to the conditions your house actually faces.
Duct Leakage Test
A duct leakage test pressurizes the duct system to measure how much conditioned air escapes before it reaches a register. In Hammond and other Chicago area homes with ducts in unconditioned attics or crawl spaces, leakage rates of 20 to 35 percent are common. We test and record the number, then show you where the losses are occurring so you can decide with actual data in hand.
What happens when you call
- 1
A real person answersNo phone trees - you reach a local pro.
- 2
You get an upfront price rangeHonest numbers before anyone is dispatched.
- 3
A background-checked tech heads outLicensed & insured, dispatched right away.
- 4
You approve before work beginsNothing starts until you say go.
Brands We Service for Home Energy Audit
Our audits frequently involve existing insulation from Owens Corning, Johns Manville, and Knauf. When we’re assessing an attic with Owens Corning fiberglass batts, for instance, we check depth, compression, and coverage against the manufacturer’s rated R-value, then identify where air has moved through the batts and reduced their effective performance. For Johns Manville blown-in fiberglass, we measure settling patterns specific to that material’s density and look for wind-washing at the eaves.
Rockwool stone wool shows up often in Chicago condominium and commercial-residential conversions, and we’re familiar with its density and sound-control properties beyond its R-value. Whether you have Rockwool, Knauf, Owens Corning, or any other material in your assembly, our audit focuses on performance, not brand preference. We’re not tied to proprietary products, and we won’t steer you toward a specific manufacturer unless the building assembly calls for it.
Signs You Need Home Energy Audit Right Now
- Rooms that won’t hold temperature. If your south-facing bedroom runs five degrees warmer than the rest of the house in July, or your dining room feels cold in January even with the heat running, you’re paying to condition air that’s escaping or being unevenly distributed. An audit finds the actual path of that air movement instead of guessing.
- Your furnace or AC runs constantly. When equipment cycles on and off with little break, the problem is often the building envelope, not the equipment. A sealed and insulated envelope reduces runtime, which extends equipment life and cuts energy draw. Blower-door numbers give you the leak rate to prove it.
- Drafty floors and cold spots near baseboards. Air enters low and exits high in a home with a leaking rim joist or unsealed sill plate. Chicago’s freeze-thaw cycles open and close those gaps seasonally. Thermal imaging shows the exact location of the cold plume, so sealing work targets the problem, not the symptom.
- Energy bills that climb every winter. ComEd and Peoples Gas rates have risen in the Chicago market, but a year-over-year usage increase that outpaces rate changes points to envelope degradation. If your usage in therms or kilowatt-hours is up 15 percent or more without a change in occupancy, a measured audit identifies why.
- Ice dams forming at the eaves. Ice dams occur when warm air leaks from the living space into the attic, melting snow at the roof deck, which refreezes at the cold eaves. The fix is not a roof rake; it’s air sealing and insulation. If you see icicles with water behind them or water stains on the ceiling below, the leak path is already active.
Our Home Energy Audit Process - Step by Step
- 1
Written price before we arrive. You get a flat price for the audit based on your home’s square footage and the number of systems to be tested. No hourly billing, no day-of upcharges. This is Haven Standard Clause 1, and it applies to every visit we make in Chicago.
- 2
On-site interview and walkthrough. The technician, a named person who has already texted you an arrival window, asks about your specific complaints: the cold bedroom, the attic hatch that frosts over, the second floor that never cools. Then we walk the house with you to map the areas you want documented.
- 3
Blower-door and pressure testing. The blower door is set up in an exterior door, typically the front or back, and the fan runs a calibrated depressurization. We record the CFM50 number and use a smoke pen or pressure pan to locate the largest leaks. If a gas appliance is present, we follow combustion safety procedures so the test doesn’t backdraft the flue.
- 4
Thermal imaging and insulation measurement. With the blower door running, the infrared camera picks up air pathways and insulation voids that normal light would never reveal. We photograph every deficiency and match each image to a written note in your report. Attic insulation depth is measured at multiple points, not just at the hatch.
- 5
Written report and a flat remediation price. Before we leave, you receive a documented photo record, your blower-door number, and a written report of findings. If sealing or insulation work is recommended, we provide a written price for that work at the same time. No follow-up sales call, no revised estimate a week later. The number you see is the number it costs.
How Much Does Home Energy Audit Cost in Chicago?
A standard home energy audit in Chicago with a blower door test and thermal imaging inspection typically runs between $300 and $450 for a home under 2,000 square feet. Homes between 2,000 and 3,500 square feet generally fall in the $450 to $550 range, and larger homes or those requiring duct leakage testing in addition to the standard audit run $550 to $650. Apartment and condo units are usually on the lower end at $250 to $350, because the enclosure is smaller and fewer systems require testing.
What affects the price: home size is the primary factor, since the blower-door fan must depressurize the entire volume. Duct leakage testing adds roughly $100 to $150, and inaccessible crawl spaces or very steep roof pitches add time on-site. Beware of any contractor who quotes an audit without asking about square footage, number of stories, or whether you have ductwork in unconditioned space; a low price that doesn’t account for the building is often a quote for showing up, not for measuring anything.
Our free estimate includes a written line-item breakdown of the audit scope and duration. If you bring us a competing written estimate, we’ll read it with you and give you a flat price for the same scope. You’ll know the total before we ever put a blower door in your doorway.
Home Energy Audit Near Chicago - Our Service Area
We serve Chicago neighborhoods including Lincoln Park, Lakeview, Logan Square, Hyde Park, Beverly, Jefferson Park, and Edison Park, and our crews run regular routes through Evanston, Oak Park, Skokie, Berwyn, and Cicero. Most homes can be scheduled within five business days. If you’re outside the immediate city, check our home page for full service boundaries, or call (218) 261-7714 and we’ll tell you straight whether we cover your address.
Serving Chicago, IL - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Chicago area and know this community well. Use the map below to see our service coverage - if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
Frequently Asked Questions - Home Energy Audit in Chicago
A home energy audit is a measured assessment of where your home leaks air, where insulation is missing or underperforming, and how well your duct system holds conditioned air. The audit produces a written report with specific numbers, including a blower-door reading in CFM50, thermal images of deficient areas, and insulation measurements in R-value. You leave with documentation you can act on or file away.
Most Chicago home energy audits take between two and three hours on site. That includes the blower-door setup, the depressurization test, thermal imaging, insulation measurement, and the walkthrough with you to review findings. Larger homes or audits that include duct leakage testing may run closer to four hours.
Most audits run from $300 to $650 depending on home size and testing scope, as detailed above. You get a written flat price before we arrive, and the price doesn’t change on the day of the audit. Call (218) 261-7714 for a specific price on your square footage and systems, no obligation.
Yes, we assess homes with insulation from Owens Corning, Johns Manville, Knauf, Rockwool, CertainTeed, and any other manufacturer. Our recommendation is based on the assembly’s performance and the home’s air-sealing needs, not on brand availability. We have no proprietary product lock-in, so the material we specify is the one the job calls for.
We answer calls live 24/7, but a full measured audit typically requires scheduling. If you have an active problem like water coming through a ceiling or a suspected gas leak, call (218) 261-7714 and we’ll help you determine whether you need an audit or an immediate repair visit. We do not run false emergencies; we tell you what the situation actually needs.
The audit itself is documented and delivered as a written report, and any remediation work we perform is covered by our 365-Day Done Right Promise. If something is not right, we make it right, backed by a written scope and written warranty you receive before any work starts. The audit documentation is yours to keep, share, or use with any contractor.
Close all windows and exterior doors, and make sure interior doors are open so the pressure test reads the whole home. If you have a fireplace, close the damper and glass doors. We’ll handle the mechanicals and combustion safety. No cleaning or rearranging is required; the audit doesn’t care if the house looks lived in, and we’d rather see it as it normally operates.
Schedule Your Home Energy Audit Service in Chicago Today
Call (218) 261-7714 and get a written price for your audit before you commit to anything. We’ll schedule you within five business days, send a named technician with a text when they’re on the way, and leave you with a measured report and a documented photo record. If you already have a written estimate from another contractor, bring it in and we’ll read it with you. No obligation, no pressure, just numbers.
Written by Wes Okafor, Owner at Topside Attic Insulation, serving Chicago since 2016.