Page 18 - Oil and Energy-February 2013
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18 • OIL
&
ENERGY
At the same time, an energy audit can
recast the supplier-customer relationship,
according to DiFrancesco. “When you do
an audit, you are addressing the energy
demand before you address the supply. A
lot of people are supplying oil, but they’re
not doing anything to help the customer
improve comfort, efficiency or safety. When
you do that, it will engender trust and show
that you care about people and the planet,
and not just about profit.”
Oil dealers can use the energy audit to
educate customers about aspects of energy
waste that they might not have considered,
such as duct leakage and fresh air exchange.
At the same time, they’ll address safety issues,
such as carbon monoxide and combustion
gases entering the home. “They can solidify
their relationship with the customer by letting
them know they are looking out for them,”
he said. “If the outcome shows they have a
problem with leaky ductwork or a building
shell that is leaky, it might mean they will
spend less on oil, but they’ll be more comfort-
able, healthier and happier as a result.”
Energy auditing is a great way for a
company to demonstrate that they can do a
lot more than just deliver oil, DiFrancesco
noted. Customers might be unhappy with
the amount of fuel they are using or the
excessive heat or cold in some of their
rooms, and the energy audit puts the focus
on efficiency and comfort.
“The audit helps you identify
where the leaks are taking
place, where you have thermal
bypasses, where insulation
is missing, where you have
unwanted heat transfer occur-
ring. Often the distribution
losses can be up to 40 percent.
Finding problems in the
distribution system and fixing
them can make an unsatisfied
customer happy.”
Oilheat companies have
built-in strengths that serve
them well in energy auditing,
according to DiFrancesco.
“They have an understanding
of the industry that will play
into them being good auditors.
They will understand heating
and cooling better than
someone who has just become
an energy auditor without that
background.”
Getting started in energy
auditing generally costs about
$8,000 to $10,000, according
to DiFrancesco. Companies
need a blower door kit that costs about
$2,500, plus a duct leakage tester, a combus-
tion analyzer and a gas sniffer. An infrared
imaging system is not essential, but he says
it’s a good tool for identifying areas of air
leakage and excessive heat transfer.
Everblue offers energy audit training at
various locations across the country. The
company can also send a trainer to work
with any group of six students. For infor-
mation on the company and its upcoming
courses, visit
PARTNERING FOR AUDITS
Some companies want to reap the ben-
efits of energy auditing without getting into
the auditing business themselves. Energy
auditing requires an investment and in
training and equipment, and an employee
trained to perform audits might use their
new-found expertise to land a new job.
In New York, the Oil Heat Institute of
Long Island (OHILI) has developed the
EnergySmart Long Island program that
provides customers of member Oilheat
companies with energy audits furnished
by trusted, independent specialists. OHILI
has contracted with LI Green to provide
BPI-certified auditors who will not promote
a fuel conversion agenda.
Chuck Schwartz, Director of LI Green,
said the program helps Oilheat dealers
compete with the gas utilities by creating a
channel for customers to get energy audits
and take advantage of state-funded conser-
vation incentives.
The New York State Energy Research
and Development Authority (NYSERDA)
created the incentives, and any home-
owner can contact NYSERDA directly
themselves to get started. Rather than let
that happen and leave their customers to
get audits from companies with no loyalty
to Oilheat, OHILI partnered with LI Green
and helped customers take advantage of
incentives without straying outside the
Oilheat fold.
“There are a lot of oil-heated homes
on Long Island and a lot of equipment
near the end of its life or past it, and those
homes are not the ones that are sealed
tightly,” Schwartz said. “[OHILI CEO]
Kevin Rooney and I looked at audit-type
programs and saw NYSERDA as a viable
way to help Oilheat customers find
improvements, so we started [EnergySmart
Long Island] to allow the lead flow to go
from oil dealers into those programs.” To
date, the program has processed about 400
referrals from oil dealers.
PROACTIVE APPROACH
Today’s marketplace demands a
proactive approach, according to the LI
Green director. “Dealers are under a lot of
pressure from [utilities] with tremendous
resources to market against them,” he said.
“We believe the energy audit can be a real
win for the fuel dealer to improve customer
relationships and get people equipment
improvements and the financing to do it.
It’s also an important hedge for oil dealers
who are getting a lot of customer dissat-
isfaction because of things beyond their
control, like the cost of fuel. We want to
help the dealer turn the conversation from
‘I’m going to leave’ to ‘We have the ability to
help you lower your bills.’ It allows them to
deflect the negativity and offer alternatives
and opportunities that put the dealer in a
better light.”
Oil dealers can use the program to
expand and improve their customer rela-
tionships, according to Schwartz. “They’re
full-service energy providers, installing air
conditioning systems and doing AC service.
That’s where the market is going, and these
guys are the trusted providers, and they
have tremendous relationships with their
customers. So let’s continue the relation-
ship so you can continue to sell them fuels,
and they don’t have to go to COD fuel or an
alternative fuel, if it’s available.”
Thermal imaging can detect areas of
excessive heat loss such as gaps in insulation.
Alex Avila uses a thermal
imaging tool during
an energy audit on a
Massachusetts home.
