What a Home Energy Report Tells You
A Home Energy Report analyzes a home's electricity profile to estimate operating costs, solar offset, and the impact of energy improvements, personalized to how you live.
The short version
A Home Energy Report is an analysis of a home's electricity profile. It estimates what it costs to operate the home, how much of that cost solar offsets, and how energy improvements change the picture. It is built by a Sprk-certified inspector and can be personalized to how you actually live, so the numbers reflect your household, not the seller's.
What it is
The report looks at the home, the energy it uses, and how the people living there use it. A Sprk-certified inspector collects the data during the inspection and submits it to Sprk, which generates the report. Sprk pulls in local electricity pricing and applies reasonable estimation to translate the home's features into expected operating costs.
The report typically covers:
- Expected utility costs for the home
- How much of the home's electricity the solar system offsets
- How energy improvements beyond solar, such as insulation, efficient HVAC, or efficient appliances, reduce demand
- How different amounts of energy consumption change the result
It is an estimate built on reasonable assumptions and inspector observations. It does not guarantee a future utility bill, and it is not an exact prediction.
Why it can be personalized
The report adjusts to your behavior. You can input details such as how many people live in the home, how many months you run air conditioning and at what temperature, how many months you run heat and at what temperature, and how many miles you drive in an electric vehicle. Each input recalculates the profile, so the report reflects your lifestyle rather than someone else's.
Why it matters for you
If you own or are buying the home, the report shows what the home is likely to cost you to operate and how solar and other Green Assets factor into that cost. That gives you unbiased, third-party data to decide for yourself about solar, instead of relying on a sales pitch.
If you work the deal as an agent or inspector, the report covers operating costs that a standard inspection does not address. It answers the questions buyers keep asking: what will my bills be, and is this home expensive to live in.
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