Frequently Asked Questions

What does Vesta mean?

Vesta is the Roman goddess of hearth and home (her Greek counterpart is Hestia). Vesta (or 4 Vesta) is also the name of an asteroid discovered in 1807.

What is Home Performance?

Home Performance is the all-encompassing term for describing how well a house functions in terms of energy efficiency, moisture, and indoor air quality. It is an evidence-based evaluation of a house, using building science.

Why should I do a Home Performance Retrofit?

By retrofitting your home, based on your priorities, we can help make your house more comfortable, warmer, and safer--while also saving you money on your utility bills and helping the planet.

Is Home Performance Retrofitting the same thing as Weatherization?

No, but we’re glad you asked. Weatherization is typically a prescriptive set of tasks that can be done to a house (adding weather stripping and sweeps to doors, for example). While these are helpful, they are only a small part of what Home Performance Retrofitting entails.

Do you always end up recommending new windows, insulation, and furnaces?

It depends on your priorities. Typically, the bulk of the work we do is in the crawl spaces (or basements) and attics, sealing air leaks in the walls and ducts. The return on investment (if energy efficiency is your highest priority) for windows is about a century, and rarely worthwhile. There are times when you may have other priorities (such as wanting fresh air or more light), in which case new windows are desirable, and we will propose them. If you have a highly inefficient furnace, with leaky ducts, we will make recommendations and indicate what impact they would have--on both your quality of life and your utility bills.

What makes you different from the typical home energy audit?

Most energy audits include a list of recommendations for improvements. Vesta is different because we also provide a detailed proposal for actually doing the retrofit work. In addition to offering you much greater convenience, this means we can provide you specific guidance about the cost effectiveness of each possible improvement, so that you can select only those which best meet your needs.

Do you work on new homes?

You may be surprised to find out that even new homes built to code today can have performance problems. Whenever your home was built, if you are uncomfortable or concerned about your indoor air quality, or if you’re surprised by your heating/cooling bills, we can help you improve your home.

How much does it cost?

The cost of a Vesta home energy analysis ranges from $299 to $1250 depending on the size, location, and complexity of your home. The cost of the retrofit work varies dramatically, based on the house and the homeowner's needs, ranging from $2,000 to $20,000 or more. Various incentives may apply.

If you have already had a home energy audit performed by another company, we can provide a retrofit plan for you as a standalone service. We also offer hourly consultation services to homeowners, architects and design/build firms, and remodelers. Please call (206) 919-6770 for details.

How long does it take?

The initial visit takes 4 - 5 hours, depending on the size of your home and number of questions you have. You are welcome to accompany us as we do all the testing and data collection, but we only require your presence for the first half hour. The retrofit may take as little as a day or as long as a week or more.

Do you work on condos?

Unfortunately, due to the shared nature of walls and systems (and thus liability issues), we are unable to do home performance work in condos. We specialize in single-family homes and townhouses.

So are you a remodeler? Can you help me finish my basement/attic?

While we do have decades of remodeling experience, we limit our scope to energy efficiency work. Often this can include siding and windows, when associated with your home performance improvements. If you are undertaking a larger project, we have several companies we can recommend to you, from design/build firms to specialty subs. As you proceed, we can serve as a subcontractor or consultant to ensure that your project stays on target in terms of optimizing the comfort, IAQ, and energy efficiency improvements.

I want to do some work myself, can you help me out?

The great news is that there are a number of things that homeowners can do on their own to improve their comfort and energy efficiency. There are also many projects that require an expert, to prevent damage to your home or potential health hazards to you and your family. We are happy to help you on a consulting basis, to line out what you can do yourself and what it would cost to have Vesta do the rest.

Do you do seismic retrofitting?

When you are doing energy efficiency improvements in your basement or crawlspace, it is usually a perfect opportunity to also do seismic retrofitting; you will save yourself time and money by doing the projects in sequence. We would be happy to refer you to local seismic retrofitting companies that we work with regularly.

How much prep do I have to do?

There are 3 kinds of prep we require to conduct a home energy analysis:

  1. Identifying your priorities: In order to develop the best retrofit plan for your needs, we need your help identifying the issues you wish to address. This can include pinpointing drafts, smells, or rooms that are particularly uncomfortable in winter and/or summer.
  2. Providing access: We need to be able to open all the interior doors, close off the attic/basement, and inspect the mechanical systems and building structure.
  3. Eliminating hazards: Exotic birds must be moved off site during the test (low temperatures can affect a bird’s health); if you have a fireplace, you will need to empty the ashes and close the flue.

My basement/attic is a mess. Does that matter?

As one of our favorite subcontractors likes to say, "we are not the house police!" We are here to help you and your home. To conduct the analysis, we just need decent access to get through the spaces and inspect the structure and mechanical systems.

How do I sign up?

Call our scheduling team at 206-919-6770 or contact them online and they will be happy to take your information and find a time that works for you. We are typically two weeks out, and schedule appointments Monday – Friday at 9am or 1pm.