The renter's guide to preparing for a Virtual Home Energy Visit

Please review your lease agreement before the visit and before making any efficiency updates. We can help you identify ways to save energy as a renter, but it’s up to you to know and confirm what you are permitted to do under your lease agreement before making changes to your space.

Spend some time thinking about what you’d like to get out of your virtual visit. Make a list of existing issues in your home and questions that you want to share with your energy professional, before your meeting. Your list may include the following: high electricity bills and heating fuel bills, drafty windows and doors or rooms, visible condensation.

Plan to use a mobile device, like a phone or a tablet, for the virtual visit. These will be easier to use than a laptop when showing your energy consultant around the house.

To do a thorough inspection, you may need easy access to the following areas. If you don’t have access to these areas, that is not a problem. We’ll focus on the accessible areas of your space. Potential areas we’ll visit include: basement or crawl spaces; electric panels; and heating and water heating systems. Try to make those spaces easily accessible before the visit. For example, if you’d like your consultant to see your attic, set up a ladder ahead of time. For dark spaces, please have a flashlight at the ready. If you'd like to have these areas assessed but we're unable to access these spaces virtually, we can always take a look when we are conducting in-person visits again.

Let others in your home or building know that you’ll be doing a virtual visit. We want to respect everyone’s privacy, so please make sure to give others in your home or building a heads up. This is especially important if you have a multi-unit building and you’ll be showing us any common spaces like a shared basement or attic.

• Rental type – condo, apartment, single family home
• Number of units
• Number of occupants in your unit
• Is heat and electricity paid separately or as part of your rent? (If heat is paid separately, please gather your bills or request copies from your electric utility or fuel dealer. It will be useful for your energy professional to understand the quantity (in gallons) of fuel used, not the amount you paid.)
• Heating sources and fuel-type(s)
• Presence of energy-intensive appliances or devices (such as air conditioners, heat pumps, electric space heaters, or medical equipment).