Nescor

I, too, was misled by their implication they were with the Department of Energy. The young man who came to the door insisted this would purely be an energy audit and «we’re not selling anything.» After reading the reviews, I decided to cancel my appointment. «Rob» answered the phone. When I told him I wanted to cancel, he asked if wanted to reschedule. I said no thanks. Click. He hung up. Rude and unprofessional. That just confirmed I made the right decision to cancel

I have to give Nescor one star due to what I believe are dishonest business practices.
First their door-​to-​door associate came to our house and claimed to have some type of affiliation with the department of energy (DOE). So I signed up for a free home energy assessment to identify ways to save energy.
They said it would take 1 hour but in reality it took 2.5 hours because the guy would not stop talking, and rattled off one sales pitch after another. Our house is pretty small and did not have many issues, so it is ridiculous for the assessment to take that long.
Afterwards, I looked over the papers that they left, and there is no mention of any affiliation with the DOE. I can see online that they are not listed as a partner of the DOE.
If anyone reading this does want to have a proper home energy assessment done, you can find the DOE’s official partners here:
The worst issue of all is that after the assessment, Nescor’s sales associate aggressively tried to sell us on their reflective insulation. They wanted over $ 4300 to install it in our attic.
Reflective insulation is also known as a radiant barrier. It consists of a fairly thin layer of reflective metal, which prevents radiant heat transfer. He claimed that this alone would save us at least 25% on our electric bill.
Of course, that is ridiculous. Again I checked the DOE’s website because they are a great resource for learning about energy conservation and related issues. Here is a quote straight from the DOE:
«Some studies show that radiant barriers can reduce cooling costs 5% to 10% when used in a warm, sunny climate.»
(from here:
).
So that is a maximum benefit of 5−10% of your cooling costs. On an annual basis you would only save around 1.25% of your total electricity costs (assuming that you use the AC for 3 months of the year, and during those months the AC accounts for 50% of your electric bill).
No thanks, Nescor. I’ll keep my $ 4300. Too bad I can’t get back those 2.5 hours of my life.
Last bit of information: there is a trade association for manufacturers of reflective insulation. They warn consumers against «Claims of exaggerated savings on your energy bill.» Source: