What improvements does an energy audit typically recommend for NB homes? | Insulation IQ?

A home energy audit in New Brunswick almost universally returns a consistent set of recommendations shaped by the province's Climate Zone 6 conditions, the age of the housing stock, and the construction practices of previous decades. While every home is different, the following improvements appear in the vast majority of audit reports across Fredericton, Moncton, Saint John, Miramichi, and rural NB communities.

Attic insulation upgrades are the single most common recommendation. The majority of New Brunswick homes built before 1990 have attic insulation at R-20 or less — far below the R-50 to R-60 target appropriate for Zone 6 and increasingly required under updated NB Building Code guidance. Because heat rises and attics are the primary escape route, upgrading attic insulation delivers the largest energy reduction per dollar of any envelope measure. The audit will document your current R-value, identify any bypasses (gaps where warm air moves from the conditioned space into the attic), and recommend a target depth, typically achieved with blown-in cellulose or fibreglass on top of existing material after air sealing bypasses.

Air sealing is recommended alongside — and often before — insulation upgrades. The blower door test quantifies how leaky your home is, and thermal imaging during the test shows exactly where air is infiltrating. Common leak points in NB homes include attic hatch perimeters, electrical boxes and pot lights on ceilings, plumbing and wiring penetrations, rim joists at the foundation, and gaps behind knee walls. Air sealing these locations with spray foam, acoustic sealant, or rigid foam blocking is often the highest-ROI intervention, since insulation alone cannot stop convective heat loss through open pathways.

Basement and rim joist insulation is another near-universal recommendation. Unfinished basements in older NB homes typically have bare concrete walls and exposed rim joists — the wooden framing just above the foundation that is notorious for air leakage and thermal bridging. Insulating rim joists with closed-cell spray foam (R-6 per inch, and air-sealing simultaneously) and adding rigid foam or batt insulation to basement walls significantly reduces heat loss through the below-grade envelope. For homes in Zone 6, the recommended R-value for basement walls is R-12 to R-20 continuous.

Heating system efficiency is almost always addressed as well. If your home uses electric baseboard heating or an older oil furnace, the audit report will note the system's efficiency rating and may recommend transitioning to a cold-climate heat pump, which can deliver 200 to 300 percent heating efficiency (3 kWh of heat for every 1 kWh consumed) even at outdoor temperatures well below freezing. NB Power's rebate programs offer significant incentives for heat pump installations, and the audit puts this recommendation in the context of your whole-home energy balance.

Window and door upgrades appear on many reports, particularly for homes with single-pane windows, failed double-pane seals (visible as fogging between panes), or poorly weatherstripped exterior doors. While windows are expensive relative to their energy savings, severely degraded windows in NB's climate contribute meaningfully to heat loss and condensation issues. The audit will typically rank window replacement lower than attic insulation and air sealing in terms of payback period, but will flag windows that are contributing disproportionately to discomfort.

Crawlspace and floor insulation recommendations appear in homes with unheated crawlspaces or exposed floor systems over unconditioned garages. In these cases, insulating the floor assembly or crawlspace walls prevents radiant cold floors and reduces the heating load in adjacent spaces.

Finally, many NB audit reports note ventilation considerations. As homes are tightened through air sealing, balanced mechanical ventilation becomes more important to maintain indoor air quality and manage vapour — a critical issue in NB's humid summers and cold winters where improper vapour management can lead to mould and structural damage. The audit will flag whether a heat recovery ventilator (HRV) is recommended alongside tightening work.

For homeowners across New Brunswick ready to act on audit findings, New Brunswick Insulation and the New Brunswick Construction Network connect you with local professionals experienced in delivering these upgrades within the NB Power rebate and Canada Greener Homes framework.

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Looking for experienced contractors? The New Brunswick Construction Network connects homeowners with qualified professionals:

• moose luxury painting
• Arctic Fox Construction Inc.
• 3Tone Construction Ltd
• Brunswick insulation & roofing
• Thirty Four Renovations