This Home Energy Audit Tool post is sponsored by MidAmerican Energy, but as always, I only share things that make sense for our home and for all of you. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Something I’ve noticed lately is how much I’ve started paying attention to things in our home that I used to completely overlook.
Not because anything is wrong, but because life changes, routines shift, and suddenly you start seeing your home a little differently.
With the kids not home as much anymore, the house feels quieter during the day. Different rhythms. Different energy usage. And honestly, it’s given me a little more space to notice how our home is running in the background.
And if you’ve been around My Creative Days for a while, you probably already know this about me: I am ALWAYS looking for ways to save money. ALWAYS. Not in a stressful way, just in a “is there a smarter way to do this?” kind of way.
So lately, I’ve been focusing more on home energy use and looking at simple ways to better understand what’s actually happening behind the scenes.
Why I Started Looking at Home Energy More Closely
Energy costs are one of those things that don’t always feel obvious day-to-day.
You don’t really see it happening in real time; you just notice it when the bill shows up.
But once you start paying attention, you realize how much of it is tied to small habits:
- How often the thermostat runs
- How seasonal changes affect usage
- How much time the home is actually occupied
- How often are we adjusting things without thinking
And for us right now, this feels like a good season to slow down and just be more aware of those patterns, just to understand them better.
A Simple Tool That Helps You Understand Your Home Better
MidAmerican offers a free online energy assessment tool called HomeCheck Online. This home energy audit tool is designed to help customers understand how their homes use energy based on their habits and lifestyle.
It’s something you access through your MidAmerican My Account (you can create one using your account number if you don’t already have one), and it walks you through a short assessment about your home and daily routines.
From there, it provides personalized insights and suggestions to help improve efficiency and identify where energy may be used the most.
What I like about a home energy audit tool like this is that they don’t feel overwhelming.
It’s not about doing everything perfectly or changing your entire home; it’s about awareness.
Just seeing things more clearly than you did before.
Why Awareness Matters More than Big Changes
I think sometimes we assume saving money at home has to come from big upgrades or major renovations. But a lot of it actually starts much smaller than that.
It starts with understanding.
Understanding how your home uses energy.
Understanding your habits.
Understanding where things are running in the background without you realizing it.
And once you start seeing those patterns, even small adjustments can feel more intentional.
I’ve honestly seen this in a real way with my mom. She is SO intentional about everything in her home: what’s plugged in, unplugging things when they’re not in use, hanging clothes outside instead of automatically using the dryer whenever she can. Sometimes she’s honestly extreme in a way that makes me laugh a little, but at the same time, you can’t argue with the fact that those small habits do add up over time.
It’s made me realize that even if you don’t go that far, there’s still value in just being more aware. Because those little changes, when they actually fit your lifestyle, can make a bigger difference than you expect.
How This Home Energy Audit Tool Fits into Our Home Right Now
What’s interesting is that this kind of awareness has been showing up alongside other small changes we’ve been making at home.
We recently installed a smart thermostat through MidAmerican’s Online Marketplace, which helps manage temperature more efficiently day to day.
And what I like about that, paired with something like HomeCheck Online is that they work in two different ways:
- One helps you manage energy use in real time
- The other helps you understand energy use overall
And together, it’s made me more mindful of how our home actually functions in this season of life.
Especially now that our routines have shifted a bit.
This isn’t about trying to do everything perfectly or flipping your entire home routine upside down overnight. I don’t think most of us actually have the bandwidth for that anyway.
For me, it’s been more about just paying attention a little differently than I used to. Not rushing past things or ignoring the “why” behind our bills, but actually slowing down enough to understand what’s going on in the background of our home.
And I think that’s where something like HomeCheck Online is actually helpful. It doesn’t overwhelm you with changes; it just gives you a clearer picture of what’s already happening so you can make decisions from a place of awareness instead of guesswork.
If you’ve never really taken a look at your home energy usage before, it’s honestly just an easy place to start. Nothing complicated about it. Just a little more clarity than you had before.
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