Nov. 1--EAST LYME -- Daniel and Jaye Storms suspected their two-bedroom Cape Cod-style home was leaking heat, electricity -- and money.

The energy-conscious couple living at 6 Barrett Drive had installed solar panels on the roof, but persistent drafts had led them to consider installing new windows, insulation and possibly new siding. What could a home energy audit tell them before investing thousands of dollars in such measures?

This past week, they got an answer -- and then some.

Like some 5,000 other Connecticut Light & Power customers this year, the Stormses, who have oil-based heat, took advantage of Home Energy Solutions, a program paid for with money from the Connecticut Energy Efficiency Fund and administered by CL&P.

The $75, two-hour energy audit helps homeowners discover where they may be squandering electricity and how to be more energy efficient. The value of a contractor's audit is about $650, CL&P spokesman Mitch Gross said, and the average energy savings an audit yields is about $200 a year.

CL&P is aggressively promoting the program, since CEEF provided $13.9 million for it this year, nearly double last year's allotment, Gross said. More than $16 million is expected to be available for 2010, plus $2.3 million in stimulus funding from the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act from Nov. 15 through the end of 2010, he said.

During the Stormses' audit, installing 13 new compact fluorescent light bulbs that last longer than incandescent bulbs and are 25 percent more efficient was one obvious step that Brad Smith and Marc Weber of the Northford-based Energy Resource Group Technologies, Inc. undertook to increase energy efficiency.

The company is one of 10 contractors hired by CL&P to perform the audits.

The more comprehensive assessment, however, involved a blower door test that provides a reading of the home's air tightness. Weber inserted a metal frame and flexible red fabric panel into the Stormses' exterior kitchen door, then hooked up a powerful fan and meter to it and let it run.

The fan pulls air out of the house. As inside air pressure drops, higher outside air pressure flows in through cracks or openings, and Weber is able to measure air filtration.

Weber measured 1,240 cubic feet of air pressure moving through the house when first testing it. Based on the home's volume of heated (or air conditioned) air space, that was only slightly above the 1,155 cubic feet considered optimal for the home's size. After caulking the air leaks, the measurement came in at 1,058 cubic feet.

"This house is tight," Weber pronounced.