Update: I put my home energy audit money toward a $40 Kill A Watt meter instead and it paid off faster
Last month I had a $300 energy audit booked for my place in Sacramento and canceled it after a friend pointed out I could buy a plug-in meter for $40 and do the easy part myself. I went room by room over a weekend and the meter showed my old garage fridge was pulling 2.1 kWh a day, way more than the new one inside, and my cable box was sipping 30 watts just sitting there. Unplugging the fridge and putting the box on a smart strip cut about $14 a month off my bill, which is small but it's money I was burning for nothing. The audit would have caught it too, sure, but the meter lets me keep checking as things change. Has anyone else done the DIY version first and then paid for the full audit later, or did you just go straight to the pro?