A better sealed, more insulated home will save you money on operating costs and reduce your carbon emissions throughout the year. Air sealing and insulating your home are also crucial steps to take before you install a new clean energy system.
Air sealing and insulating your home helps you reduce overall energy consumption.
Protect the climate by using less energy.
Save money on monthly heating and cooling costs.
Increase comfort by reducing drafts and uneven temperatures.
Buy a smaller, less expensive heating or cooling system next time you need to replace it.
Air sealing your home, and sealing and insulating ductwork, ensures that there are as few gaps as possible for indoor hot air to escape and cold outdoor air to get in. This reduces the heating load in a home. Adding insulation is another important step: it slows heat transfer from the inside of your house to the outside. Think of air-sealing as patching up holes in your clothing, and insulation as the addition of a nice warm winter jacket. It’s cozy—and efficient.
Eversource | 1 min. 46 sec.
A couple describes their experience weatherizing their home. The result: “We have a house that is much less drafty, much less humid, so we are much more comfortable in the house than we were before.”
Ask This Old House | 5 min. 42 sec.
The This Old House team explains different window weatherization techniques, including shrink wrap, weather stripping, and caulk. Anything you can do to decrease airflow and leakage will drastically increase comfort and energy savings.
FREE Home Energy Assessment:
75%–100% off insulation, air sealing, and weather stripping and $75/window rebate for replacing single pane windows with triple pane windows.
Mass Save® HEAT Loan: Up to $25,000 at 0% interest over terms of up to 7 years.
Energy Saver Home Loan: Up to $100,000 at up to 2% interest over terms of up to 20 years for income-qualified households
Cost after incentives is estimated by applying Mass Save incentive of 75% off weatherization.
Through Mass Save, the cost after incentives may be substantially lower if:
– Your household is income-qualified.
– Your home is in a 1-4 unit building where all the owners agree to have the building and units weatherized as part of the same project.
Example up-front cost before incentives
$4,000
Example cost after
incentives
$1,000
Has it been 3 years or more since you had a home energy assessment?
Because your home ages and weatherization experts are able to provide more efficiency and electrification solutions than in the past, it’s a good idea to have your home evaluated periodically. For residents within its service territory, the Mass Save program offers home energy assessments every 3 years free of charge. If your hone is not served by Mass Save, check with your municipal light plant (MLP).
Does your home have cold spots in winter and hot spots in the summer?
Temperature variations within your home may be a symptom of incomplete air sealing and/or insulation.
Are some or all of your windows single-pane?
Single pane windows are much less energy efficient than double- or triple-pane windows.
Do you feel chilly drafts when passing by your home’s exterior doors in the winter?
Doors often leak air where the door meets the door frame. Weatherstripping can block this air flow.
Does your home have “knee walls” on the top floor?
Knee walls are short walls on the top floor that support the roof rafters for a pitched roof. When they aren’t insulated it’s difficult to keep the adjacent living space comfortable in extreme temperatures.
Do the edges of your roof accumulate icicles in the winter?
Icicles are a symptom of ice dams, which are caused by uneven melting of snow on your roof. A well-insulated attic will reduce the likelihood of ice dams, which also cause roof leaks.
