Insulate and Air Seal Your Home

Summary: Airsealing, Insulation

Description

Many of us live in underinsulated, leaky homes. There's is a lot of air sweeping into and through our homes, making them uncomfortable and expensive to heat and cool. For perspective, an older home may have 250% greater air infiltration than a newly constructed one; that is a lot of cold air entering a home.

Insulation and air sealing, together known as weatherization, can reduce the energy needed to heat and cool your home, leading to lower energy bills and a lower carbon footprint. Learn more about insulation and air sealing in our Deeper Dive page, or from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center

How can you tell if your walls are properly insulated and air sealed?  Easy, start with a no-cost home energy assessment. Free energy assessments are available to ALL Groton residents, but who to call depends:

IF you are a Groton resident who is NOT a National Grid gas customer, GELD provides access to free energy assessments through Next Zero. Schedule your energy assessment here: Groton – Energy Audits – NextZero

IF you are a Groton resident who IS a National Grid gas customer, you qualify for free energy assessments through the MassSave program. Schedule your energy assessment here: Home Energy Assessments | Residential | Mass Save. TIP: Sometimes Groton residents have been told by a MassSave representative that they do not qualify for benefits. If you are a National Grid gas customer, you do qualify for MassSave! Don’t take no for an answer. Hang up and call back. A different representative is likely to be better informed. 

Once you have the energy assessment, if you decide to follow up on the recommended actions, you may qualify for incentives that unlock even more savings! Again, what incentives you qualify for depends:

IF you are a Groton resident who is NOT a National Grid gas customer, you may qualify for the federal tax credit provided through the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. This tax credit covers 30% of the costs of insulation, up to $1200 per calendar year.  These tax credits do not expire until 2032, so you can plan out many years of improvements to maximize your benefits. Find out more about federal tax credits for weatherization here: Insulation Tax Credit | ENERGY STAR

IF you are a Groton resident who IS a National Grid gas customer, you may qualify for the same federal tax credits listed above. In addition, through Mass Save, you can take advantage of:

1. 75% reimbursement on weatherization. Learn more here: Insulation and Air Sealing | Residential | Mass Save

2. Access to a 0% HEAT loan program for up to $50,000 for the installation of insulation (also heat pumps and other energy efficiency measures). The MassSave energy efficiency professional can give you more details during the assessment.

3. Additional Mass Save incentives such as heat pump rebates require a Mass Save assessment and implementation of recommendations. Partial implementation may still allow rebates, but at a lower rate of reimbursement. If you had an assessment in the last two years and already have a Mass Save insulation recommendation, you can still qualify for the incentives. 

Get local help: Groton Energy Coaches can help answer your questions about weatherization and other energy efficiency improvements. Email them to request help - sustaining@grotonma.gov

Want to go deeper?   There are many more energy efficient improvements you can make beyond insulation and air-sealing. Learn more about them on our Deeper Dive page, or from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center

Deep Dive

Insulation reduces heat conduction through the materials in your home that are the barrier between conditioned and unconditioned space. Air sealing reduces heat convection through leaks in your home. Together they offer several benefits:

1.  Reduce the amount of energy needed to heat and cool your home, resulting in reductions in energy costs and associated greenhouse gas emissions

2. When considering HVAC upgrades, such as a heat pump, weatherization can reduce sizing requirements for the new system, lowering the first cost of that system

3. If you are mitigating GELD’s peak electricity use rates (4pm – 8pm) by pre-cooling in summer, weatherization buffers against unwanted heat gain during peak hours to further reduce your electricity use.

4. Improve comfort in your home.

Insulation and air sealing are most beneficial in the attic for preventing heat loss. Some weatherization measures may not be covered by any state incentives, but could be worth investigating to see if your home would benefit. If using the MassSave program, ask your energy assessment expert what other insulation products that are not covered by the MassSave program your home could benefit from. These additional weatherization measures could include: 

• Replace upper level recessed light fixtures with insulated ones.

• Install a draft stopper for your chimney.

• Carry out advanced air sealing through blower door directed air sealing.

• If your home heating and cooling is delivered through ductwork, consider a ductblaster test to check for air leakage, and use aeroseal to reduce leakage.

• Weather strip or replace drafty windows with double or triple pane windows, or add interior storm windows (aka window dressers). 

To learn more about the benefits of weatherization, visit the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center.

Interested in actions beyond insulation and air sealing?  Here are some additional energy efficiency upgrades to consider in your home.

• Convert to an electric heat pump for heating and cooling. 

• Convert to an electric heat pump water heater. 

• Change to electric induction cooking. 

• Lower the temperature on your water heater.

• Install insulating (honeycomb) blinds that can reduce heat loss at night in the winter, and reduce solar gain in south facing windows in the summer. May qualify for federal tax credit!

• Add heat recovery ventilation to improve air quality and preheat fresh air entering your home.

Steps to Take

1. Engage a Groton Energy Coach to help you understand how different energy efficiency improvements can save you money and reduce your energy bills! Visit the Energy Coaching page for more information on this program or email them to request help: sustaining@grotonma.gov

2. Schedule a no-cost home energy assessment. Free energy assessments are available to ALL Groton residents, but who to call depends:

IF you are a Groton resident who is NOT a National Grid gas customer, GELD provides access to free energy assessments through Next Zero. Schedule your energy assessment here: Groton – Energy Audits – NextZero

IF you are a Groton resident who IS a National Grid gas customer, you qualify for free energy assessments through the MassSave program. Schedule your energy assessment here: Home Energy Assessments | Residential | Mass Save. TIP: Sometimes Groton residents have been told by a Mass Save representative that they do not qualify for benefits. If you are a National Grid gas customer, you do qualify for Mass Save! Don’t take no for an answer. Hang up and call back. A different representative is likely to be better informed. 

3. Find out about what incentives you qualify for and make a plan to maximize your savings!

IF you are a Groton resident who is NOT a National Grid gas customer, you may qualify for the federal tax credit provided through the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. This tax credit covers 30% of the costs of insulation, up to $1200 per calendar year.  These tax credits do not expire until 2032, so you can plan out many years of improvements to maximize your benefits. Find out more about federal tax credits for weatherization here: Insulation Tax Credit | ENERGY STAR

IF you are a Groton resident who IS a National Grid gas customer, you may qualify for the same federal tax credits listed above. In addition, through Mass Save, you can take advantage of:

1. 75% reimbursement on weatherization. Learn more here: Insulation and Air Sealing | Residential | Mass Save

2. Access to a 0% HEAT loan program for up to $50,000 for the installation of insulation (also heat pumps and other energy efficiency measures). The MassSave energy efficiency professional can give you more details during the assessment.

4. Following the home energy assessment, take the recommended action and take advantage of the incentives you qualify for!

5. Let us know how it went! Please write a Testimonial on the Sustainable Groton website