A well-sealed, well-insulated home is a more comfortable and energy-efficient home, and with electricity rates rising and natural gas becoming more expensive, it’s also a cheaper home to run. Weatherizing a home is the process of improving its airtightness and its ability to retain heated and cooled air, and it does not have to be massively expensive or terribly difficult. Below, we walk you through the basic steps that experts we spoke with—independent researchers, home energy contractors, and a utility representative—suggest as the most cost-effective ways to weatherize. Some of the tips are even things you can do yourself without special tools or skills. Taken together, they can potentially lower your utility bills by as much as 40%, ultimately paying for themselves. We also discuss federal and utility-based programs that may help cover some or all of the costs; the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act released billions of dollars in funding for home energy-efficiency upgrades, many of them aimed at low- and moderate-income households.
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