Energy Efficiency Home Retrofits Can Protect You During Extreme Temperature Events

As human actions worsen climate change, severity and frequency of extreme weather events increase.

Within the category of extreme weather events, heat waves and cold flashes push the human body to its upper and lower limits of temperature regulation. When the power fails, our homes are similarly unable to regulate their interior temperatures. However, homes with energy efficiency retrofits can retain cool or warm air longer, while simultaneously saving money throughout normal yearly temperature fluctuations.

Energy efficiency retrofits increase home comfort during normal temperature deviations and home safety during extreme events.

For example, during a normal winter, comfort can be envisioned as having typical energy bills while keeping your home at 70 degrees inside with minimal drafts and leakage. During an extreme cold event, safety is ensuring that despite power loss and low exterior temperature, the interior of your home holds onto heat while power resumes or alternative arrangements are made.

Overall, climate change is complicated, and the areas of most intense temperature change will vary. For a large portion of the world, extreme temperature days are becoming more frequent. As seen recently, heat waves across the United States have caused devastating deaths while individuals in Texas have frozen in their homes. These instances shed light on the importance of protective homes and the deadly consequences of poorly sealed and minimally insulated spaces.

Why is your home unable to regulate its temperature?

In a home, warm air rises, pushing itself out of the house and drawing in colder air at the lower level. The opposite is true in the summer. This is called the stack effect. Source: 07Sketches

Air leakage is the main culprit for home temperatures rising or falling in correlation with the outside weather. A phenomenon known as the stack effect explains how warm, less dense air leaks from the top of our homes while cool, more dense air is sucked in at the lowest level, a common winter occurrence. The reverse stack effect does the opposite in the summer. While leakage contributes to heat exchange, high wind speeds force air through the building's exterior, and poor insulation allows heat transfer through convection.

Solutions for renters and homeowners

The first step to decreasing air leakage around your home's space is assessing the most critical areas of loss. The Department of Energy provides resources for how to test your home for leaks, including how to detect air leaks, perform or have a blower door test done, get a home energy assessment done, or learn your home energy score. There is even a virtual home tour demonstrating key areas and performance metrics for proper insulation and sealing. These resources can be utilized to understand the energy state of your home and determine the best areas to target. Some states, such as New York and Massachusetts, offer free comprehensive energy assessments for low-income households.

Energy efficiency retrofits can save money year-round and provide prolonged safety in homes during extreme temperatures. Sealing air leaks can be as easy as caulking around your windows or installing foam gaskets around areas where plumbing and electrical enters walls. However, the extent to which individuals can decrease air leakage, drafts and poor insulation within their home varies depending on the ownership status.

The least intensive or non-permanent solutions can be best for renters, who make up more than 30% of the US population, while more resource-intensive measures are best for homeowners or landlords acting in the interest of renters. Some less permanent solutions include draft guards, window wrapping, rope caulk and installing blackout or thermal curtains or window coverings.

Solutions aimed at homeowners that are more intensive include reinsulating walls, attics and pipes, installing foam gaskets, and replacing windows and doors. These are not the only retrofits and modifications available. The ultimate choice will be determined by what your home can gain the most benefit from with the funds you have available.

Financial support for retrofits is available

Energy efficiency retrofits aim to increase the durability, safety, comfort, and value of homes as well as save money over time through a decrease in energy demand.

Unlike subscribing to a time-of-use rate structure with the utility, the retrofits and modifications described above can lower monthly bills while increasing the value of the home and decreasing vulnerability during extreme temperatures.

There are a variety of federal funding sources, many from the Inflation Reduction Act, to supplement the retrofits that aim to reduce energy demand within the home. Not directly targeted at home resilience, many financial assistance programs are targeted at energy efficiency over the long term. These initiatives ultimately aim to decrease the energy burden felt by households by decreasing the overall energy demand of spaces. Regardless, these same upgrades serve the dual purpose of increasing resiliency during extreme temperature events.

For many less intensive or non-permanent measures, the financial barrier is low. These solutions are optimal for renters looking to decrease their energy burden and increase their resilience during extreme temperature events while not investing large amounts into spaces they do not own.

Less intensive measures are also ideal for homeowners with less disposable income available to make immediate upgrades. Low-income homeowners are also eligible for the Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP), a longtime federal government assistance program to help individuals better insulate and weatherproof their homes. Targeting around 35,000 homes each year, WAP retrofits homes saving owners an average of $372 each year. To date around 7 million families have been served through this program at zero cost to the homeowner, making it the best option for low-income households.

Utilities and states can help customers make energy efficiency retrofits

If more intensive measures are needed, renters can partner with their landlords to search for a utility that offers Inclusive Utility Investments (IUIs). IUIs allow the utility to invest in the home itself, increasing energy efficiency and weatherization while gaining back the invested money through an on-bill tariff that is less than the money saved through a decrease in energy use. Pay As You Save (PAYS) models can provide the same savings if available in your area. Both IUIs and PAYS models are also available to homeowners if offered by a serving utility.

Beyond IUIs and PAYS models, federal tax credits and energy rebates are also available to homeowners as a supplement for more permanent improvements. Federal tax credits are available for specific installations of energy efficient technology and building envelope upgrades. Varying by amount, the tax credits offer specific incentives for individuals looking to generate their own clean energy or simply make home efficiency and reliability upgrades.

At the state level, Home Energy Rebates are becoming available in select participating states. These rebates will give cash back on measures that decrease home energy use, including appliances and home upgrades. Although not ideal for lower income homeowners, since these rebates require upfront investments similar to the credits above, efforts are being made to reorient energy rebates towards more low-income households.

Specifically for Massachusetts residents, the Mass Save program offers free and discounted energy efficiency services to qualifying low-income residents. Similar programs are available in other states.

Retrofits can be a safety net in extreme weather

Beyond home retrofits that will aid in keeping the cool/warm air inside homes, furthering the independence of one's home from the grid infrastructure can provide an even greater safety net for extreme temperature power outages. Technology such as solar coupled with battery storage, solar-powered generators, and distributed wind can keep home temperature regulation systems running despite the lights everywhere else being off.

The frequency of extreme weather events is increasing, and more people are losing power because of it. The comfort of your home year-round is critical for your overall satisfaction and well-being but the safety of your home during extreme events could be the difference between life and death. Preparing your home now for worsening climate change and prolonged outages can save you money and ensure your safety down the line. The above retrofits and modifications are just some of the most effective ways to decrease the energy use of your home and increase its resiliency.

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