Here’s a super-simplified made-for-CNN version of how Cash for Caulkers will work, if/when/once it’s passed into law (sorry, commercial first…then video):
What I like about the video is the end, where the homeowners say that they’ve calculated their payback and it’ll be sooner rather than later. This is a very important point to make – yes, you have to spend money to get an audit and weatherize your home – but you will get paid back by saving energy and money over time. Not next week. Not next month. In most cases, not even next year. But two years out? Possibly. Three years? Definitely.
What our weatherization crew chief likes best about the video is the crawl space the company in the clip is working on. It’s rare that he hangs out in crawl spaces here in central North Carolina that are that high! Maybe it’s because many of the houses we work on are older…but he’s a little envious of a crawl space in which those workers are standing upright.
I’ve written a bit about Cash for Caulkers, or the HomeStar program before, and am waiting to write much more before it’s voted on in Congress. Suffice it to say that when HomeStar hits, Home Performance NC is well prepared to help you make your home more energy efficient. We are BPI Analysts, RESNET-HERs raters, and a full-service weatherization company, and as such can help you achieve the silver star /prescriptive path or the gold star/performance path – whichever you choose to pursue. At Home Performance NC we believe know that an energy audit and subsequent weatherization will pay for itself – many times over the period of only a couple years. Home Star will help this payback happen much faster, which is always a very good thing.
The Home Star Coalition has an excellent fact sheet outlining the proposed HomeStar bill, if you want all the details.
Tags: cash for caulkers, closed crawls, energy efficiency, homestar, north carolina, weatherization return on investment
