Weatherization program can help take the bite out of utility costs

On nearly every line of families’ household budgets, costs are climbing. Rents and mortgage interest rates are making it difficult to afford housing, grocery prices are making it harder to put food on the table, the average new car price just topped $50k, and utility rates are increasingly stretching families to the breaking point.

All of these financial stressors are happening in a state already struggling to meet Hoosiers’ mental and behavioral health needs and are adding to the unprecedented level of consumer debt households are carrying.

At this time when families are feeling the pain of increased costs, especially from energy prices – and when energy is increasingly vital to everyday life – the Weatherization Assistance Program can be part of the solution. Congress established the program in 1976 with a mission to decrease energy usage while ensuring health and safety for low-income people. This bipartisan program prioritizes weatherization for the elderly, disabled, and people with children and has led to over 7.2 million homes across the country receiving services. As the Director of the accredited Indiana Community Action Weatherization Training Program, I get to see firsthand how this program improves lives.

Weatherization services are available to families in both rental units and owner-occupied housing, and our weatherization professionals serve Hoosiers in all 92 counties. If furnaces or water heaters need repair, we can provide that service. If a full replacement is needed, we can install a new high-efficiency system that decreases the home’s energy use. We place smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in every home we visit. Another big part of the work is educating clients, including teaching them to change furnace filters and decrease their daily energy use, so they are equipped with the knowledge they need to maintain healthy, habitable homes for themselves and their families.

Return on investment

For every weatherization dollar spent, there is a return of $2.78 in non-energy benefits. Families also save big on energy – on average, $374 annually. We also see an additional $500 in savings per year from fewer days of missed work and lower out-of-pocket medical expenses. There is also a ripple effect of environmental benefits as those families with weatherized homes now use fewer energy resources, putting less strain on our energy grid and natural resources.

In a state where more than one in ten (13.25%) households have reported at least one utility shutoff in the prior year, these cost savings can mean the difference between having the heat on, living in the cold, or relying on unsafe heating sources. I know this firsthand. My gas bill used to be $500 a month when I was raising my son. As a single mom trying to keep the mortgage paid on her drafty 1957 house, I took cold showers and would heat water on the stove to bathe my baby. We used space heaters to stay warm because I simply could not afford to run the gas furnace. I eventually was able to weatherize my own home and bring these bills down– but had I known about this weatherization program at the time, it would have absolutely changed our lives.

Weatherization keeps people in their homes. It keeps them warm and safe. There have even been instances where families we have served told us that weatherization resulted in fewer headaches, asthma attacks, and hospitalizations. This is not surprising; studies show improvement in indoor air quality when a home is weatherized.

Like many federal programs, Weatherization’s future is uncertain. Indiana receives about $9 million per year from the Department of Energy for weatherization, along with additional funding from IIJA and LIHEAP, to serve as many people as we can.

We are thankful to Gov. Mike Braun for proclaiming October 30th as National Weatherization Day in Indiana, and I personally hope that this recognition helps raise awareness of this program for all the folks who, like me many years ago, may not even know this is an option.

While eligibility varies based on different criteria, an Indiana family of four earning up to $62,400 per year is eligible to receive weatherization services like air sealing, home insulation, and furnace repair, among others. To learn more about Weatherization and see what assistance might be right for your family, contact your local community action agency.