EnergizeCT is a NO-BRAINER, But…I can’t have this blog go viral.

Note: this blog is human produced, NO AI, so please excuse any grammatical errors and clumsy language, I am an insulation contractor not a writer!

Why don’t I want this blog to go viral? [maybe a just little viral]!  As an EnergizeCT Contractor, one who makes a significant part of his living out of upgrading home insulation, and helping clients access the generous benefits that are available through the EnergizeCT program, surely I would want everyone to know about it.

Yes, and No!

Based on numbers I was able to pull up the number of “under insulated”, single family homes in Connecticut is between 550,000 – 750,000, out of a total stock of almost 1 Million homes.   Given how brutal last year’s winter was, what if everyone knew these three things.

1. Insulation is the quickest and most cost-effective way to improve your comfort and reduce your bills.
2. EnergizeCT rebates can cover anything from 40-100% of costs, depending on the entirety of work that needs to be done and various qualifying factors.
3. There is interest free financing available for the residual costs, up to $3000 [https://www.capitalforchange.org/]. As well as other low interest loan programs up to $50,000.

If everyone knew this then I would have expected every one of the over half a million homeowners to have called in January.   Thankfully they didn’t, but that didn’t prevent us being completely overrun with work. I was out 6 days per week doing between 4 – 6 in home evaluations throughout the winter, at the peak we were booked out 3 months with home retrofit jobs.   Thankfully spring brought some respite, the crews got to take a breather, just in time for the next 100deg Summer temperatures that promise to get the phones ringing off the hook again.

Our business is cyclical, it seems that when people are comfortable in their homes, they completely forget how cold their floors were in the winter, or how much oil they burned.   Come summer they wake up again when they realize that the AC hasn’t stopped running for 4 hours and the thermostat is stuck at 78deg.    That’s when we come in and where the EnergizeCT program kicks into high gear.

So, what is EnergizeCT?  Here’s a quick summary of the program

“Energize Connecticut(SM)  is a state sponsored program to help Connecticut residents and utility customers make smarter energy choices that will provide benefits long into the future.

EnergizeCT offers Connecticut residents, businesses, and the community at large,  resources and information that allow for energy savings and to improve the energy future for the state.

The initiative includes a number of participants from the Energy Efficiency Fund, the Connecticut State, local Utility firms (primarily Eversource and UI) and the Connecticut Green Bank. Funding is provided from a charge on customer energy bills.”

The energy savings generated by EnergizeCT help to reduce the demand on our energy grid, lowering infrastructure costs and deferring upgrades that might be necessary were these savings not realized.  It doesn’t hurt that they also reduce our carbon footprint.

The real kicker for customers of the EnergizeCT program is that insulation upgrades pay for themselves, rapidly!   We’ve seen clients saving 20-25% on their utility bills after upgrading their insulation, that could mean real world cost savings over $100 per month.  Given that the average home upgrade costs between $2,000 and $5,000 after rebate, you see how quickly $100 per month would pay back the investment and put money back in homeowners’ pockets once that’s done, and in perpetuity after the pay back period.

So why isn’t everyone taking advantage of EnergizeCT, or why haven’t they done so already?  Thankfully the process of educating consumers is slow and steady, everyone has different priorities and works off their own timetable, the word is getting out there and the support infrastructure around the program is growing to accommodate the demand.

One of the biggest barriers is a misconception among CT residents that Income is a key qualifier.  I am often told by customers that they don’t qualify for rebates because they earn too much. Fortunately, that’s not true.  While there are programs within the EnergizeCT framework that are “income based” (HES-IE [income eligible]), there is also a track called HES – Home Energy Solutions that is not based on income at all, the qualification for this track is simply the quality of your current insulation.  Below are the parameters for qualification under the HES track, as well as the target upgrade levels and the rebate amounts that are available, per square foot or number of components (specific to attic openings).

It’s that simple, qualifying for a rebate to upgrade your attic insulation requires that your current “average R-value” is below R19.   And guess what, if you live in a home that was built before 1980 and you haven’t upgraded the insulation, then there’s a pretty strong chance that you qualify.  Of course there are other factors and logistics, you must be a UI or Eversource customer and you will have to get an HES Assessment completed before doing any upgrade work, we can help you navigate the process.

I am going to leave it there for now. I’ll follow up in the next couple of weeks with more information about the EnergizeCT program and the work we do to upgrade our customers homes.  If you’d like to get a flavor, take a look at our Google Reviews; they tell you a lot about the work we do and the happy customers we leave in our wake.  If you’d like to learn more about EnergizeCT and see if you qualify for rebates to upgrade your home and save yourself money…don’t hesitate to give me a call – 203-646-3772 or email [email protected].  BUT, whatever you do, don’t tell the whole world about this, just your really good friends and close family 😊