For savings and sustainability, insulating your old home makes sense

By improving his home’s insulation with a little help from CEE, Minneapolis homeowner Greg made his finished attic feel more comfortable year-round while saving both money and energy.

Last year, Greg moved into a classic 100-year-old Minneapolis home. He had his eye on the converted attic space, unsure of how well he could keep it from getting too hot in summer or too cold in winter. He believed making energy efficiency improvements would help and align with his values of sustainability and saving money. He decided to fast track those plans after he received a mailer from CEE about financial resources to support energy upgrades.

CEE partners with the City of Minneapolis to inform new homebuyers like Greg about how efficiently their home uses energy, measured as an energy score, and how to cost-effectively make improvements such as adding insulation or upgrading heating systems.

Concerned with his finished attic's insulation, Greg wanted to take advantage of the 0% interest energy loans noted in the mailer, so he scheduled a low-cost home energy audit with Home Energy Squad. “The auditors were really approachable and presented their findings in a clear way. It made the next steps easy,” explained Greg.

As a built-in follow-up to his visit, CEE's Energy Advisor team stayed in touch with Greg. For all home visits, the advisors review each homeowner's energy efficiency opportunities while connecting them to financing, utility rebates, and high-quality contractors to do the work. Greg’s advisor Kat recommended a rebate-eligible insulation contractor and helped him to secure an energy loan through CEE’s lending center to manage the upfront project costs. “That was a really nice combination,” Greg shared, “especially after having just bought a house.”

With resources and advice from CEE, Greg ended up fully insulating his attic and walls, and he reports that he was very comfortable throughout the following winter. “You’ll definitely feel the difference in your day-to-day if you can spare the modest monthly payments. And the difference in bills balances it out to a large degree,” Greg emphasized. “The energy improvements made financial sense and were congruent with my values of living more sustainably.”

To learn more about your home’s energy score and consider your best opportunities for improvements, visit mncee.org/tish or contact a free energy advisor at energyadvisor@mncee.org / 651-328-6225

Energy Advisors are a cost-free service from the Minnesota-based nonprofit Center for Energy and Environment in partnership with CenterPoint Energy and the City of Minneapolis.