Maintenace, retrofitting, and weatherization By Andrew Rosenthal

Weatherization is one of the best ways that energy customers can reduce their utility bills and make their home environments more comfortable during summer and winter temperature extremes. According to Pennsylvania’s Department of Community and Economic Development, “Pennsylvania’s Weatherization Assistance Program increases energy efficiency in homes by reducing energy costs and increasing comfort while safeguarding health and safety.”

Do homeowners and renters know what weatherization is, and how to get their buildings weatherized? Our interview project set out to assess what people know about weatherization, among other things. (Please see our Spring and Summer Newsletters for more information on what data we have collected.) Our first analysis involved two interview groups. The spring group was made up of eighty-six respondents recruited through Drexel University using the snowball method. The winter group was made up of eighty-three respondents recruited through NEC workshops.

In the interviews, we asked respondents how they maintained their homes, if their homes were weatherized, and if they were familiar with weatherization assistance programs. General understanding of weatherization varied drastically between the two groups. The spring group was largely unaware of the practice of weatherization, 37 out of 81 respondents (45.8%) were unsure of what was meant by the term “weatherization”. By comparison, only eight out of 81 winter respondents (9.9%) were unsure what was meant by the term “weatherization”.

The Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) was largely unknown to the spring group; only seven respondents (7.4%) reported having heard of the program. The program, which helps eligible residents with weatherization services, was familiar to 56 out of 83 winter respondents (67.5%). Fifteen respondents (18.5%) in the winter group had weatherized their own home, the exact same amount as the spring group interestingly enough.

Forty-four winter respondents (55.7%) reported that their windows were drafty and twenty-four (30.4%) reported their home is poorly insulated, yet only fifteen respondents (18.5%) had received assistance through WAP. With people spending more time at home during the pandemic, many might have finally found the time to fix that leaky faucet, drafty window, or other previously deferred repairs, yet our research shows that the pandemic also brought with it barriers towards making those much needed repairs. Thirty-six out of 81 winter respondents (37%) had delayed maintenance on their home due to COVID-19, nearly double that of the spring group (sixteen out of eighty four respondents or 19.4%).

Below is a breakdown of reasons respondents gave for delaying maintenance.