Weatherization Frequently Asked Questions
This program helps households save energy and money and live more comfortably. Participating households can save up to $300 a year when weatherization services are completed. It also makes homes more comfortable, keeping North Carolinians warm in the winter, cool in the summer and just right all year long.
Households with incomes below 200 percent of the federal poverty guidelines or those receiving cash assistance payments under Work First or Supplemental Security Income are eligible for the NC Weatherization Assistance Program. The program prioritizes Priority is placed on providing assistance to the elderly, individuals with disabilities, and families with children, high energy users, and energy-burdened households.
Services at your home include an energy audit, followed by installation of energy conservation and health and safety measures. Such measures include:
Educating clients about safety and energy efficiency
Professionally evaluating single-family dwellings, multi-family dwellings, and mobile homes for safety and energy efficiency
Checking combustion appliances such as stoves, furnaces and water heaters
Tuning, repairing, or replacing heating and air systems as needed
Sealing air infiltration sites; installing attic, wall and floor insulation, sealing leaky ducts, adding ventilation
Testing for gas leaks, carbon monoxide and other health and safety issues installing smoke and carbon monoxide detectors
Performing base load and general heat waste measures
Making minor repairs to homes for health and safety reasons
The home energy audit is an onsite inspection of your home and an analysis of which energy efficiency measures are best for your home.
Testing for gas leaks, carbon monoxide, and other health and safety issues
Checking combustion appliances such as stoves, furnaces, and water heaters
Tuning, repairing, or replacing heating equipment
Sealing air infiltration sites, installing attic, wall and floor insulation, sealing leaky ducts, adding ventilation
Installing fire and carbon monoxide detectors
Installing base load (compact fluorescent lights) and general heat waste measures (water heater installation blanket, pipe insulation, low flow shower heads)
Rehabilitation of homes
Replacement of doors and windows
Major home repairs such as new roofs, new floors, plumbing, and electrical work
Building additions
Painting (other than areas disturbed by weatherization work)
Laying carpet
Major health and safety issues such as mold remediation; lead-based paint and asbestos abatements; structural, roof, floor, electrical or plumbing hazards.
The Weatherization Assistance Program is not a home rehabilitation program. It is first and foremost an energy conservation program, with additional emphasis on minor repairs for the health and safety of the client.
After you have identified your local service provider and your income eligibility has been approved, your agency will perform an energy audit. The energy audit is an onsite inspection of your home, and an analysis of which energy efficiency measures are best for your home. When the audit is complete, the agency’s auditor will meet with your family to explain how crews complete the recommended work. When the weatherization process is complete, an inspector will make certain that everything is working properly and that nothing was missed.
For NC residents interested in weatherization assistance, there is no difference. Residents do not choose between assistance from the annual program vs. the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act program. DEQ has processes and arrangements in place to ensure the best possible service for potential applicants and for those receiving weatherization assistance. Simply use the Find Your Provider tool to identify the best agency for you.
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act weatherization assistance program is intended to scale up weatherization efforts and impact in NC. In addition to weatherization assistance for residents, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Weatherization Assistance Program works on improving the efficiency of the program and network as well as providing training and workforce development to grow the weatherization workforce in the state. Further, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act weatherization assistance program includes a component for weatherization of multifamily buildings.
No, this program is for proactive home weatherization upgrades, not emergencies. For emergency assistance, contact the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and North Carolina Department of Public Safety (DPS).
Properties weatherized with US Department of Energy funds in the past 15 years are ineligible for additional weatherization through this program, unless affected by a natural disaster.