Investing in thermal efficiency improvements—primarily air sealing, insulation, and heating system replacements—can dramatically reduce a home’s heating energy use. An estimated 62,000 single and multi-family homes in Vermont will require energy efficient improvements by 2020, according to the state’s recent Thermal Efficiency Task Force (TETF) Report to the Legislature.
Vermonters’ 2010 fuel bills were nearly twice as much as those of a decade earlier, the report explains. It also notes that the state’s volatile weather conditions play a critical role in how buildings can cost‐effectively be heated and that most of the economic benefit of money Vermonters spend on fossil fuel accrues outside the state.
As a result, the task force suggests "comprehensive and rapid weatherization" of Vermont’s buildings to (1) reduce the vulnerability of Vermont ratepayers to fuel market volatility and dramatic weather fluctuations and (2) ensure that more of the money spent on energy will stay within the Vermont economy.
The report estiamtes that at current fuel prices home energy efficiency investments can save Vermont residents approximately $1,000 per year.
Read the full report on the Public Services Department website.