Weatherize Your Home

Keep Your Pipes from Freezing

When temperatures drop, your pipes are at a high risk to freeze & burst.  During extreme cold, Public Works recommends a few common sense measures to keep pipes warm & water running: 

• Keep garage doors closed to prevent loss of heat, especially if you have water supply lines in the garage.
• Open kitchen and bathroom cabinet doors to allow warmer air to circulate around the plumbing.
• Let cold-water drip from faucets served by exposed pipes.
• Keep the thermostat set to the same temperature day & night.
• If you plan to be away during cold weather, leave on heat setting temperature no lower than 55° F.
• Purchase pipe insulation & wrap pipes.
• For the long term, add insulation to attics, basements, & crawl spaces.  Insulation will maintain higher temperatures in those areas.

If you have a water meter behind a panel in the wall, open the panel so the meter can get heat, or it can freeze and cause water damage.

 

Insulation

Insulation in your home provides resistance to heat flow and lowers your heating and cooling costs. Properly insulating your home not only reduces heating and cooling costs, but also improves comfort.

For optimal energy efficiency, your home should be properly insulated from the roof down to its foundation.

• Insulation, whether its fiberglass, wool, cellulose, or spray foam, are energy efficient technologies that, once manufactured, require no energy to save energy. Instead of reducing the amount of energy that use, like most "energy efficient" products, they actually save energy from being wasted.
• Not only does it save energy, it lasts for the life of the building and unless it is damaged, it will never have to be replaced.
• According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, ENERGY STAR HOMES, insulation saves over 600 times more energy each year than all of the compact fluorescent lights (CFLs), Energy Star Appliances, and Energy Star windows combined.

 

The Illinois Home Weatherization Assistance Program 

The Illinois Home Weatherization Assistance Program (IHWAP) helps low income residents and households conserve fuel and reduce energy costs by making their homes and apartments more energy efficient. Weatherization services that can be funded through IHWAP include:

• Air Sealing
• Attic and wall insulation
• HVAC repair or replacement
• Water heater repair or replacement
• Electric base load reduction (lighting and refrigerator replacement)
• Ventilation and moisture control measures (and other health and safety measures)
• Maximum $15,000 per eligible client's home for energy-related weatherization and repair work
  • Maximum $3,500 for health and safety related measures

 

Insulation

Insulation in your home provides resistance to heat flow and lowers your heating and cooling costs. Properly insulating your home not only reduces heating and cooling costs, but also improves comfort.

For optimal energy efficiency, your home should be properly insulated from the roof down to its foundation.

• Insulation, whether it’s fiberglass, wool, cellulose, or spray foam, are energy efficient technologies that, once manufactured, require no energy to save energy. Instead of reducing the amount of energy the use, like most “energy efficient” products, they actually save energy from being wasted.
• Not only does it save energy, it lasts for the life of the building and unless it is dam-aged, it will never have to be replaced.
• According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ENERGY STAR HOMES, insulation saves over 600 times more energy each year than all of the compact fluorescent lights (CFLs), Energy Star Appliances, and Energy Star windows combined.

 

The Illinois Home Weatherization Assistance Program

The Illinois Home Weatherization Assistance Program (IHWAP) helps low income residents and households conserve fuel and reduce energy costs by making their homes and apartments more energy efficient. Weatherization services that can be funded through IHWAP include:

• Air sealing
• Attic and wall insulation
• HVAC repair or replacement
• Water heater repair or replacement
• Electric base load reduction (lighting and refrigerator replacement)
• Ventilation and moisture control measures (and other health and safety measures)
• Maximum $15,000 per eligible client’s home for energy-related weatherization and repair work
• Maximum $3,500 for health and safety related measures