Lower Your Energy Bills and Fix Your Home with the Whole Home Performance Program

Question 1

What is whole home performance?

Answer

Whole home performance is an engineering approach that treats a house as a single, interconnected system. Instead of evaluating heating, cooling, insulation, or ventilation as separate elements, home performance analyzes how these components interact. This methodology ensures that individual upgrades do not cause moisture issues, poor indoor air quality, or premature HVAC equipment failure.

Question 2

What is the difference between weatherization and home performance?

Answer

Weatherization focuses specifically on the building shell to reduce heat transfer and air leakage. Common tasks include installing attic insulation, caulking gaps, and adding weatherstripping around doors.Home performance includes weatherization but expands to mechanical systems. It addresses HVAC duct design, airflow balance, combustion safety, appliance electrification, and indoor air quality management.

Question 3

Can I use LIHEAP or the Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) if my home needs major repairs first?

Answer

Standard federal weatherization programs often defer or turn away homes that have leaky roofs, broken floors, or electrical issues. The Sustainability Institute's Whole Home Performance program is specifically designed to bridge this gap by combining critical health and safety home repairs with energy upgrades so your home can successfully receive insulation and HVAC efficiency improvements.

Question 4

What happens during a home energy audit?

Answer

A comprehensive home energy audit involves data-driven testing by a certified professional. The process typically includes three main diagnostic procedures:Blower Door Testing: A specialized fan depressurizes the house to measure total air leakage and pinpoint hidden drafts.Infrared Thermal Imaging: Thermal cameras locate missing, sagging, or damaged insulation inside finished walls and ceilings.Combustion Safety Testing: Technicians test gas-burning appliances to confirm that carbon monoxide and combustion gasses vent safely outside.

Question 5

What repairs are covered under the program?

Answer

Depending on your home's needs discovered during our free energy audit, services can include:

Critical Structural Repairs: Roof repair or full replacement, fixing interior water damage, plumbing or electrical hazards.
Energy Efficiency & Weatherization: Sealing air leaks and drafts, installing deep attic/wall insulation, and checking gas systems.
HVAC Performance: Tune-ups, repairs, or replacements to prevent your AC from running constantly and to lower high electric bills.

Question 6

What is energy burden?

Answer

Energy burden is the percentage of a household's gross income spent directly on home energy bills. Energy experts consider an energy burden above 6% to be high.

Question 7

Why is energy burden so high in South Carolina?

Answer

South Carolina households face high energy burdens due to three primary factors:Extended periods of high summer heat and humidity that drive up cooling demands.A high concentration of aging housing stock with insufficient attic insulation.Leaky ductwork that forces heating and cooling systems to run continuously.

Question 8

How much money does weatherization save?

Answer

Standard weatherization packages that combine comprehensive air sealing with attic insulation upgrades save homeowners an average of 20% to 35% on annual heating and cooling costs.

Lower Your Energy Bills and Fix Your Home with the Whole Home Performance Program

Whole Home Performance Program Eligibility Check

Do you own your home, and is it your primary place of residence?

Which South Carolina county or region is your house in?

Gentle Household Verification

Wonderful! You seem to qualify!

Let's check together!

Outside Service Territory

Homeownership is Required

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