🛠 Step 2: Use the Home Energy Score to Plan Your Retrofit
It’s time to explore:
- ✅ Enter your data into the Home Energy Score Tool and generate an unofficial score
- ✅ Test different upgrade scenarios and see how your score changes
- ✅ Calculate cost savings from potential improvements
🔧 Try Using The Home Energy Score To Model Energy Reductions Until You Reach 50%
The Home Energy Score doesn’t just rate a home — it can provide a roadmap, showing which upgrades will deliver the biggest energy and emissions reductions. It becomes the foundation for creating upgrade “packages” that make sense for your home.
🧩 The Power of Phased Packages
Most homeowners won’t do everything at once — and they don’t have to.
Instead, they use the Home Energy Score to map out upgrade packages based on timing, budget, and life events (like move-in or replacing a boiler). Each step improves comfort and affordability — while staying on track toward their ultimate goal: a low-emissions, low-cost, resilient home.
🔧 Select A Package To Model In The Home Energy Score
🔹 A Basic Package
- ✔ Low-cost, high-impact upgrades
- ✔ Ideal for homes with little insulation or air leaks
- Includes: Air sealing, attic insulation (R-49+), LED lighting
- 📌 Follow: the ABCs — Attic, Basement, and Conditioned Spaces. The Stack Effect pulls warm air out the top of your home and draws cold air in from below. Always seal before you insulate to stop the cycle.
🔹 An Intermediate Package
- ✔ Builds on the basic package
- ✔ Ideal for homes needing moderate upgrades without major renovations
- Includes: Window upgrades, wall insulation, high-efficiency HVAC
- 📌 Follow
🔹 Deep Retrofit
- ✔ Go all-in on energy efficiency + electrification and slash energy use 50% or more
- ✔ Ideal for net-zero ready or renewable-powered homes
- Includes: Full electrification, advanced insulation, solar, battery ready or installed
🔌 Electrify Your Home: Planning Checklist
Use this interactive guide to plan your upgrades and maximize your savings.
✅ Step 1: What Do You Use Now?
🔎 Need a bigger panel?
Signs you might need an upgrade:
- Main breaker under 100 amps
- Old or crowded fuse box
- Planning for EV charger, heat pump, or induction stove
✅ Step 2: Check Your Efficiency Readiness
🛠️ Pro Tip: Seal and insulate before installing heat pumps — it saves money and boosts comfort!
✅ Step 3: Rebate Lookup
💵 Tip: Stack rebates + tax credits + IRA incentives to save thousands. Some rebates cover electrical panels and insulation upgrades too!
✅ Step 4: Plan Your Upgrades
📋 Smart Upgrade Sequence:
1. Air seal & insulate → 2. Upgrade panel → 3. Install efficient electric appliances and heating/cooling systems → 4. Add solar/batteries later.
🚫 Safety Tip:
If you remove a gas furnace or water heater, ensure the chimney vent is safely sealed or resized.
✅ Step 5: Your Why
✅ Bonus: Living in Your Electrified Home
💬 Credit: This checklist was developed in collaboration with Tim Wulling, a founding member of Transition Town—ASAP (Saint Anthony Park, MN).
❓ FAQ: Addressing Common Homeowner Concerns
❓ What if I can’t afford major upgrades right away?
💡 Start small! Air sealing and attic insulation offer the biggest savings for the lowest cost, and many upgrades qualify for rebates & incentives. But even if you're not ready to invest today, it still makes sense to make a plan—so when something breaks unexpectedly, you’re prepared to choose the green option from your plan, rather than defaulting to the status quo replacement that locks in inefficiency for another decade.
🏡 Take The Quiz
Test your knowledge! Select your answers and submit to see your results.