Many utilities will send a specialist to find where your home leaks heated and cooled air, for free or at a discount. Search your utility’s name plus “home energy assessment” and book one before winter. You’ll leave with a to-do list and the rebates you qualify for.
A tax break won’t cover the assessment anymore. The federal credit worth up to $150 toward a home energy audit ended with 2025, which leaves utility and state programs as the main way to get one discounted.
A professional assessment goes well beyond a look around. The specialist works through the house room by room. The Energy Department notes assessors may use tools such as blower doors and infrared cameras to find where energy escapes. The report then spells out what to fix, and in some programs the findings decide which rebates you can get.
Massachusetts shows what a strong program looks like. Mass Save, sponsored by utilities including Eversource and National Grid, offers no-cost virtual or in-person assessments. Its follow-up incentives include 75% to 100% off approved insulation and air sealing, plus 0% financing for eligible upgrades. Renters in one- to four-unit homes qualify too, so check even if you don’t own.
When a search turns up nothing, check the rebates or energy efficiency page on your utility’s website, or call the number on your bill. If your household income is low, also contact your state’s weatherization agency about the federal Weatherization Assistance Program, which makes eligible homes more energy efficient at no cost to the household. Before the visit, list your drafty rooms and pull a year of energy bills, since both point the assessor to the problems.
Then work through the report’s fixes, cheapest first. Seal air leaks and handle the other low-cost repairs before you price rebated upgrades like insulation. ENERGY STAR puts the payoff from sealing leaks and adding insulation at up to 10% of your annual energy bills.
Book the visit before you buy a single tube of caulk, so every dollar goes to a leak the assessor found.
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