The department announced Thursday that it was providing the funds under its Weatherization Assistance Program, an initiative designed to provide financial support to community-level weatherization agencies.
Adding insulation, sealing up drafts and wrapping pipes in heat-trapping material can have a major impact on households' energy use, particularly in colder climates. In June alone, the WAP helped weatherize nearly 32,000 homes; over the course of the summer, it will weatherize an estimated 80,000 houses.
Three-quarters of the $120 million that the DOE is granting will go to more than 100 high-performing weatherization companies, where it will be used to install alternative-energy technologies like solar water heaters and solar photovoltaic systems. The awards, the DOE said, will "help families save even more on their energy bills."
Not only do weatherization efforts lead to energy savings, they create jobs, as well. The DOE estimates that 12,000 jobs were supported by weatherization funding in the second quarter. In total, $5 billion in stimulus monies will be spent on weatherization - an investment in saving money by saving energy, as Energy Secretary Steven Chu says.
