Weatherization and Insulation Technicians Save Homeowners Big Bucks in Energy Costs

Weatherizing your home can really pay off in huge savings on your energy costs, if you can afford the upfront cost of it. Depending on the size of your home of course, it's probably not all that expensive and will more than likely pay for itself within a few years, sometimes even in as little as one year! Most homes can be weatherized for around $2000, although on larger homes, the cost can be as high as $10,000. The savings though, are astronomical. Most people save on the average 50% off their heating and cooling bills after weatherizing their homes. This means that if you typically have a $200-a-month electric bill, and you spend $2000 fixing energy leaks in your house, the cost of weatherizing your home could pay for itself in only 20 months. After that, it's all savings.

The people who provide this service - that is, the people who weatherize and insulate your home for a fee - are called weatherization and insulation technicians. If you're a homeowner thinking of having your home weatherized, and you have a lot of free time on your hands and the expertise to take on the project alone, you can save a few bucks by doing the job yourself, but most people are far too busy to handle such a task. Weatherizing a home takes both time and know-how, and many homeowners don't have either one. However, for the professionals, it's a piece of cake.

For the professional weatherization and insulation technician, the ability to crouch, crawl, stoop, kneel, balance and climb are paramount to getting and keeping the job, as most of the work is done in attics, crawl spaces, and other places that seemingly only a child could access; yet it must be done by you, the technician. You'll work in extreme conditions sometimes, including heat, cold and dampness, and often in a noisy environment. The work is hard, but varied. Rarely do you work more than a few days at a time in the same place.

Often the pay isn't all that great either, but on the upside, it doesn't require a lot of schooling to acquire a job in this profession. Most places require a certification course, which can be obtained easily enough at most local colleges or vocational training schools. The one thing you must be aware of, and be okay with, if you plan to apply for a job as a weatherization and insulation technician is that although the pay scale may increase over time, the advancement opportunities usually just aren't there in this type of work. In other words, if you get hired as a weatherization and insulation technician, don't expect to graduate to a desk job anytime soon, if at all. Chances are, you'll still be in the same position, although maybe as crew chief, in 10 years or longer.

Still, if you enjoy the work (and lots of people do), it's a good career for someone just starting out in life and it pays the bills. Plus, you're helping people to conserve energy, so that makes it a worthwhile profession.

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