$500 Insulation Rebate Helps Homeowners Lower Bills, Improve Comfort

Zachary Jacobs and Anna Kastelic celebrated a joyful rite of passage in September.

They bought their first home.

Their three-bedroom house in Millersville, Tennessee, just north of Nashville, was built in 1986. So the couple, both nurses at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, made some updates before moving in.

They refinished the hardwood floors, replaced carpet in the bedrooms and added a fresh coat of paint – white in the main living space, pale green in the master bedroom and peach in the guest room.

Their other renovation was less visible: adding insulation in their attic.

“It’s not something anybody’s going to see,” Jacobs said. “There’s no curb appeal to it. But it’s probably one of the better things you can do for your home.”

Energy efficiency experts at TVA EnergyRight agree, noting that attic insulation usually pays for itself within a few years by reducing heating and cooling bills.

TVA EnergyRight has extended its popular rebate program, which gives homeowners $500 in cash for bringing their attic insulation up to current building codes. That rebate is now available through Sept. 30, 2025.

“We've already seen great success and excitement around this rebate, so we want to keep that momentum going,” Bethany Kitch, senior program manager for EnergyRight residential programs, said.

The attic insulation rebate is just one of several cash offers available for homeowners as TVA invests $1.5 billion in energy efficiency and demand management programs through 2028. The programs have helped more than 54,000 homeowners and businesses save upwards of $328 million on electric bills over the life of their energy improvements since October 2023.

“We encourage everyone to take advantage of our energy-saving programs to save money and be a smarter energy consumer," Kitch said.

Jackson Morton, an employee with Koala Insulation of Nashville, seals air leaks in the attic of a Middle Tennessee home. Koala Insulation is an independently owned company that's part of a TVA-vetted contractor network.

Skeleton Attic

For many homeowners, the attic is out of sight, out of mind.

“People don’t know what’s going on in their attic. If you use it for storage, you go up there once or twice a year. If you don’t use it for storage, you never go up there,” said Brandon Beachy, owner of Koala Insulation of Nashville. “People just assume everything’s fine. They don’t want to go look, and I don’t blame them.”

But you can usually tell with just a glance whether your attic insulation is low, said Beachy, whose company worked with Jacobs and Kastelic.

You just need to look for what he calls skeleton attic.

If you poke your head up there and you can see the tops of your wood ceiling joists, you have skeleton attic.

Those bones are 2-by-6-inch or 2-by-8-inch beams. If they’re visible, you have 8 inches or less of insulation – woefully little by today’s standards.

Beachy and other contractors shared some additional telltale signs of inadequate insulation – and you don’t even have to go into your attic to check for these:

• You have hot or cold spots in your house.
• Your HVAC unit runs constantly but has trouble reaching the desired temperature.
• You see sweating or condensation on your ceiling.
• Your energy bills are high.

Former Atlanta Braves pitcher Brandon Beachy, owner of Koala Insulation of Nashville, said the symptoms of inadequate insulation are easy to spot if you know what you’re looking for.

Building Code Upgrades

The majority of homes don’t have enough attic insulation, said Jake Snavely, of Insulation Plus in Huntsville, Alabama.

“Based on our experience, about 75% of all homes are under-insulated, 90% or more if the homes are built in 1990 or prior,” he said.

Building codes have been strengthened over the years.

The current standard for the Valley region, known as R38, calls for 13 inches of blown fiberglass insulation. The amount can vary a bit depending on the brand and type of insulation.

“They didn’t used to blow anything close to R38,” Snavely said.

In Mississippi, contractor Adam Harmon, of Adam Harmon Insulation and Construction, said even some new homes are low on insulation because the boost to the R38 standard happened just a few years ago.

Harmon says homeowners taking advantage of the TVA rebate have kept his team busy all summer long and into the fall.

“My phone’s been ringing off the hook,” he said.

In the Huntsville area, Snavely’s company has been busy as well.

Homeowners do the math and conclude it’s a smart investment, he said.

With more insulation, a home’s HVAC system doesn’t have to work as hard – and that means utility bills go down. Along with the $500 rebate from TVA, there’s also a federal tax credit available.

“It’s kind of a no-brainer,” Snavely said.

Morton displays the rulers his team staples to trusses in the attic so homeowners can tell the depth of their insulation at a glance.

The Comfort Factor

Upgrading your insulation typically costs $1 to $2 per square foot of your house, Kitch said. It can reduce your energy bills by up to 20%, although contractors say they see even higher savings in some homes.

To qualify for the $500 rebate, homeowners must work with a TVA-approved contractor in the Quality Contractor Network. The contractor files the paperwork with TVA, then the homeowner confirms the upgrade was completed and receives a check in the mail.

The benefit goes beyond dollars and cents, Kitch said.

“When you replenish your attic insulation, you're not only reducing the heat loss and gain of your home, but you're improving the comfort,” she said.

In Nashville, that’s what motivates contractor Beachy, a former Atlanta Braves pitcher who got into the insulation business to help improve people’s quality of life.

“It’s crazy how much of a difference this makes,” Beachy said. “We hear some stories that hit home. ‘I haven’t slept all summer.’  ‘My kids sleep in our bedroom because upstairs is too hot.’ It’s nice to be able to help solve problems for people in their homes.”

Cody Hunter, a Koala employee, unboxes a solar-powered attic vent fan.

Not Just for Northerners

Donna Nanius recently had an insulation epiphany.

In 2023, Nanius retired to Alabama, where she grew up, after living for several decades in Albany, New York.

Up North, keeping the house warm in the winter is the main challenge, Nanius said.

But after her first hot summer back in Alabama, she found that insulation matters here, too.

“The reality is you really need it whether you’re in a cold environment or a really warm environment,” she said.

At her house in Decatur, some rooms wouldn't stay cool even though the air conditioner ran nonstop.

Snavely’s company upgraded her insulation and Nanius also made improvements to the ductwork. “It was an older home and it needed some TLC,” Nanius said.

A retired auditor and analyst, Nanius calculated that she would recoup her investment in just a few years.

As far as the comfort? That was immediate.

“It was a huge, huge difference,” she said. “Literally the same day.”

Photo Gallery

Morton and Hunter prepare to install the attic vent fan. 

Morton helps position the hose to blow fresh fiberglass insulation into the attic.

New homeowner Zachary Jacobs, right, discusses his attic upgrades with BJ Hardy, Koala’s operations manager.

PHOTO AT TOP OF PAGE: Jacobs looks up through the small scuttle hole in the ceiling of the master bedroom closet, which is the access point for his attic.

More than 2,000 attics and counting

1,928

Homeowners across the Valley who upgraded their attic insulation through TVA EnergyRight’s rebate program during FY 2024, which ended Sept. 30, 2024.

Over 120

Certified contractors from the Quality Contractor Network who carried out the work.

5,000

TVA EnergyRight’s goal for number of attic insulation upgrades by Sept 30, 2025.