Rocco’s Renovations: RENEW Client Regains Comfort at Home and Lowers Utility Bills

January 7, 2026

The High Cost of Winter Heat

Rocco was paying $300 per month in utility bills, and his house still wasn’t warm in the winter. His long-time Lake Ontario home had once been a vacation getaway, built for warm days by the shore. In the back addition of the house, the only source of heat was an overtaxed space heater.

Rocco wanted to figure out how to make his home warmer and more comfortable. He also wanted to stop paying so much for heat that was finding its way out of every crack and crevice and through poorly insulated walls.

He reached out to his local utility looking for solutions. Looking at his history of high bills, the utility company recommended an energy audit, which would help Rocco address the sources of his heat loss.

Small Funding Gap Could Stall Project

PathStone identified the work Rocco’s home needed and secured 61% of the project cost through their own grant sources. Programs exist to help with home upgrades, but each one has their own requirements about who is eligible, what work can be covered, and at what dollar amount. After crunching the numbers, $5,000 of the scope was left uncovered — without which, Rocco’s hopes of lower utility bills and draft-free rooms would be impossible.

That last 39% of the cost was where RENEW came in, supplying the final dollars that would make the project viable.

Total project cost = $12,820. Other funding sources: 61%. RENEW: 29% ($5,000). A photo of a man in a chair with a cat on his lap and a mini-split on the wall. — *Rocco’s home energy upgrade project was assessed at $12,820, but existing programs would only cover 61%. RENEW stepped in to cover the final 39% so Rocco’s home could get the work it needed.*

Rocco’s Renovations Lead to Big Savings

Rocco’s home received much-needed insulation, a new furnace, and a heat pump hot water heater. After the work, Rocco could sit comfortably in the back addition of his home. His first utility bill following the improvements was only $15. His fuel usage went down by 54% and more than 30 tons of greenhouse gas emissions were kept out of our atmosphere.

Rocco's monthly energy bill. Bill = $300/month and after = $15/month. Carbon emissions savings = 30 tons. — *Before the upgrades, Rocco was paying an average of $300 per month on utilities. His first bill after the upgrades was only $15.*

About RENEW

Over the last 10 years, RENEW has upgraded 925 homes while eliminating nearly 12,000 tons of carbon emissions. This work was made possible thanks to the Community Foundation’s most unrestricted dollars, resources from other local funders, and $245,455 in donations to RENEW from community members and fundholders.

RENEW — an initiative of Rochester Area Community Foundation celebrating its 10^th anniversary — works with a network of community partners to help income-eligible area residents make their homes more energy-efficient, healthier, and safer, while reducing local greenhouse gas emissions.

Donate to the RENEW Climate Fund to make more projects like Rocco’s possible.

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