With winter weather fast approaching, the City of Boston is looking to bring residents in from the cold with a no-cost weatherization program. Now in its second year of operation, members of the Renew Boston program are urging renters and homeowners alike to register for the free services before the December 31 deadline.

Along with a free “energy audit” meant to pinpoint points of waste in a home, the program also offers no-cost retrofitting and weatherization work to shore up drafts and cut down on utility bills, a service that has already benefited more than 600 Boston households.

Boston’s Office of Environmental and Energy Services chief James Hunt said that while he is pleased with the number of applicants the Renew program has received, the city’s older housing stock and harsh winters mean there should be no shortage of homes ready for a retrofit.

“The main thing is, we have these resources available to us for a limited time,” Hunt said. “We want to get these services to as many people as possible before time runs out.”

After residents apply for the program, contractors from the Boston-based energy efficiency firm Next Step Living will visit a home to review what steps can be taken to better weatherize the residence and perform simple home improvements like installing compact florescent light bulbs and low-flow showerheads, as well as basic furnace tune-ups – simple steps Hunt said could save a family up to $200 annually.

The Renew Boston program began as a way to streamline the myriad of weatherization services available at the state level, where utility companies are already required to pay for 75 percent of all home weatherization work, and uses some of the city’s federal stimulus money to cover the 25 percent of costs that would otherwise fall on the homeowner.  

Jake Glickel, chief of staff for the city’s Office of Environmental and Energy Services. said that while the program is meant to target residents that fall within 60 to 120 percent of Boston’s median income, services at low to no cost are available to anyone willing to apply.

“Just call us and we can figure out what works best for you,” Glickel said. “There are so many ways people can access these services, but we want to provide that single point of contact to help guide people through what can be a pretty confusing process.”

In an effort to make Renew Boston more accessible, the OEES has also tapped local community networks in order to reach out to households who might otherwise miss out on the program’s benefits, including Adam Gibbons of the Dorchester Bay Economic Development Coalition.

As a neighborhood network coordinator for Renew Boston, Gibbons has become a regular sight at civic associations and farmer’s markets where he says the biggest challenge is convincing potential clients that the offer isn’t too good to be true.

“Everyone I talk to asks the same thing, ‘it’s free now, but what’s the catch?’ ” Gibbons said. “The reality is, there is no catch, you just have to be at the home when the technicians arrive.”

Since beginning his work with Renew Boston in June, Gibbons said he has signed up about 150 people a month, oftentimes by ignoring the global implications of energy conservation and instead focusing on the day-to-day impact the program can have on residents.

“What I’ve seen is that people don’t quite get it, I think everyone cares about global warming, but they can’t wrap their heads around such a big issue,” Gibbons said. “What I have sold it on is that it’s a free professional assessment and free insulation for your home, the key is that it’s so simple, so concrete.”