Mention winterizing a house to most homeowners and the knee jerk responses are bound to begin flying: Time consuming, expensive, unnecessary. Tackling the last comment first, it’s true that energy takes a smaller bite out of most homeowners’ budgets than it used to. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, energy now accounts for about 5 percent of disposable income, down from a high of 8 percent in the 1960s.