(AND MY HOUSE QUALIFIES FOR WEATHERIZATION SERVICES?)
One of our Building Performance Institute (BPI) certified energy auditors will contact you to schedule an in-home energy assessment. The energy auditor gathers and records a great deal of information on your home. They use specialized equipment such as a blower door that measures the amount of air that leaks in and out of your home and infrared cameras that can “see” through walls to assess insulation levels. They also use combustion analyzers and carbon monoxide detectors to assess the safe and efficient operation of gas heating systems and appliances. All of this information is used to develop an energy improvement work scope for your home.
A licensed HVAC technician will evaluate and clean your heating system. If needed, he will make recommendations for repair or replacement based on his assessment. As funding allows, your system may be repaired or replaced.
Next, our own trained work crews install the materials and perform the energy saving measures outlined in the work scope. This routinely takes two to three days depending on the amount of work required. Finally, we make a quality control inspection of the work that was done to make certain everything was installed per Weatherization Standards.
Most of our clients start to notice a difference in their homes almost immediately. They feel more comfortable with regards to heating and cooling. They notice those “cold” spots in their home are gone. They also notice their heating & air conditioning is not running as much as it used to, yet they feel warmer in winter and cooler summer. Then they start to see the difference in their electric bill or gas bill. Many of our clients have seen a $100 per month drop in their electric bills. Everyone may not experience such a dramatic decrease, but your home will be more energy efficient, healthy and comfortable.
The goal of the program is to help qualified low income households reduce the cost of heating and cooling their home. This is accomplished by increasing the energy efficiency of their home while at the same time improving their overall health and safety. Each year more than 3,000 families benefit from the program statewide.
Households with incomes at or below 200% of the federal poverty guidelines or those receiving cash assistance payments under Work First (TANF) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) are eligible for weatherization services. Priority is placed on providing assistance to the elderly, individuals with disabilities, families with children and those households with high energy burdens.
Weatherization assistance is available for single-family homes and mobile homes. You do not have to own your own home to be eligible, but renters must have written permission from their landlord allowing for weatherization services to be performed on the home.
A common thread through all of our services, be they Family Services, Senior Services, or Housing Services, is that we help change lives by providing needed resources and support. Coastal Community Action, Inc. provides needed services to thousands of residents in our region annually.
