Published: November 02, 2009 11:57 am      

KCEOC working to make homes warmer

By Carl Keith Greene

Staff Writer

Janet B. Miller moved into her home on Walker Park Road south of Barbourville 21 years ago.

She said from the start she and her family tried to improve the home but, “It broke down as fast as we tried.”

With winter heating bills sometimes hitting the $400 mark last winter, and cold air intruding through poorly installed windows and doors and little or inadequate insulation, living in the home became difficult.

“I was freezing to death,” she said.

As she spoke Friday morning, a Kentucky Communities Economic Opportunities Council (KCEOC) team was working to make the life of the 79-year-old retired nurse a lot easier.

Miles Estes of KCEOC said the work being done on Miller’s home will easily save about 30 percent on her heating bills.

KCEOC’s Michael Swafford said broken windows and inadequate doors will be replaced, open spaces around windows and doors will be sealed. New thick insulation will be blown into the walls and attic, raising the R-value from about R6 to R30.

The job by the five-person crew should take about three days, he estimated.

KCEOC’s Weatherization Assistance Program is federally funded and continues year-round, said Estes.

The Department of Energy program is designed to reduce energy costs for low-income families who either own or rent their homes.

It also applies to multifamily homes or mobile homes.

“I think it’s a marvelous thing. It’ll be warmer, I know,” Miller said of the work in progress.

Born on Stinking Creek, Miller lived her life as a nurse at Logan Hospital in Barbourville and other medical facilities in Dayton, Ohio, and Clearwater, Fla.

Energy department estimates indicate that for every dollar invested in a weatherization, $2.73 are returned in benefits. Those benefits include $1.65 in energy-related benefits and $1.07 in other benefits.

It estimates that low-income families save about $350 in energy bills after their homes have been weatherized.

And, it says, by decreasing the amount of personal income spent on energy, the weatherization makes housing more affordable and lowers the demand for public assistance and keeps more money in local communities.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act increased the average statewide expenditure limit to $6,500 for the 2009 fiscal year. The previous fiscal year, KCEOC served 43 homes with 135 still on the waiting list. Swafford said there is an average of six to eight months on the waiting list.

Miller said of the work of KEOC, “I think they do a great job. I’m so glad they’re here. I couldn’t have done it on my own, absolutely not. I do well to buy groceries.”

For more information about the Weatherization Assistance Program, call KCEOC at 606-546-3152.