Friday Declared Weatherization Day in KY
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October 30, 2009
FRANKFORT, Kenn. - Friday has been declared Weatherization Day in Kentucky. It's a chance to remind residents with drafty homes and limited resources, that there is a place to turn for help. Thousands will get that help from Community Action Kentucky's weatherization program.
Executive director Kip Bowmar says the idea is to provide those homes with the protection they need against the elements as the mercury dips and energy bills rise.
"Blowing attic insulation, dealing with various air sealing and air infiltration issues, furnace repair, possibly adding wall or floor insulation."
The program works to make sure a warmer home is also a safe home, says Bowmar.
"We can spend up to about sixty-five hundred dollars in a household of which we can dedicate up to twelve hundred dollars of it for health and safety reasons."
The weatherization program is also getting a chunk of money from the economic stimulus package for work in the years to come, he adds.
"Over the next three years, it's estimated we're going to provide services to approximately nine thousand households with approximately seventy million dollars in funding to be able to serve those households."
Bowmar says the program runs year 'round and the improvements add up to real dollars saved for eligible households with income under 200 percent of federal poverty guidelines; more than $400, on average, the first year, and topping $5,000 over the course of several years. Last year, the program served more than 2,600 households, paid for with funding from the Department of Energy.