After divorcing two years ago, 74-year-old David McCoy moved from Oregon to Kalispell. He thought he understood what winter was like because he spent nine years here in the 1970s.
That was before he moved into the only shelter he could afford: a 38-year-old mobile home on McMannamy Draw.
When winter hit, McCoy realized his windows leaked cold air, his trailer wasn’t insulated enough, his furnace wasn’t working and he was running out of options on a fixed income. He repaired what he could with his carpentry skills, but realized he needed help.
“I did not have finances to do all this,” McCoy said.
A friend suggested that McCoy apply for no-cost weatherization at the Community Action Partnership of Northwest Montana. The result, McCoy said, was remarkable,.
His windows were sealed, his furnace replaced and his insulation was fortified. Instead of paying to heat the chilly outside air, McCoy said he saved 50 percent to 60 percent of previously lost heat.
Many Flathead Valley residents are weatherizing their homes this year with the help of Community Action Partnership of Northwest Montana. As a no-cost program, CAP NW of MT will weatherize homes for low-income residents to lower energy costs. Officials said they are busier than ever after receiving more than $2.65 million in federal stimulus money and a change in eligibility standards.
Weatherization has been going on for years, but weatherization department director Margie Jones said the stimulus money gives them the opportunity to help double the amount of people than in previous years.
In 2007, the weatherization department worked on 170 homes. The number increased to 245 in 2008 and to 412 in 2009. Along with more houses, the program can now afford to spend $6,500 per project, up from $3,500.
“This is probably the most visible stimulus-expanded program we’re going to have,” said Doug Rauthe, CAP of NW MT director.
The CAP NW of MT staff performs an energy audit on a house to see where the problem areas are. Once the audit is completed, there are many ways to fix problems, including repairing insulation, fixing or replacing the furnace, sealing up the house and fixing or replacing windows.
The only service a client needs to help pay for is new, thermal windows, officials said.
Before anyone can qualify for free weatherization, they must first qualify for the state’s Low-Income Energy Assistance Program, Rauthe said. To be eligible, a resident’s income level cannot exceed 200 percent of the federal poverty level.
Time requirements, however, have changed. Previously, person needed to prove that their annual income fell within eligible levels. Now, in an effort to help with recent recession struggles, the resident only needs to prove eligibility for the three months previous to the current month.
“We’re trying to address the needs of people in the temporary lay-off situation,” said Kim DeWitt of the LIEAP department at CAP NW of MT.
The weatherization program was originally awarded $4 million in federal stimulus dollars, but that number has already been cut, Jones said. To complicate the situation, private homes were suddenly considered federal projects because of the stimulus money. The federal money could not be used until the prevailing wage, used to pay the contracted workers, was figured out.
The wage wasn’t decided on until Sept. 7.
“We should’ve been spending this money since April,” Jones said. But Rauthe added that they have spent most of their regular weatherization budget to cover for the stalled money so the agency would not fall behind.
A staff of 17 in-house workers performs many of the weatherization tasks, Jones said, but local contractors are also hired. This was not always the casee during the housing boom in Flathead County.
“I couldn’t find a contractor,” Jones said.
Even with a record number of projects this year, Jones is confident more will trickle in. The weatherization crews work 12 months a year and are aiming to permanently change the housing stock for Americans, Rauthe said, to help people who can’t afford to pay high heat bills.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the average weatherized household nationwide saved 23 percent on their annual primary heating fuel use. Jones said Montanans are below the national average at 19 percent.
A lower energy bill was one of the perks McCoy enjoyed after his house was weatherized. He said money spent on two months of heating bills before the fix-up stretched to cover six months. The weatherization team has also come to make sure his furnace lasts through this winter.
“They just about bent over backwards for me as far as I’m concerned,” McCoy said. “It was a tremendous difference.”