Lora Bryant of Floyd County has lived in her home for nearly 17 years, but began to have more and more trouble keeping her house warm.
Bryant explained that the rooms in the home didn’t heat equally and that in order to sleep in the bedrooms during the winter, extra heaters and blankets would be needed. “When you got up in the morning, the floor would be like ice,” she said. But the most troubling issues she found were a constant draft in the living room and monthly heating bills between $200 and almost $300.
Bryant saw a flyer in her local post office about Big Sandy Area Community Action Program’s Weatherization Assistance Program and thought that maybe she could get some help figuring out her home heating issues.
BSACAP Weatherization Assistance Program inspector Steve Mullins and his crew assessed the home and discovered that, in addition to the major draft, there was very little insulation in the attic and none at all under the home. Inspector Mullins explained that essentially warm air was escaping the house as fast as it was coming in. He calculated the correct amount of insulation required for the home and used a blower door to measure the airflow out the home.
The crew then got to work and added the proper amount of insulation to the attic and beneath the house. They sealed off the draft and also found worn insulation on the home’s duct work, which they replaced with better quality insulation.
The Weatherization Crew also ensured that Bryant had a working heating system and installed a carbon monoxide detector and smoke detector to improve the home’s safety. The crew also installed a CFM vent designed to improve air quality. Bryant also qualified for a refrigerator replacement that upgraded him to a more energy efficient model.
After the work was completed, the amount of warm air escaping the house was reduced by three times and Bryant’s electric bills steadily decreased. “It is comfortable all over this house now,” she said, adding that the Weatherization Crew completed the work on her home during the hottest time of the year and never complained. “They did such a thorough job and checked everything. They were such a good crew. I was totally amazed by what they did.”
The Weatherization Assistance Program is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and administered by the Kentucky Housing Corporation.