| ARRA Weatherization Success Story |
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Warm and Well
Weatherization program brings relief
Wallowa County resident Gwendolyn Trice was suffering from severe headaches and a lack of energy. She was also used to sleeping with ear muffs and socks during long, cold winter months.Thanks to having a weatherization audit performed on her home, however, she now feels warm and well year round.
During the weatherization audit performed on her 1940 built house by Community Connection of Northeast Oregon, auditor Kale Elmer discovered that the source of Trice's headaches was an extremely high level of carbon monoxide fumes coming from a gas-fired kitchen oven that was less than five years old.
"Thanks to the help of Community Connections of Northeast Oregon, a mechanical contractor came to my house the very next day after the audit and made the necessary repairs to the oven," says Trice.
Trice now has a CO detector/alarm in her kitchen and while she's cooking, she uses an exhaust fan and opens a window.
Since the repairs were made, Trice says she feels better and has more energy while at home. "I was so relieved to have the origin of my illness identified. It certainly would have been fatal," she says.
Now, Trice not only feels better, but she's warmer, too. In addition to taking care of the carbon monoxide problem, weatherization experts warmed up her house.
Contractors performed air sealing, installed sidewall insulation, attic insulation, under floor insulation and tuned the gas furnace. They also replaced some of her windows with new vinyl clad/dual-pane sashes.
"As soon as the outside walls were insulated, I felt the difference immediately and was able to turn my heat down," says Trice, adding that her house also stays "nice and cool" during summer.
Community Connections is just one of several local agencies providing various social services that are funded and overseen by Oregon Housing and Community Services, the state's housing finance agency.
Trice's health and home improvements were made under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Weatherization Assistance Program, which provides weatherization and energy conservation services at no cost to households whose incomes are at or below 200 percent of the Federal poverty level. The program is funded primarily by the U.S. Department of Energy, with other funds from utility companies and the Bonneville Power Administration.
In addition to overseeing and funding local agencies to carry out the program's work, OHCS also monitors compliance and completions to ensure that local, state and federal standards are met.
"This is a vital service to educate, identify and provide weatherization solutions. Many folks do not have a carbon monoxide detector that can assist in early warning and saving lives," says Trice, adding, "Thank you."
For more information, see: www.ohcs.oregon.gov/OHCS/SOS_Low_Income_Weatherization_Assistance_Oregon.shtml
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