MaineQuality

My friends are proud Yankee penny pinchers, we even jokingly call ourselves "Miser Snobs" as we compete with each other to find the best bargains. But our frugality is the opposite of Scrooge, we try to save on the everyday expenses so we can be more generous with the things and people we love.

Even a Miser Snob recognizes that in order to save a lot later, you may have to spend a little now, and that's especially true in Maine. As they say in Maine there are two seasons, winter and the 4th of July. And I just may have found the most bodacious bargain to put all the other Miser Snobs in the state to shame.

Last year the state of Maine planned to weatherize 4,400 homes with the help of nearly $41.9 million in funding from the Recovery Act. This year there ain't no Recovery Act, but next year I found a way we may be able to weatherize over 4,000 homes for only $40 thousand. Now that's a savings!
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The key is the AmeriCorps program being planned by Hour Exchange Portland and the University of Maine in Orono that would place AmeriCorps members in ten sites throughout Maine to do Step One Weatherization. And it gets better, the majority of the funding would come from the federal government with only a small portion needed to come from local funding. Just a $4,000-$10,000 cost share is needed to pay for an AmeriCorps member to spend at least 1700 hours weatherizing homes, that's 4 hours spent at 425 homes of lower income seniors. That's just $10 a home, you can't even get 3 gallons of heating oil for that price!

This is something we can all do for the people we care about. It's estimated 80% of Maine homes use heating oil and the average home consumes 900 gallons of heating oil a year. At $3.50 a gallon just a 10% energy reduction from weatherization can save the average homeowner over $300 a year! Step One Weatherization focuses on home improvements that have the biggest impact at the lowest cost. Work is focused on proper air sealing and low cost energy saving tasks found throughout the house. Wire/pipe penetrations, bulkhead doors, windows, water tank and pipes in the Basement. Chimney chase, recessed lights, and hatch in the Attic. Windows, exterior doors, outlets, baseboards, and fireplace in the living Area. All work that has a huge impact on energy and heating efficiency and that are inexpensive and easy to do in a few hours.

There are too many families and elders in this state who have few choices when it comes to heating their homes. They sacrifice and try to save by cutting their medication pills in half and are afraid to get out of bed they are buried under so many blankets. Just last year the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program served almost 64,000 households in Maine with an average of $860 in support, and oil prices continue to rise as budgets continue to be slashed.

But we can start moving things in the right direction again. At Hour Exchange Portland I've seen a community of neighbors of all ages work together, learn new skills and weatherize nearly 100 homes last year. Despite the profound savings and enormous community impact, this program won't happen unless more organizations sign up to host these AmeriCorps Weatherizers. Local organizations who would be ideal candidates are finding their budgets stretched so thin that even coming up with an extra $4,000 has become a daunting barrier. I know we can get the state, cities, individuals, and businesses to step up and support this program, but we need your help. Because if we don't work together there won't be any AmeriCorps members weatherizing Maine homes next winter, they'll be working some place else. This is one opportunity any Miser Snob will tell you we can't afford to let pass us by. If you know an organization that can host an AmeriCorps Weatherizer or potential funding source please contact hourexchangeportland@gmail.com or call (207) 619-4437.

(Also appeared in Maine Insights and the Munjoy Hill Observer July 2011.)