Christine Hite shows off her new furnace
Christine Hite can't wait until winter comes
Contributed By:The 411 News
Her home was chosen to celebrate 40 years of Weatherization Assistance Program
Christine Hite reinvested in her parents’ home after moving back from Baltimore. She put on a new roof, replaced the windows, and finished the basement.
Hite is retired and every winter signs up for the Low Income Heating Assistance Program (LIHEAP), administered by the Northwest Indiana Community Action Corp. with NIPSCO.
And then she followed advice from a longtime friend who calls each year to remind her about sign-up time. “Chris, you qualify for the weatherization program. Take this number and call Jim.”
She called Jim Witczak, NWICA Weatherization Supervisor and learned she qualified for a home assessment.
NWICA’s home assessment brought good and bad news. Hite qualified for a new furnace and water heater. The bad news, “My old furnace ran on a fuse and the new furnace would need a circuit breaker.”
That was during the 2015 heating season.
Kicking off this year’s heating season and the 40th anniversary of the Weatherization Assistance Program, NWICA selected Hite’s home in Gary for the October 25th celebration. She met U.S. Congressman Pete Visclosky and Indiana State Sen. Lonnie Randolph. A blower door demonstration showed how air leakage is measured in a home.
Melissa Bohacek, NWICA’s communications manager said, “Since the inception of the Weatherization Assistance Program in 1976, more than 7.4 million homes have been weatherized across the nation. In 2015, more than 500 low-income earning homes received weatherization services in our service area.”
Low-income families are estimated to pay 14.4% or more of their annual incomes for energy use compared with only 3.3% for non-low income families.
Hite’s home had a circuit breaker and more. NWICA used funds from the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority’s Healthy Homes program to pay for the electrical system work as well as mold remediation for the attic.
Bohacek said that moved Hite’s home from the deferral list to one they could weatherize. The weatherization program included insulating the attic. That helped the ceiling keep the heat on the home’s main floor and out of the attic. More insulation was added in the basement.
Air leakage in the home was down, from 2061 to 1087.
During the winter months of 2015-16, Hite’s home used 718 therms of natural gas. “We anticipate a savings of 30% and more in her home this winter with an estimated $75 monthly reduction in the heating bill,” Witczak said.
“I can’t wait til winter comes,” Hite said.
And that’s not all. Ventilation fans were added to each bathroom. All of the electrical outlets were upgraded. When another friend told Hite about NIPSCO’s appliance replacement program, she got a new refrigerator.
Story Posted:11/21/2016
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