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John K. Woodruff, League staff
LONOKE-As Leslie Pettit tried to balance a bouncy Styrofoam
ball over a hole that exuded a stream of air from a simulated
non-insulated wall of a house, visitors witnessed the
energy-saving effects of insulation. Pettit, a weatherization
auditor with the Central Arkansas Development Council
(CADC), noted the temperature. In the wall without insulation,
heat from an incandescent light bulb soared to 92.7 degrees.
The temperature remained at a pleasant 72.5 degrees in
the wall with the best insulation: blown cellulose-recycled
newspaper that had been treated with a fire retardant.
The Fiberglas insulation produced moderate cooling. Lonoke
Mayor Thomas Privett was on hand at this County Courthouse-situated
ceremony and demonstrations to show Lonoke residents
and others the money-saving effects that insulation,
caulking, tightening doors and windows and taking other
steps can have on utility bills. Privett had proclaimed
the day in honor of the statewide Weatherization Day.
His city has been pushing weatherizing homes for years.
"I can attest to you how many lives and many people have
been helped in our community" by the program, Privett
said. The mayor noted that CADC had improved eight homes
in his city in the last year and as part of the community
action agencies' helping "thousands of people" throughout
the state, through the program, "attain better housing,
more affordable energy and a better way of life." Privett
stressed in the proclamation that the program "contributes
to the improvement and progress of communities by eliminating
carbon emissions, reducing dependence on foreign oil,
stimulating local economies through the purchase of goods
and services, creating jobs and stabilizing neighborhoods."
Beverly Palmer, weatherization director for the CADC,
said that cities could encourage residents to apply for
the weatherization grants from their local community
action agencies. Some applicants, however, must be turned
away until high levels of carbon monoxide-commonly found
in homes with faulty space heaters or cooking stoves-are
found. Rosie Gooden's home in nearby Pettus learned through
the program that she was breathing in carbon monoxide.
After she applied for a grant, weatherization workers
detected too much carbon monoxide coming from a stove
in the kitchen and a space heater in the den. A son who
lives nearby replaced the stove and the heater was removed,
leaving one for the whole house. Gooden then received
the grant. "I'm going to love the improvements; I just
thank God for the program," Gooden, 67, a disabled mother
and a former 25-year employee of Remington Arms near
Lonoke, said. She hopes to use some of what she expects
to save on energy to buy clothes and pay for medicine.
The Lonoke event was held to catch the attention of the
entire state about the Weatherization Assistance Program,
funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and administered
in the state by the Office of Community Services and
operated primarily by the community action agencies throughout
the state. Weatherization grants typically invest $2,700
in a residence to install improvements that correct drafts
around windows and doors, install insulation and take
other steps. Governor Mike Huckabee praised the program
for its "proven effectiveness" and said it is "in the
best interest of our government and others in the public
and private sectors to work together to support and strengthen
this program."
Is
your city or town a skateboard playground?
After
school activities pay off
Lonoke mayor
helps promote weatherizing homes
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