“We save on average $20.00 every month on our electricity bill.” That’s what Etienne and Claire Lamme said after we weatherized their home last fall.
The 1920’s bungalow in SE Portland, handed down to Etienne from his parents, has all its original windows and doors and really needed some draft-stopping measures. A "cool"from NW Natural participated in one of our volunteer weatherization days at Etienne and Claire’s home on a fall Saturday. The volunteers installed draft-stopping window kits on 16 windows and weather-stripping on their doors.
Volunteer days are part of CEP’s In-Homes program, which helps weatherize the homes of low-income seniors and people with disabilities to reduce energy costs and increase home comfort. Each year Community Energy Project serves 195 households across Portland with these valuable services with funds from the Portland Housing Bureau.
In addition to reducing their monthly electric bill, the Lammes' immediately noticed a difference in the amount of cold air flowing into their home, making the home much more comfortable and warm. “The window kits were installed so nicely, we leave them up year-round.” As seniors on a fixed income, what Etienne and Claire save on energy costs leaves them with more mony to go towards other necessities like food and medicine.
“With the elderly population on the rise and many on fixed incomes, there are more and more seniors who will need services like we received from CEP. Many seniors may put off or not take care of repairs or weatherization and that could turn out disastrous for them. Help from donors could be the difference of seniors being able to stay in their homes... [and] literally keep seniors from being homeless.” - Etienne
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