Sunday, October 15, 2006
SEE FOR YOURSELF
"WHOLE HOUSE" home improvement show
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Monday
WHERE: WPXT (Channel 51), a CW Network affiliate
WHAT: As part of the effort to promote its new Maine Home Performance with Energy Star program, the Governor's Office of Energy Independence and Security has teamed with Portland TV station WPXT to create "Whole House." The half-hour show will follow contractors as they perform an energy audit of a 200-year-old home in Windham, then make energy efficiency improvements.
HOW TO WARM YOUR HOME
THIS WEEK THE Governor's Office of Energy Independence and Security is launching the new Maine Home Performance with Energy Star program.
THE PROGRAM lists and recommends contractors whom homeowners can hire when doing energy efficiency improvements.
HOMEOWNERS CAN begin by finding a contractor to do an energy audit of their home -- usually for between $200 and $500 -- to find out what improvements are needed.Audits usually include a cost/savings analysis.
PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS who meet income eligibility guidelines may be able to fund their improvements with 1-percent interest loans from the Maine State Housing Authority.
FOR MORE INFORMATION on the Maine Home Performance Program, call 800-695-1484 or go online at www. mainehomeperformance.org.
FOR INFORMATION about Maine State Housing Authority loans, go online at www.mainehousing.org.
Monday night, Mainers can watch a TV show about a Windham family who had their whole house made more energy-efficient -- from insulation and new windows to a five-zone heating system.
Then on Tuesday, they can find out how to take the same "whole house" efficiency approach themselves, with the help of a new state program.
The TV show, which will air on Portland station WPXT (Channel 51), is called "Whole House" and is part of the promotional effort for a new state program called "Maine Home Performance with Energy Star."
The efficiency program is designed to be "one-stop shopping" for people looking to identify energy problems in their homes and then correct them, said Beth Nagusky, director of the Governor's Office of Energy Independence and Security. People who find contractors through the program may also be eligible -- depending on their incomes -- for 1 percent loans through the Maine State Housing Authority to help pay for the work. In Cumberland County, for example, the income limit for a family of three or more is about $75,000.
"Maine has some of the oldest housing stock in the nation, some of the coldest winters, and 80 percent of homes are heated with oil or kerosene," said Nagusky, citing the need for assisting homeowners with energy efficiency. "The best thing about this program is that it's one-stop shopping."
The state program, which will officially be launched on Tuesday, will begin with contractors in York, Cumberland and Androscoggin counties, but the goal is to expand it statewide "as soon as possible," Nagusky said. The "Energy Star" in the program name refers to the federal Energy Star program, which sets energy efficiency guidelines for appliances and practices. The Maine Home Performance is a version of a program that is being used in states across the country.
Though most state agencies don't promote their programs by creating a reality TV show, the pairing of home improvement work and TV has proven to be a viewer favorite before.
Nagusky said her office was aware that WPXT filmed a local home energy makeover show last year called "Hot Squad." That show was inspired by a rash of popular home improvement shows, as well as rising oil prices. When Nagusky and her staff heard the station was interested in doing a similar show this year, they contacted the station about partnering on a show. The result was "Whole House."
500 FAMILIES APPLIED
The "Whole House" TV show has already done a pretty good job of promoting the Maine Home Performance program without even airing. That's because the premise of the show was that one lucky family would win an audit and whole-house makeover The process of buttoning up their home would be filmed and made into a half-hour TV show detailing the work, while giving tips and advice to viewers.
The Energy Independence office and WPXT promoted the show by advertising for people to enter a contest to become the show's subject family. Some 500 families applied. When that pool was pared to 30, home owners were asked to submit a videotape of their home and family, as well as their heating bills.
Each family's heating bills and house information was used to calculate their energy inefficiency. Each family that applied for the show will be contacted and told about the Maine Home Performance program, Nagusky said.
For the show, producers were looking for a home that needed a lot of help.
"We were looking for the worst offenders, but also for someone who was interesting and comfortable on camera," said John Marshall, creative services director of WPXT and producer of the "Whole House" show.
The family that was picked was the McCarthy family of Windham. Their house is 200 years old, with no heat in the second floor bedrooms, and a vast array of efficiency problems throughout. Plus, the McCarthys had another important reason to want a warmer home -- they were expecting their fourth child.
The baby, Nathaniel, was born on Sept. 24, just before contractors started working on their house. Because of that, the whole family spent the first week of Nathaniel's life in a hotel, until their renovated home was ready.
"When we bought this house (a little over year ago), we chose character over cost-effectiveness. We knew it was a fixer-upper," said Rick McCarthy, a Web developer for Visa. But thanks to the "Whole House" contest and Maine Home Performance program, the McCarthys got things fixed up all in one fell swoop. Marshall, the show's producer, estimated that the value of work and improvements was probably about $40,000.
Specifically, the McCarthy family's home improvements include: A new furnace and a forced hot-water heating system, with five zones, including heat upstairs; about 20 energy-efficient replacement windows; and insulation in walls and other spaces where needed.
"Whole House" will feature contractors giving the McCarthy house an energy audit, using fans and infrared cameras to detect air leaks, and then installing the various improvements.
'WHOLE HOUSE' APPROACH
One of the companies involved in the "Whole House" show and the Maine Home Performance program is WarmTech Solutions in Yarmouth. The company provided insulation for the McCarthy home, said Ashley Richards, general manager of WarmTech. Richards said his company takes the "whole house" approach being advocated by the Maine Home Performance program. That means his company looks at insulation, ventilation, moisture control, and a range of things that are connected to the efficiency and safety of a home.
Nagusky said that homeowners in the program will be able to see how much the work will cost overall, what it will cost per month if a 1-percent loan is used, and what the estimated savings will be.
When people see that information, she said, they are often convinced to have the work done.
For instance, she offered an improvement report done for a women in New York, under a program similar to Maine Home Performance. The report recommended improvements, with a cost of $9,232. That would be $55 a month if the work was funded by a 1percent loan. The report also estimated a savings in energy costs of $1,736 a year, or roughly $145 a month. So that's a net savings of $90 a month.
"That's a no-brainer. The only reason not to do it is inertia, and we're trying to overcome that with this program, by making it as simple as possible for people," Nagusky said.
Staff Writer Ray Routhier can be contacted at 791-6454 or at:
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