NORWAY – Peter Thayer peered underneath the front staircase at the tattered plastic sheeting blocking the hollow area underneath a 35-year-old trailer. Then he and Michael Donahue walked inside to inspect windows and check outlets, looking for any crack that could betray a home’s warmth by letting in wintry drafts.
The men, both employees of Community Concepts, were volunteering for Operation Keep ME Warm, an idea hatched by Gov. John Baldacci last year to dispatch volunteers around the state to weatherize homes for free.
With oil prices high, people are preparing for a winter that could strain already tight budgets. Federal fuel assistance dollars are not expected to increase by much this year, despite oil prices’ jumping up about 25 percent, according to Operation Keep ME Warm’s Web site.
The program’s officials say the simple tasks that volunteers do, like caulking windows, can save homeowners between $80 and $200 in heating bills.
Community Concepts, a social service agency that works in Oxford, Androscoggin and Franklin counties, took charge of Operation Keep ME Warm in this area and rounded up about 150 volunteers to winterize a total of 250 homes over four days, according to Sandy Albert of Community Concepts.
The group had hoped to attract about 300 volunteers, but there was a tepid response from the public.
On Monday morning, volunteers dropped by the Norway Town Office to pick up their kits and tools. About 20 volunteers winterized 60 houses in the Oxford Hills area.
Thayer and Donahue worked on four homes over the course of the day. The time they spent at each home varied, but in general they said they took between 30 minutes to an hour to fortify structures against the cold.
The trailer’s owner, who asked not to be identified, said she does not have enough money to winterize, despite cleaning homes for a living, and so was grateful to receive the help.
Thayer, who is a construction manager for Community Concepts, said as he looked through a window, “This type of window she’s got here, they’re old-style windows, and even though she has a panel, it’ll cut back drafts,” referring to the shrink-wrap he would put around the glass.
In the homes they visited, Thayer and Donahue did everything from sealing cracks to replacing traditional light bulbs with more energy-efficient ones.
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