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Colman homeowner to receive Heartland energy makeover
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By ELISA SAND, Staff Reporter
| 06/11/2009 |
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Heartland Consumers Power District announced Tuesday that one resident of Colman will receive an extreme energy home makeover. Heartland is providing the energy makeover as part of its energy efficiency program, Power Forward.
Colman Mayor Brent Nelson, city council members and city employees were present for the announcement.
"I think it will be a major benefit," Nelson said. "Heartland has been a real asset for Colman."
Heartland is a public power utility in Madison that provides low-cost, reliable power, as well as energy services and community development programs, to the city of Colman and other communities and state agencies in South Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa.
Colman was one of 15 communities that applied to be the site for an extreme energy home makeover. The communities provided information such as the average residential utility bill, population and a brief statement as to how the town would benefit from the makeover.
After reviewing applications, Heartland staff decided that Colman was a good fit for the makeover. Like most of Heartland's customer communities, Colman has several homes with higher than average utility bills that would benefit from efficiency upgrades.
"The goal of the extreme energy home makeover is to educate everyone of the benefits of energy efficiency," said Ann Hyland, director of energy programs for Heartland. "What better way than to make improvements to an existing home and showcase the results."
Heartland conceptualized the idea of the extreme energy home makeover based on the idea that most residents of their customer communities live in older homes with older windows, appliances, heating and cooling systems and without proper insulation. In fact, according to the Census Bureau, the majority of housing units in the region were built before 1980 -- 72 percent in South Dakota, 69 percent in Minnesota and 79 percent in Iowa.
According to the Department of Energy, the average homeowner spends $1,900 per year on utility bills. Based on this information, the makeover seemed liked the perfect start toward Heartland's efficiency efforts.
Hyland said the goal now is to collect applications from homeowners in Colman who would be interested in an extreme makeover.
"We want to take a home, make the upgrades and measure the changes," she said, indicating that although one family will directly benefit, the project can be an example for everyone.
"We'll be able to show the payback period of efficiency improvements and demonstrate that the upfront costs are worth the long-term benefit," she said.
The home will be audited for energy efficiency and all necessary upgrades will be done to increase efficiency and showcase the savings that can be realized by making those changes. Using this method, up to a 30 percent savings in energy costs can be realized, Hyland said.
Making only one improvement, such as installing an energy efficient heat pump, will help, but the best results come from looking at the house as a system. Each part must function properly for maximum efficiency.
Heartland has also partnered with Interlakes Community Action Partnership, which has on-staff home efficiency auditors who assess homes for weatherization needs for income-eligible families.
No deadline has been set for when homeowner applications must be returned, but Hyland said that she hopes to have the improvements completed this fall.
Through Heartland's partnership with ICAP, she also hopes that the program can increase awareness of the availability of the weatherization program, which received additional funding this year as a result of the federal stimulus bill.
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