Many homeschool families are low income because they must survive on one paycheck. That means that many of you out there will qualify for government assistance to get your home insulated, weatherized, and fitted up with a variety of energy saving tools. For those of us that live in older homes that were not constructed to be weather wise, that can make for a significant long term hand up, not hand out, in finances.

We are participating in the program right now. Our house was built in the 1930's - before indoor plumbing was common. The bathroom was added onto the porch. LOL. We have been steadily working at house improvement projects since we moved in 4 years ago - completely redoing the entry/door into the foyer so the whole house wouldn't be a freezer in the winter, complete replacement of every inch of old wiring 9some was even original knob and tubing), fixing structural problems, tons of cosmetic improvements, fixing a ceiling that the previous owner stepped through creating a hole where you could see all the way to the attic gable, and much more. 

With the wiring done, which benefitted from the empty walls, next on the list was insulating the house. However, we reached the most critical step of getting insulation in the walls and above the ceilings at the same point of needing to have college tuition planning hitting peak - Gregory enters college this fall. No income tax refund money can be spared this year to the project. We figured that it would be years before we would be able to get finances freed up for insulating because in two more years we will have two in college. The very year they will graduate, we will have child number three start. Without insulation, our energy bills would be stuck at a high rate right when we really could use that savings.

Then we heard about the weatherization project. We applied and were acceppted. We were put on the list. OK, it is government here - paperwork and wait are a natural part of the process. But our turn finally came.

Visit one, two weeks ago, left us with a box of tools to make a begining - plate gaskets, a sample energy saving florescent light bulb, cards to check your water and refrigerator temperatures, energy saving night lights, a smoke detector, etc. The work was planned.

Last week the first crew came in and caulked, put up smoke and carbon monoxide detectors that talk, improved the seal on the entryway to the attic, added some trim work in the back and in the foyer to seal some openings, and installed several more of those florescent bulbs.

This week we are expecting the insulators to arrive. They will be adding blown in insulation into the walls and will lay insulation above the rooms with 11 foot ceilings. The other roooms have drop ceilings which act as an insulation in and of itself, so they will not need anything.

Already we can tell a difference. When the temperatures drop below freezing, as they did last night, the gas space heater runs continuously. Last night, it actually cycled. I cannot wait to see how much lower our power bill will be after the insulation gets put in. It has been running averaging $165/month ($110 for electric and $55 for gas) for a family of 6 and 2000 square feet of house to heat and cool.

Wondering if you too might qualify? They count the number of 'heads' living in the household and the monthly income to figure it. John's income is about $30K and we have a family of 6 members. We qualified, maybe you will too. It cannot hurt to try.

To learn more go to:  http://www.eere.energy.gov/weatherization/