With Saskatchewan's winter finally over, now is a great time to consider weatherizing your home to reduce energy costs for the upcoming winter season.
Habitat for Humanity and SaskEnergy are once again partnering in the SaskEnergy Home Energy Legacy Program (HELP), which helps low-income families reduce their energy usage through improvements that may include water-saving toilets, basement and attic insulation, and ENERGY STAR qualified windows, water heaters and furnaces. These improvements not only help the homeowners save on their energy bills, but also help the environment by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
"The energy saving improvements done through HELP are things all homeowner's can do to reduce energy costs. We all know how important that is here in Saskatchewan, especially after this past winter
with record snowfall across many parts of the province and temperatures 16 per cent colder than normal," says Robert Haynes, Vice President of Human Resources and Corporate Affairs, SaskEnergy.
"HELP is really an important project for SaskEnergy, with its focus on energy-efficiency, community and volunteerism - some of SaskEnergy's core values. I want to say a big thank you to all the volunteers from SaskEnergy and Habitat for Humanity who give so generously of their time to help these very deserving homeowners."
Volunteers from both SaskEnergy and Habitat for Humanity will be helping perform the energy efficient improvements in Yorkton and SaskEnergy Network Member M.L. Plumbing & Heating will be installing the ENERGY STAR Carrier furnaces and Giant water heaters for the selected households.
This partnership allows selected low-income families to benefit from reduced energy costs by providing upgrades and improvements the homeowners wouldn't otherwise have been able to make.
"Recipients for HELP were chosen through an application selection process administered by Habitat, based on income, improvements needed and personal circumstances," details Dennis Coutts, CEO of Habitat Regina. "These low-income Saskatchewan homeowners may receive up to $10,000 in energy efficient upgrades, and will start realizing savings immediately. This program helps low-income homeowners breathe easier - both from lower energy bills, as well as the cleaner air that comes from many of the
improvements."
This year, HELP will be in six Saskatchewan communities, helping to provide energy saving improvements to an additional 18 homeowners.
For more information, visit saskenergy.com.
