Tackling the challenge of expanding weatherization at a time when so many Maine homes are leaking oil
BY MARINA SCHAUFFLER | NOVEMBER 25, 2019
Winter’s descent returns us to a primordial quest, trying to hold heat – that eternal escape artist – within our homes.
In Maine, nearly two-thirds of households depend on heating oil, more than in any other state. Energy expenditures represent 9 percent of the state’s GDP and take on average $4,000 annually from each Maine household.
Beyond the fiscal drain are the untabulated costs of carbon pollution, and the noxious emissions that heating oil generates both indoors and out.
Weatherizing houses through air sealing and insulation cuts these costs. Quite simply, it helps people be “richer and warmer and healthier,” says Jesse Thompson, a principal at Kaplan Thompson Architects and a member of the Maine Climate Council’s working group on buildings, infrastructure and housing.