With high heating costs, demand for assistance, firewood, and chimney sweeps is up in N.H. - WBUR News

As the price of heating a location spikes, assemblage enactment agencies and wood banks are preparing for a hard winter.

Southwestern Community Services mostly serves astir 4,000 clients each twelvemonth done their substance assistance program. This year, they received 4,600 applications earlier the programme technically opened connected Thursday, according to Keith Thibault, main improvement officer.

“What we're conscionable seeing present is an denotation of a overmuch much aggravated request coming up,” helium said. “I don't privation to get excessively dramatic, but we've ne'er seen this before. This is unprecedented successful presumption of cost.”

Thibault said the CAP agencies person worked to hole for the hard play ahead, and anticipation much radical link with them to use for assistance.

“We've been trying to beryllium truly realist astir what this is going to be,” helium said. “I deliberation we deed the crushed running.”

Ryan Clouthier, main operating serviceman astatine Southern New Hampshire Services, said his enactment is besides seeing an summation successful need. They’ve besides seen radical use for the new state exigency vigor assistance programs approved successful September, which raised the income headdress for Granite Staters seeking assistance with heating costs.

Last winter, New Hampshire received a batch much wealth from the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, besides called LIHEAP, than it had successful the wintertime of 2020-2021. The authorities received little wealth from the national authorities this year, but has astir $19 cardinal near implicit from past year, according to the Department of Energy. That means determination is much wealth disposable done the LIHEAP programme this twelvemonth than the authorities spent during each of the past fewer winters, the Department said.

Extra backing for LIHEAP and the further authorities programme are helping, Clouthier said. Funding for weatherization assistance precocious approved by the authorities tin assistance households thrust down their costs successful the agelong run.

“But there's ever a request for more,” Clouthier said.

Granite Staters tin use for assistance with heating and electrical bills done their section assemblage enactment agency; you tin find your section CAP agency here.

Wood banks

Wood banks, wherever Granite Staters tin get other wood for the winter, are besides expecting other request this year.

About 1 successful 14 households successful New Hampshire usage wood arsenic their main root of heat, according to the Energy Information Administration. That’s 4 times the nationalist average.

Melissa Gallagher is the enforcement manager of Grapevine Family and Community Resource Center successful Antrim. She says astir radical travel to their wood slope earlier the state’s substance assistance programme kicks successful – oregon aft it runs out.

This year, she says, much radical are pitching successful to assistance their neighbors marque it done the winter.

“More radical reached retired to america than is emblematic to connection wood. And I deliberation it was conscionable that designation wrong the assemblage that this is going to beryllium a hard twelvemonth to vigor homes.”

About 80 volunteers showed up successful Hopkinton for a unpaid time to enactment the Sean Powers Wood Bank earlier this month, said Mary Congoran, who runs the project.

“It was conscionable beautiful,” she said.

Congoran says adjacent residents who usage different sources of vigor mightiness commencement supplementing with wood arsenic the terms of different heating fuels spell up. According to national data, the price of heating oil – the most common root of heating in the authorities – is higher than it’s been successful astatine slightest 3 decades.

“We're conscionable disquieted coming into the autumn due to the fact that I conscionable consciousness similar anybody who has the quality to pain thing volition beryllium doing it,” she said.

Congoran’s wood slope has started bringing cords of wood to transportation stations successful Andover, Salisbury, Sutton, and Bradford, saying visitors tin instrumentality an armful with them and donate arsenic they’re able.

New grants are available from the U.S. Forest Service and the Alliance for Green Heat to enactment firewood banks this winter.

Preparing a chimney

As much Granite Staters look to prevention wealth by burning wood this winter, companies that cleanable and repair chimneys accidental they’re seeing an summation successful demand.

“The engaged play started other aboriginal and we've conscionable been level retired for months,” said Matt Mair, who owns Black Moose Chimney and Stove. “We're booking astatine slightest 2 months up of clip now, adjacent with other radical and other trucks connected the road.”

Mair says he’s seen customers turning to alternate vigor sources similar wood stoves arsenic the terms of lipid becomes untenable for many, and heating sources similar propane, earthy gas, and energy spike successful outgo too.

The influx of radical turning to wood vigor this twelvemonth has brought peculiar challenges.

“We're seeing a batch of radical trying to marque functional chimneys that are going to necessitate a batch of work,” helium said. “A batch of radical are conscionable trying to resurrect immoderate reasonably aged and benignant of sketchy systems.”

It’s important to marque definite chimneys are cleanable and successful tenable shape, Mair said, due to the fact that the chimney protects a location from the vigor a wood stove produces. The dirtier and much neglected a chimney is, the much apt it is to drawback a location connected fire.

Mair, who is vice president of the National Guild of Chimney Sweeps, said companies crossed the authorities and state are seeing the aforesaid summation successful demand, which comes astatine a clip erstwhile hiring is besides a challenge.