Our Ecolibrium3 Energy Team is proud to serve our community and help to make homes more comfortable, healthy, and efficient. We have established ways to ensure our services are affordable to everyone. For those who meet income qualifications, we can provide energy assessments and follow-up weatherization work completely for free. Depending on new funding sources, we often will work with some of our residents over the course of many years, so it is especially important for us to establish a true connection. Recently, we were able to offer our full services, including an energy assessment and two rounds of weatherization, all completely for free for one local resident. In addition, this resident took other upgrades into her own hands and replaced old knob and tube wiring, and successfully got vermiculite removed from her attic after our team identified and collected the samples of the hazard. We want to share her story in hopes that it could help inspire other residents navigating similar home changes. We genuinely appreciate all the community members we have had the privilege of working and building relationships with, and we aim to continue and expand services for our community. Here’s her story in her own words:
“I am a long-time Duluth resident. I was going to write about my most recent experience with Ecolibrium3 but it goes much deeper than that. When my husband and I bought this house in 2005, we had big dreams for our new home and our future. Very slowly and over time, I’ve painted almost every surface and updated the house as I’ve been able to. Being a young mom, I worked part-time and took care of my daughter which allowed me to save for future remodeling projects. I love a good house project! Fast forward 12 years and it’s me, my daughter, and our adopted rescue dog, Nala. In the years leading up to this life change, I was realizing just how much I was being lied to about our financial means. Come to find out, hundreds of dollars a month were being put towards an addiction that I didn’t realize was consuming our life. This went on for the better part of 8 years. I always wondered why we never seemed to have money for needed updates to our house. I knew that the insulation in the attic was not great and that we were losing precious heat during our brutally cold winters. I also knew that we had knob and tube electrical wiring which means that no new insulation could be put on top of it without updating the electrical.
As a newly single person, I was on a search for a job that could support me and my daughter. Once I found a good paying job and had been there for a couple of years, I applied to the mortgage company to assume the mortgage. This process took about 6 months. Having a solid steady income meant that I was a good candidate for the mortgage assumption. A mortgage assumption means that I was able to keep the interest rate and payment plan. This also meant that I now officially owned the house! This is key because I could finally start making some long awaited changes.
I’d heard about Ecolibrium3 and the programs that they have from Ecofest 2025 and so I applied for a home energy assessment in spring of 2025, which kicked off this process. Tristen came over and conducted the assessment. We learned that we were, in fact, losing heat through the attic hatch. This assessment set the ball rolling for an insulation plan. In early summer, a crew from Eco3 came over to remove the insulation and some other random household things such as screens, winterizing windows, and garbage from the attic. This was necessary to have the 2nd floor electrical re-wired. Benson Electric did this work and I was very pleased. Subsequently, Eco3 suggested that I get the insulation that was still in the attic removed and partially reimbursed through the ZAI trust in Georgia. Eco3 came over and took a couple of samples to be tested, which I sent in. In the meantime, I was in contact with the trust in Georgia to secure the funding. I got a bid from A-1 Abatement in Duluth to have the work done. In the end, the ZAI trust ended up reimbursing me for a little over half the cost of the abatement. This is their normal rate of reimbursement. In late December, Eco3 came and put the insulation that was currently sitting in my garage, back into the attic. In mid-April, Eco3 came one last time to put blown-in insulation into my attic to fill in the empty spots.
Currently, it is the end of April and all work has been completed! The sense of contentment that I have is amazing. Having a warm, secure, and safe home means the world to me and I am looking forward to the future and enjoying my home even more. I am beyond fortunate to have met the fine folks at Ecolibrium 3 and benefited from their knowledge and skill to get my house up to speed. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.”
Our team at Ecolibrium3 had such joy working with this local resident. This is just one example of how our team wants to help and give back to our community. We can help you too! If you are interested in any energy assessment, weatherization, or other energy-related work or questions, feel free to reach out to the energy team at energy@ecolibrium3.org, or (218) 203-0464.