BENTONVILLE — A weatherization trainer at NorthWest Arkansas Community College demonstrated how quickly a carbon monoxide backdraft can fill a home Monday.
The demonstration was part of a grand opening for the college’s Weatherization Training Center that drew a crowd of more than 200.
The college is to be one of two such training centers in state. Funding came from a $1.7 million federal stimulus grant. The other program is at Pulaski Technical Institute in North Little Rock.
“We are very excited to house this long-term program on our campus,” said Becky Paneitz, college president.
AT A GLANCE
Weatherization Assistance
The Office of Human Concern offers weatherization assistance through the Arkansas Department of Human Services. The Benton County office is at 506 E. Spruce St. in Rogers.
Source: Office Of Human Concern
College’s Mobile Home
NorthWest Arkansas Community College purchased a mobile home for program use. The mobile home will be used in the Mobile Home Fundamentals class. Students will learn to fix real issues on the mobile home. College officials plan to have students repair the home and then sell it. Funds will be donated to a nonprofit organization. Money for the mobile home came from a federal grant.
Source: NorthWest Arkansas Community College
Weatherization includes routine maintenance to homes including sealing of holes around windows, doors, roofs and pipes, protection of pipes from corrosion, installing insulation and upkeep of furnaces, water heaters and other home appliances.
Henry Shifflett, one of the college’s weatherization trainers, stood in front of a makeshift home enclosed by plastic walls. He pointed to smoke traveling in see-through pipes connected to the house’s furnace and water heater. The smoke was a representation of carbon monoxide. A kitchen vent fan was switched on by Shifflett. Within seconds smoke was sucked out of the pipes and filled the home.
“We need to understand worst-case drafts,” Shifflett said about those who work in the weatherization field.
The training center teaches those already working or entering the weatherization field ways to test and prevent carbon monoxide leaks, Shifflett said.
Tom McConnell is a weatherization crew member for the Arkansas Office of Human Concern’s Weatherization Assistance Program. The program helps low-income families reduce energy in their homes. McConnell was one of the first students to take weatherization classes at the college during a pilot run of the program earlier this summer.
“I think the biggest thing I learned was that houses that are too tight can cause carbon monoxide backdrafts,” McConnell said. “You can’t close off windows too tight; the house needs to breathe. It is a balance.”
McConnell has been working in the weatherization field for several years. After taking a class at the college, he realized his own house was sealed too tight.
Weatherization classes will officially begin later this month. Courses will run every three weeks and last for three to five days.
Bentonville Mayor Bob McCaslin said the program will enhance Northwest Arkansas.
“The only way you can secure the future is through education,” McCaslin said.