Local Contractor Grows with MVCAP

MVCAP’s long-standing partnerships with local contractors have changed lives and built businesses.

Mike Wells began working with MVCAP’s Home Weatherization Assistance Program more than 20 years ago with his family’s company, Wells Electric.

Electrical contractors are key players in the weatherization field due to the interconnectedness of home systems. Weatherization clients often live in older homes with more than one problem to solve.

“We can’t go forward with weatherization until the health and safety issues are addressed,” said Housing Services Director Barry Strahorn. “We need reliable contractors we can call on to find solutions.”

In the program, houses are treated as systems. Sealing cracks and adding insulation solve issues related to energy costs, but if not managed carefully, they can trap exhaust and create different hazards.

When higher standards for indoor air quality were adopted by the Department of Energy (DOE) in 2011, Wells and his young staff member Andrew Casey embraced the work and became invaluable partners in MVCAP’s weatherization work by learning to install an essential element required by the new standards. Three years ago, Casey bought a portion of the company and created Andrew Casey Electric.

The new indoor air quality standards included installation of mechanical fans that run on timers to provide spot ventilation. According to Strahorn, building tightness limits were replaced with the mandate to fully seal the home and then add back mechanical ventilation for greater control.

“We started doing these in the beginning and it was just a simple fan and it’s escalated,” Wells said, adding there are different types of fans for different types of homes (mobile, those with flat or metal roofs, etc.).

The fans, recommended by ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers) who created the standards for the DOE, also must meet standards for energy conservation and noise level. These fans must be installed by experienced electricians.

“Mike was that guy who stepped up and was reliable,” Strahorn said, adding that Andrew Casey Electric now works on about two-thirds of MVCAP’s weatherization jobs.

“We fix safety issues, replace wiring, and install the fans,” Wells said. “They can’t cover wiring with insulation until the safety issues have been addressed.”

In choosing partners like Wells and Casey, dependability isn’t the only criteria, Strahorn said.

“It’s important that they respect our clients and treat them like any other customer,” he said. “We can depend on Mike and Andrew to handle difficult situations and support the agency and the community.”

Andrew Casey Electric regularly has at least one crew working MVCAP jobs, Wells added, noting that the electricians are trained to help.

“If we see something that is unsafe, we fix it. I always tell my guys to do it,” he said. “It’s been a good program for everybody. It’s been a long friendship.”