ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Your air conditioning unit is probably running non-stop, but News 6 has learned there is help out there to keep your home cool — all while saving you money.
67-year-old Verndale Johnson said that keeping her home cool in the Parramore neighborhood of Orange County is vital, especially now in these dangerously hot temperatures.
“I open my blinds, and much as I can, open my windows,” Johnson said. “We’ll have it so it moves around — so it circulates the air.”
She keeps a fan in every room because it’s so hot inside of her home. She said part of the problem is that she doesn’t have centralized air conditioning, but she said, “I can’t afford to run it 24 hours, I can’t afford it.”
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Johnson said that while living on a fixed income with grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren at her home, it’s expensive trying to run this outdated air conditioning unit all day. She added that it takes forever to cool her home.
“The cost and the energy can be expensive for someone who is low income,” Orlando City Commissioner Regina Hill said.
Hill wants residents to know there’s help out there.
She reminded homeowners in Parramore and across Orlando about the Housing Rehabilitation Program. It provides up to $100,000 for any health or safety-related repairs to your home, including equipping your home with centralized air conditioning, which is less expensive to use.
The City of Orlando said that since 2015, thanks to a state grant, city officials helped more than 130 low-income residents, and they’re on track to help nearly 60 residents this year alone.
To qualify, you and your family must not exceed the area income limits. Find out more about that program by clicking here.
“Because of the outdated homes they live in, poor insulation and things of that nature, their utility cost is way high,” Hill said.
Hill said she’s putting together a hotline for residents — particularly in Parramore — to call if they have questions about keeping their homes cool in an affordable way.
She said landlords, particularly in Parramore, can also apply for a program that helps residents keep their homes more energy efficient, all thanks to recently passed CRA funding. Read more about that program here.
“We’ve just gone have to turn the air on because it’s too hot,” said Johnson.
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