Nov. 3--Sisters Elizabeth and Augustine are cold in the winter and hot in the summer in their home next to Our Lady of Guadalupe Chapel, across the street from NAU.

Wind comes through the attic, up from the foundation and into the rooms used for prayers, sleeping and sometimes feeding those who knock at the door seeking help. The insulation in the attic is probably 50 years old and mostly useless, because it is compacted and covered with thick black dust.

"There's hardly any insulation up there," said Chris Watson, president of home-improvement company ReGroup. "I don't know how they don't freeze."

The sisters (they don't call themselves nuns) will have their old home improved, courtesy of volunteers donating time and supplies.

Such projects are in swing around Flagstaff, due to private demand from residents who are cold or environmentally concerned, and because of stimulus money being passed to the county and city.

In mid-November, the city of Flagstaff plans to start taking applications to upgrade another 550 homes using $587,100 of stimulus money. It is part of about $39 million the White House says it has sent to this region for all kinds of economic stimulus projects.

Another 90 homes for the low-income in Flagstaff already received new furnaces, appliances, windows or roofs earlier this year via stimulus money.

The upcoming city-based home weatherization plans have homeowners apply for either a basic or a larger retrofit, to be done starting in December or January.

Residents share some of the cost of the work with the city, and they have the option of adding these costs to a utility bill, to be paid over a span of six months.

The simpler retrofit is on a sliding scale and costs nothing, or up to $75 for a household making more than $70,000.

It provides carbon monoxide detectors, compact fluorescent light bulbs, water-efficient facets, showerheads and toilet tanks, insulation for their hot water lines, air filter replacements, and helps them seal leaks with weather stripping, gaskets and caulking.

About 225 homes will be eligible for it.

The more complicated weatherization does all of the above and adds energy testing for air leaks, duct sealing, furnace inspection, carbon monoxide testing, and blankets for the hot water heater.

About 325 homes will get that more extensive makeover, at a cost of $25 for those making up to $50,000 annually, to a maximum cost of $625 for households making more than $80,000.

That more extensive makeover is also charged on a sliding scale.