BANGOR – In an emergency, time is of the essence, yet sometimes emergency response personnel have a hard time locating the right home.

Numbers on homes aren’t always as visible as they should be, and that can mean delays as police officers, firefighters or paramedics slow down to search for the location of the emergency.

“Literally a matter of a minute or two can make a difference,” said Jason Johnson, a public information officer with the Bangor Fire Department, which is now offering Bangor residents low-cost, sturdy and reflective number signs intended to make finding homes easier.

The 6-inch by 8-inch number signs are made to federal specifications and are of heavy aluminum construction and are highly reflective, the same as street signs, Penobscot County Sheriff Glenn Ross said Wednesday.

The signs can be mounted on a house or mailbox or placed on posts closer to the road if residents have a large yard or long driveway.

Ross said a good idea would be to place a post with signs facing in two directions.

“You never know where help is going to be coming from,” the sheriff said.

The signs are made by Penobscot County Jail inmates as part of a program by the Penobscot County Area Triad, an organization of law enforcement, senior citizen and social agencies.

For every 16 hours that inmates work on the signs, they get a reduction in their sentence of eight hours, meaning less time spent incarcerated and less boarding costs for the jail.

The program allows inmates to be productive while in custody and gives them some training, Ross said.

“It’s a win- win situation for the inmates and the public alike,” Ross said.

House signs sell for $4, while a sign and a post would sell for $7.50 and a post with two mounted signs is $10.

The signs can serve as housewarming or holiday gifts, officials said. Johnson said a man from Farmington contacted him wanting to purchase four signs and said that the extra signs were to be given out as Christmas gifts.

Ross said he bought a sign for his mother and is planning on giving it to her today, on Thanksgiving.

Johnson said the signs are inexpensive, long-lasting, offer many benefits and there’s been a quick turn around on orders.

“You can’t go wrong on that,” he said.

Bangor residents can purchase the signs by contacting the Bangor Fire Department at 992-4714 or 992-4716. Elsewhere, residents should contact their local municipal offices to see whether their city or town is participating in the project.