Bought an older house - help me make it more energy efficient

We bought 100 year old house. First get r32 pink insulation(or blown in) for the attic. Make sure the windows have combinations felt, rubber and/ or platic weather striping. In the winter, use rope caulk(the 3M saran wrap solutions look like hell, but work like storm windows). Consider adding storm windows (not replacement). Make it a weekend habit to regularly go around the house with a a caulk gun filling cracks and holes. And read about proper thickness, vapor barriers and ventilation. Power ventilators are usually a waste of time money and energy. Look for passive solutions.

 

The old masonry homes are really something aren't they.

My cousin's house... well, I remember it as my grandfather's house, in Portsmouth... 1760's for some of the house...

Last time I visited they had replaced the porch and added to the back house.


One of the things I loved about my grandfather's house was the covered porch at night...

And the Fireflies...

:cheer2:

We don't have them in Sacramento.

 

1704? Wow! We need to talk as I would love to hear of the history of the house. My family home in PA was built in 1850 and moved to its past location by horse pulled over logs to its present location.

 

I am an energy auditor...safety first...the garage must be 100% isolated from the house - so you need a blower door test and a pressure diagnostics done...... you will get that when you get DUKE Energy to do the audit..... then the infra-red camera will tell you about insulation there

1st is........ you need the energy audit - you need a blower door to do the air sealing and that will save 15-20%

For "do it your selfers" then you do the following

1) if you need an attic storage space...... build an elevated plywood deck and blow cellulose under it to the the level needed get R-41 - no fiberglass as we call it "filterglass" and only use it in specific instances....... we mostly are cellulose and foam now

2) Fire place plugs - research on line - $25

3) I would never, ever recommend new windows unless they are in-operable - buy triple track storms..... new windows will never, ever pay for themselves

4) easier to rigid (or spray) foam insulate and air seal the skirt (foundation) around crawl space rather than fix the floor insulation.... that brings the crawl space into the heated envelope and keeps the necessary heat down there to keep pipes from freezing...... build an air sealed insulated access door.

4 months may seem a long time to wait for the audit but it will pinpoint your weaknesses easier

 

I'd love to talk about it, but A) I don't want to hijack this thread, and B) I'm too lazy to start a new thread about it. But I will say, yay for horsehair plaster. Don't need air conditioning in the summer (except when it's over 90 several days in a row), and heating is reasonable for a house this size.

And yes, I actually have an indoor bathroom (in fact, one of the few modifications I did to the house was put in a second bathroom).

 

i helped my parents update their house and what we did and what did the most for increasing comfort. now being in Pac Northwest, we might have different needs, but

1) attic insulation. cheap easy and most effective in keeping heat in.

2) windows, by far the most expensive and probably a project for the future since you jus bought a house. the "draft" you are feeling right now is actually convection currents from your windows. in a well insulated house, single pane windows can create their mini climate system, including generating breezes in an air-tight house.

3) caulking. easy, cheap, effective. should be done immediately while weather is dry.

my parents had same issues with their insulation and their upgrades were due to a den and extra bathroom added to back of the house. filling to the top of the joists wont even give you ¼ of the R value you are looking for and then you would need to have air space above that.

now if you can put insulation in there and still have room for storage, keep in mind, its not going to be climate controlled and im guessing humidity is pretty high in your location in winter.

but the windows, tough decision. they are a very expensive upgrade, but they made the huge difference in the comfort of my parents house. originally they had a woodstove insert with electric baseboard heat (with hydroelectric power pushing the rates down, all houses built in the 70's were the same way...STUPID!!)

when my dad was younger, they used wood heat. but as he got older, cutting the wood was something he did not want to do, so they stopped burning wood, and put in forced air electric wall heaters and the insulation. that created a warm/cold situation. they put up with that for 2 years then replaced the windows and after that, there was no noticeable temperature change in the house as the wall heaters cycled on and off.

 

I have a really funny story involving me as a 12 year old, a huge hairy spider, and a s***house. At least I can laugh about it now, at the time it was pretty scary. Let me know if you want to hear it

To quote Red Green

CBC Shop Online

"If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy!"

My Bryant system uses their networked Evolution control system: the two-stage furnace with ECM blower, the two-speed outdoor A/C, and the HRV, are all networked together using DeviceNET

There is an outdoor temp sensor, which uses a PID control loop to determine whether to use low or high fire for heat. That saves 30% right there, more in mild heating conditions

In a cold climate, attic ventilation is also very important. Otherwise, ice dams result, which will quickly rot the roof. Many of those "wonderful" old homes had ice dams so large, that giant icicles would dangle off the edge

Proper modern building technique with good insulation, goes a long way to eliminate ice dams

A lot of folks will swear that tri-pane windows never "pay" for themselves, and they are correct. However, in a bitter cold climate, there is a day and night difference between dual pane and tri-pane, especially -20 F and colder

I live in a 5 year old subdivision. With Manitoba Hydro having among the cheapest electricity rates in North America, around 1/3 of the homes in my subdivision have electric furnaces

Right now, the cost to heat a home in my area with electric furnace, vs a regular gas furnace, is about equal, + or - 5%. If Manitoba Hydro makes any more business blunders and goes Tango Uniform, it will be a repeat of Ontario Hydro and rates will skyrocket