I have gradually worked toward tightening up the thermal envelope of my home.
The home was built sometime in the late eighteen hundreds.
Most of the renovations made before my family moved in were not handled correctly. The former owners absolutely prioritized cost savings over quality. The windows they installed were single-paned plus no one bothered to correctly caulk around them. None of the exterior doors closed tightly. The furnace plus cooling system were never professionally worked on. The attic lacked insulation. Because of the age plus size of the house, every project is time-consuming, labor-intensive plus pricey. Due to the weather extremes in our area, the cost of heating plus cooling adds up to about fifty percent of our house energy usage. There is huge potential to trim expenses. It took me nearly ten years to upgrade all of the windows with Energy Star rated, low E, triple-pane options. To make the project more affordable, I taught myself how to handle the replacement. I was truly conscientious about insulating plus caulking around them. I spent a truly unpleasant weekend installing insulation in the attic. I’ve obtained up-to-date front plus back doors plus added ceiling fans to help with cooling in the summer time plus to better distribute the heated air in the winter. Along with being conscientious about filter swings for the furnace plus cooling system, I’ve enrolled into a service plan with a local Heating and A/C supplier. I also schedule testing for the ductwork every three years. Because of my efforts, the daily daily bills are a bit lower plus the entire home is far more comfortable. I am still planning to upgrade the roof plus eventually, invest into a higher efficiency heating plus cooling system.