Due to my recent layoff, my income has dropped to the point that I will qualify for a program in the county I live in for improvements designed to improve energy efficiency…
The house in questions is a one story over crawl space built in 1949.
Climate in this area is wide ranging, from occasional zero in winter to over a hundred in summer.
The current insulation in attic is only about 10″ at most, windows are original aluminum framed, don’t know about wall insulation. Heat is forced air gas and central air, both appear to be about 15-20 years old.
From what the lady at the program tells me, they try to get the biggest bang for the buck when they do these houses…
If this was your house what would you do?
I know the first answer is seal up all air leaks first and load up on the attic insulation…..
But what generates the best return after that?
They said they’d look at wall insulation (blowing in cells). windows and replaicing furnace/ac.
Just wanted some feedback from the experts here…
Feels free to start a vented vs. unvented roof war :o)
Replies
Ten inches in the attic is pretty good. Adding more there won't give you the return on your money as much as would insulating any areas that are currently uninsulated. So, I'd investigate what is in the walls. If it's nothing, I'd go there first.
Aluminum windows are a considerable heat loss, especially if the glass is single pane. So you'd get quite a high return there, though the initial cost to do a whole house would be high. If you don't want to swing the whole house, you could prioritize. The biggest windows would give you the best return because the labor cost is pretty much the same regardless of the size but the larger window area would save the most energy. But, other factors are pertinent, too. You might want to do bedrooms for comfort, or those on the front of the house for appearance, for example.
Window work could coordinate with any other renovations if you were going to redo any rooms.
Insulating the floors or crawlspace would pay back well if they are poorly insulated now.
If it were me, I'd save the HVAC for last. The reason is that you will significantly reduce the heating and cooling load by insulating and weatherstripping. After doing those things then you can size a new system for the smaller load. That will decrease your equipment cost and increase efficiency by a significant amount. Besides wasting energy, oversized systems are less comfortable.
In the meantime, make sure your current HVAC is running well. See that the AC coils are clean, and that your furnace burner has a proper flame and a clean filter.
Good luck.
Storm windows might be a better use of $$ than replacing the existing windows.
As I stood before the gates I realized that I never want to be as certain about anything as were the people who built this place. --Rabbi Sheila Peltz, on her visit to Auschwitz
Check any ductwork outside the building envelope to be sure it's well-sealed and insulated.