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We bought our old house in the spring of 2003. A huge behemoth of a house.
You know when you buy a house you are all starry eyed in love and tend to gloss over the downsides of buying a house that needs every single room renovated. Like the fact that you will be spending every weekend working on it for years or until you drop dead. Which you will wish for on more than one occasion.
We were lucky in the fact that our house had modern insulation blown in at some point. But like most things that the previous owner did, stapling extension cords to the walls in lieu of hardwiring in new outlets comes to mind, it was done shoddily and sporadically. But certainly it was better than nothing.
As we have knocked out walls, removed plaster that was beyond repair, added windows where there were none. We have had the blown in insulation fall out of the walls and we have replaced it with more energy efficient insulation. We keep our heat turned pretty low during the winter months, it is a rare day that we turn the thermostat up over 62 degrees. And really, once you put on enough layers it isn't that bad.
Okay I lie. It is bad. I hate winter. I hate being cold. I dream of living somewhere tropical. But we haven't had anyone lose extremities to frost bite yet, so that's good.
The one thing that we have done that has made winter so much more enjoyable was to install a pellet stove in our family room. It is efficient. It burns the waste products from lumber mills. And, even though it isn't super cheap, you actually feel warm for your money. What a novel idea that is, right?
Every year I have written a blog entry complaining about the pre-buy price of oil. And each year I look back at the previous year with a heavy sigh.
2002 under $1 per gallon
2003 $1.09
2004 $1.59
2005 $2.05
2006 $2.59
Even though the price per gallon has increased 150%, the amount of money that we have paid to heat our house has not increased. Proving that small energy efficient changes in you home can really add up.
This year we decided not to pre-buy. The pre-buy price was high, higher than what the current selling price is, and we thought we would take a gamble this year. You know what that means? Prices are sure to skyrocket. That is the sort of luck I have.
Fixer Upper writes about this topic, which is near and dear to my heart. Fall fixes: money saving insulation
I can’t live in my world of denial any longer…. it’s fall here in Central New York. The leaves are turning. Mornings are frigid. Fresh apple cider and craft fairs abound. It’s my favorite time of year, but with fall comes the threat of winter and a list of chores that prepare our house for the onslaught of snow and ice.
The bottom of their post offers links to other home renovation projects that they have accomplished in trying to make their home more energy efficient.
Counting the Days: Year Two Day 237 I love how their entries are a time line of their renovation. They are currently finishing up their floor refinishing and dealing with a contractor who has done some less than acceptable work. Been there. Done that.
And over at House in Progress, a fun decorating idea using old windows.
