we are buying a home this week, and we have resolved that (aside from some necessary structural repairs) that we are going to just live in the house for a year before we start on renovations.

so, i'd like to use the first year to tackle small energy projects.

the house is 3100 square feet, about 3x what i'm used to living in. it was built in 1979 and has cathedral ceilings in the great room and in all 2nd story rooms. there is a full basement and 3 bay garage under the house. it's almost completely unupdated except it has newer carpet, paint and roof

i've done a lot of reading here and on the old house forum about weathersealing and insulating and i'm feeling a bit overwhelmed with all the different possibilities. should i go room by room? project by project? i'm looking for diy tasks that don't require too much tear-out -

so i wondered if you guys could suggest 12 projects for the first 12 months we own the home. we could start with April 1 unless that's going to make you guys feel like playing pranks on me :)

I have requested the PO's utility info. I've checked here locally but none of our utility companies do the home energy audit.

one big thing i know is on the horizon is insulating the garage ceiling with closed cell spray insulation. We have to pull the drywall out of the garage ceiling anyway to have two structural beams put in. the garage is below the family room, master bedroom and bathroom and i bet those floors get cold because the PO put (flammable) sheets of styrofoam over the drywall as some sort of wacky attempt at insulation. anyway,that repair and insulation would be a pro job, i'm looking for DIY things.

i'd really appreciate your help with my to-do list.