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weedyacres

Which of these will help our heat bill most?

weedyacres
10 years ago

We're fixing up our 940 sf 1920-era house. In the process of demo-ing last summer, we pulled out all the heat registers except the living room. We're over an unfinished, low-overhead basement, into which there are now some open vents.

The attic has no insulation. We have icicles on our gutters.

It's really cold now here in the midwest. The furnace is heating up the basement nicely, and between the LR vent and various and sundry holes in the walls, we're not freezing on the main level, it's just uneven. But we obviously need to remedy both the lack of heat registers and attic insulation for the sake of our pocketbook.

The question is, which should we do first? Each project will take about 2 weeks DIY, because we've got to re-wire the overhead lights in the attic before we can blow in insulation. Where's the biggest bang for our buck? Are we wasting more gas heating the basement or the attic?

Comments (6)

  • tigerdunes
    10 years ago

    First making the necessary insulation improvements.

    Next being sized correctly following a properly performed Man J load calculation.

    Finally a thorough evaluation of ductwork system both size of supply and return lines plus insulation properties and leak test.

    IMO

  • weedyacres
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Thanks, tiger. Mr. Weedy's going to work on attic rewiring the next few evenings and we'll try to get a blower for Saturday and get the insulation in.

    Dripping icicles at 8 pm when it's 17 degrees out.... That's a lot of heat going out the roof.

  • SpecialtyAirInc
    10 years ago

    Insulation improvement is a must do, but also do take care of the moisture or any kind of water damage caused. Since the house, as you mentioned, is quite old, there must be problem area regarding the architecture.

  • mike_home
    10 years ago

    Dripping icicles would suggest to me you have poor air circulation in the attic. The moisture in the house needs to escape. Check to if you have air vents and if you do make sure they are not blocked. You may need to add additional vents.

  • ionized_gw
    10 years ago

    Be sure to air-seal before blowing in insulation!

  • energy_rater_la
    10 years ago

    my thoughts exactly Ionized!
    do all the air sealing prior to insulating.
    vent bath fans after sealing venting
    to back draft damper & bd damper to
    fan housing.

    from the inside of the house take off the cover
    of the bath vent fan & seal the oversized cut
    in the ceiling that the cover hides.

    seal at stove vent & mastic seal joints.

    turn on lights inside house & go into attic with
    just a flashlight. look for light from inside the
    house that you can see in the attic..then
    seal those leaks.

    recessed lights?? (please..no!)

    install baffles to keep air flow open @ soffit.

    do any & all work in attic prior to insulation.
    once it is installed you want to stay out of it.

    your greatest heat loss is the roof.
    seal air barrier @ ceiling plane, then insulate.

    that would be the biggest bang for your buck.
    keep the warm air inside the living space & then
    work on distribution of air.

    go to southface.org & search for air sealing pdf's
    great info with good details.

    best of luck.

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