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I have seen many homes like this disappear in Saratoga Springs when the new owner buys the home just for the lot. After the sale, the old home disappears and a new dwelling, sans character, appears a few weeks later.
So what are the plans to make your place super energy efficient now? It has to be reasonable easy with everything torn out.
Nothing extraordinary. Blown in insulation, double hung windows and that's about it. We've had a few try to sell us on the foam insulation, new higher efficiency furnance, etc but the cost savings just aren't there in a place with a relatively mild climate.
So true Paul and what a shame. New construction lacks character and I think that speaks of the loss of craftsmen in many areas. I've had many "features" in my 1920's era home corrected but I like this old house with all it's flaws.
...cookie cutter houses sprang out...redclfco
The difficulty with most of the energy efficiency items is that you pay for them all up front to get a hoped-for gain later on. Most take a number of years to pay off, but usually they can be expected to outlive that period and return eventual gains. We are just about to finish off our 8th year with a very expensive photovoltaic system. The break even point for us is somewhere in the 12-13 year time frame. But after that point, it will start saving us $3,500+/year, and the panels have a 25 year warranty -- that could add up to $42,000 savings. But it's difficult to justify if you think you're going to move in a few years.
Besides just the energy savings, there can be other advantages. Do you have a forced air heater? Radiant floor heating can be cheaper in operation and it doesn't blow dust everywhere.
Maybe it doesn't make sense for you now, but you can do some advance work that is cheap but could save you a lot later. For example, while everything is opened up, it may make sense to plumb stubs up to your roof and down to where your water heater is for a later installation of a solar hot water system. The guy who built my house did that, and it saved me a significant amount of money when I installed such a system last year.
How about low flow toilets and shower heads? We bought dual-flush toilets during a remodel and they are quiet and work very well. I have to admit I was very concerned about the move considering the reputation the early low flow toilets had.
I'm surprised that an upgrade in insulation doesn't pencil out to savings in a few years. If it's a close thing, what about the consideration of the house simply being more comfortable to live in, especially during those few weeks of hot weather in the summer?
Tract housing got its start with the invention of the pre-manufactured truss. At that point, the same cookie cutter houses sprang out of the newly designed and drafted "subdivisions". Quality and craftmanship were replaced with easier ways of building a house; Honestly, how can you blame em? Can you imagine hand nailing each of those lathe in place OMG!? Somebody did that for a living?
All of this happened just in time to fill the housing needs of the WWII vets and their families.
Your home was built before that, Right?
Out of interest, what kind of wood was used for framing? What’s your foundation made of? Those items varied from region to region depending on product. In MN, so many turn of the century homes were framed with rough cut oak (can you believe it? Who needs headers?) and set on top of either packed (rammed) earth berm or llimestone with no mortar! Imagine the skill to make a wall with no mortar!
I am truly excited for you Scott!
...it had open wire circuits on insulators in the walls and attic ...very scary stuff...especially for the wayward mouse! Looking at that pic, I see an insulator above that bit...maybe it was originally wired the same.
My place was built in 1824, and over the last 30 years, it pretty much has been reconstructed. You are doing it the right way, all at once. I tackled it in 3 separate sections, for a lot of reasons.
It was a lot of work, but satisfying too. Good Luck