How well does wood seem to heat your home? Looking for subjective answers.

Update: So I called our local utility company and they said that they no longer do the audits unless you're low income. So then I called around and finally found an extremely well reputed local contractor who dropped by my house today. He said we could do the test if I wanted, but that it would probably be a waste of money. He said he used to test everything in the beginning when he got his certs in 09, but now he just looks at the construction, in the attic, around the exterior and has a pretty good idea of what the problems are. Once he started pointing things out I realized how much there was to do. Even though I don't have a data point of a leak test, I guess I wasn't surprised.

We chatted for about a little over an hour about my options, which I thought was generous of his time. He seemed genuinely interested in trying to help me figure out the best way to go about it and if it pencils out. He doesn't strike me as one of those guys who wants to treat every job the same way. He told me about all the available rebates out there and the procedures for each of them. Basically, he said the windows need a lot of love and that replacement with a metal clad wood window would be the closest thing within reason for cost because I have so damn many of them. It's part of what gives the house its charm, but also its lack of efficiency. He said he also knows a few professional restorers who do amazing work and love these kinds of projects, but it would cost more to go that route. He told us to think about how long we want to be here, and how original we need to keep it. I tend to want to keep things as original as possible, but it's not exactly a historical house and deep down I'm not a strict preservationist. I can see us living here another 10 years or so before we get the itch to build something.

One thing he suggested was that if I re-side, then to do the windows at the same time so the siding matches up properly. He did say we could re-side the house in stages and do whatever our budget would allow. The worst side of the house also has the worst casement style windows so that seemed like a decent option.

Anyway, it definitely got me thinking. He's slammed at the moment, so it's nice that I have plenty of time. He estimated the cost of the windows at around $40k, but that was just kind of a ballpark. I was hoping they wouldn't be that much, but deep down I feared that amount. One interesting point he made was that people seem to be more concerned with energy efficiency these days when buying houses. He said 10 years ago he wouldn't recommend doing the work, but these days it's a lot easier to get some of that money back when it comes time to sell.

Lots of things to think about.

I think the window thing really depends on the situation. Now I'm still learning about this stuff, but in my case, our casement windows are so bad on the more warped ones that there's almost a 1/2 inch gap in some areas with no gaps in other areas on the same window. I've weatherstripped them as best I can, but there's still leakage that I can hear. That's the worst room though, and the only one with those style of windows. The rest are single hung which seemed to have fared better. Still, years of rain abuse and neglect has taken their toll on all the windows. I can definitely see the point about not wanting to replace a 1990s window, but a 1930s window?

If I knew I was only going to be in this house for the next 3-5 years then I would just kick the problem down the line for the next poor buyer to deal with. But we have a 10 year plan to be here before building. So unless I get some inheritance from a long lost uncle, I probably won't be leaving any time soon. I'd like to make the house as comfortable as I can in that time instead of being miserable. By the way, the summers here are terrible with temps regularly getting above 105 and often into the teens. It's not just the cold that makes it tough.