My wife and I had a wood burning insert installed last year, in part, to take advantage of the EPA tax credit. As the insert didn't end up costing $5000, we would like to do another project this year that lets us collect the rest of this credit. We live in a 1930's home, about 1600 sq/ft, with no wall and very little attic insulation. Today, I spoke to a local company that quoted me a price of $4500 to blow in attic insulation to R-38 and foam wall insulation (Air-krete) to R-20. With our remaining EPA credit, this project would come to a little over $4000.
The guy told me that I could expect 30-40% energy savings by insulating. Looking at my gas bills and calculating the cost of wood around 150/cord (though all I have now was scrounged), I figure I'd save around 250-300/year if this is true. My questions are:
1) Does $4500 seem reasonable for an installation like this?
2) I'm like 90% sure I want to go with foam for the walls (doesn't settle, fills in all the gaps), but is there any reason that I should reconsider cellulose?
3) Does the 30-40% figure sound right? I'm basing all my calculations on these being minimums. I wouldn't even consider a project like this if I was going to save, say, 5%.
4) I realize the rate of the return on this isn't great (12-16 years if I've done my math correctly), but I'm hoping that houses with improved insulation "feel" warmer. All other things being equal, are well insulated houses more comfortable?
My thanks in advance for your advice!
The guy told me that I could expect 30-40% energy savings by insulating. Looking at my gas bills and calculating the cost of wood around 150/cord (though all I have now was scrounged), I figure I'd save around 250-300/year if this is true. My questions are:
1) Does $4500 seem reasonable for an installation like this?
2) I'm like 90% sure I want to go with foam for the walls (doesn't settle, fills in all the gaps), but is there any reason that I should reconsider cellulose?
3) Does the 30-40% figure sound right? I'm basing all my calculations on these being minimums. I wouldn't even consider a project like this if I was going to save, say, 5%.
4) I realize the rate of the return on this isn't great (12-16 years if I've done my math correctly), but I'm hoping that houses with improved insulation "feel" warmer. All other things being equal, are well insulated houses more comfortable?
My thanks in advance for your advice!