First burn of season (post insulation)

[mrjohneel]

I turned on the stove yesterday. (I usually wait until November but the girlfriend insisted, plus it was her birthday.) This past spring and summer I did an energy assessment on my 1928 house and took advantage of some MassSave money. Long story short, I didn't have any insulation in my walls and I had some cellulose blown in for cheap. I removed the 11 triple-track old and ugly storms on the first floor of my house and replaced them with top of the line Larson gold series windows (and saved bucks installing them myself). I'm currently replacing my old wooden front door with an energy efficient (but attractive) fiberglass one. So last night, my Harman started without a hitch and raised my temperature from 59 to 72 in no time. Gone were the drafts and the heat was circulating better from my living room where the stove is, to the dining room (my fish stew and champagne; Happy birthday!) the TV/sunroom where we watched STL/Sox. Yes, it's only one night, but I think my energy-saving work is going to make a big difference this year.

 

[Mpodesta]

I desperately need to do the same with my older home.

I replaced one set of doors and that made a big difference, now have to replace the porch and kitchen doors, huge draft coming in from that set.

One thing I'm stuck on with is the blown in instillation, some places are telling me its a bad idea because the age of my house and construction and some are saying it's okay....so I dunno

 

[mrjohneel]

If you have balloon construction meaning there's an unimpeded flow between the studs from the top of the house to the bottom (rather than each floor being set off separately), insulation blown in could fill the entire cavity, come out in your attic and basement and get sprayed all over the place. But a competent insulator knows this and can handle it. Other than that, what's wrong with blown in? I'd investigate further (and since you're in Mass., definitely pursue the MassSave money) which you're already paying for through assessments on your electric bill.

 

[4barrel]

I'm glad this topic is here. I have a two story colonial that was built in the 1930's and am having a energy audit done in a couple of weeks. I also have read that it is a bad idea to insulate a house this age because of the mold and mildew buildup in the walls due to condensation. Apparently, balloon construction houses need to breath, and when you blow insulation into the walls it prevents proper air movement which causes the mold. I was going to talk with the audit guy and ask him his opinion about it.

 

[P38X2]

No doubt that's gonna make a huge difference. Congrats and happy bday. ETA- Doh, not YOUR bday. Happy bday to her anyway.

 

[Tedinski]

I'm glad this topic is here. I have a two story colonial that was built in the 1930's and am having a energy audit done in a couple of weeks. I also have read that it is a bad idea to insulate a house this age because of the mold and mildew buildup in the walls due to condensation. Apparently, balloon construction houses need to breath, and when you blow insulation into the walls it prevents proper air movement which causes the mold. I was going to talk with the audit guy and ask him his opinion about it.

Insulating CAN cause problems, but if done properly the house will still breathe just fine. Blown in cellulose doesn't have a moisture barrier, and vapor can pass through.
That said, if you run humidifiers in the house the moisture MAY build up where the temp gets cold in the insulation.
Any house can be insulated! Get somebody who does it all the time.

 

[4barrel]

Please read this- bobyapp.com/blog/2009/06/myths-about-insulating-old-house-walls. After reading this i am not sure about getting blown in insulation.

 

[Tedinski]

Please read this- bobyapp.com/blog/2009/06/myths-about-insulating-old-house-walls. After reading this i am not sure about getting blown in insulation.

That's great info!
Learned a thing or two...
I have to doubt his cost-savings of only $200 a year though... After insulating I use about 1/3 the energy I used to. The house was already "tight" (not a lot of air getting in), but the walls would get so cold I would occasionally get frost coating the wall!

 

[4barrel]

Wow, I hope I will use 1/3 the amount of oil I do now. Are there any Insulators out there who can comment on the potential mold buildup in the walls of old houses after reading the above article?

 

[Mpodesta]

Yip, the few companies I had over that say nay, said it had to do with how my house was built and how it breathes and that it could be done but I potentially could run into problems down the road

 

[mrjohneel]

I boil water for pasta, I put the stove vent on. I shower, I put the bathroom vent on. My house if anything is dry, which is why we're always putting on moisturizers, etc. I'm not concerned about mold. I don't have balloon construction either. We'll see what happens but I believe my now quieter, now warmer endless drafty house benefitted from the dense pack insulation upgrade.

 

[Bioburner]

My new home came with r40 in the attic-crawl space and we blew on top another few inches to get to r60 and the fuel consumption dropped by real close to 25 percent. Could hardly believe the results. Was cheap and paid for the self install that season. The home we had before had little to no insulation. Had pros do the walls and yes there was a couple accidents. Filled in a bathroom closet and around the tub. Over preasured the bedroom wall and blew out a sheet rock panel. Bit of a mess was an understatement. Company fixed and painted room. Probably the pay back on that project was 2 years. Comfort increase 100%

 

[jertola]

My new home came with r40 in the attic-crawl space and we blew on top another few inches to get to r60 and the fuel consumption dropped by real close to 25 percent. Could hardly believe the results. Was cheap and paid for the self install that season. The home we had before had little to no insulation. Had pros do the walls and yes there was a couple accidents. Filled in a bathroom closet and around the tub. Over preasured the bedroom wall and blew out a sheet rock panel. Bit of a mess was an understatement. Company fixed and painted room. Probably the pay back on that project was 2 years. Comfort increase 100%

BB, If you don't mind me asking, what did that cost to have insulation blown in. I was considering it because the insulation in my attic kind of sucks.

 

[Bioburner]

Think just the walls was around 800 for the 1 1/2 story, 1200 sq ft total floor back in early 2004. Probably double that now. Cellulose

 

[johnny1720]

When I first moved in I had zero insulation. Nearly $5k to heat the house with oil and pellets. After insulating I dropped to about $3k. After I changed my primary heat to geothermal I am down to about $600 per year. V

 

[jhskick]

I had the audit also. They insulated the cellar all doors and 12" in attic. I put all new windows last fall. Big difference with AC this summer looking for big difference this winter. Old house 125 years old.

 

[Mpodesta]

The mass saves energy audit? What sort of stuff do they do? I was thinking of having one done, but do they also nick pick to see if everything in your house is up to local codes and such?

 

[mass_burner]

air leaks are the real culprit. the energy audit at my house sealed the entire basement where the foundation meets the house. also sealed everywhere in the attic, especially around the center chimney. then they blew in 9" on top of existing. so far this year, my kitchen, LR, DR,. and family room have not gone below 66 overnight with no heat on. i stop feeding the stove at about 9-10 pm, at that point the temp is about 72-74.

 

[mrjohneel]

The mass saves energy audit? What sort of stuff do they do? I was thinking of having one done, but do they also nick pick to see if everything in your house is up to local codes and such?

I didn't find that they harassed you about code. At a minimum they'll give you for free a bunch of new energy efficient lightbulbs and efficient nozzles for your shower. They'll give you up to $2000 for insulation. They tell you what you need, assign a cost to it, and then you pick from a series of contractors who hold to the cost. (My job was $3200 including sealing the garage under some rooms and walls; I paid $1200 of that.) MassSave then checks the job after it is done. They also make available interest free loans to do some types of work, and since my oil burner was more than 30 years old, they offered $1700 towards the cost of replacing it. (MassSave will not pay for oil-to-gas conversions, however.) The funding comes from assessments to your utility bill, not tax money from the state. That is, you've already contributed to the program each time you pay your bill so its worthwhile to take advantage of a program you're already funding. I recommend it.

 

[Mpodesta]

I didn't find that they harassed you about code. At a minimum they'll give you for free a bunch of new energy efficient lightbulbs and efficient nozzles for your shower. They'll give you up to $2000 for insulation. They tell you what you need, assign a cost to it, and then you pick from a series of contractors who hold to the cost. (My job was $3200 including sealing the garage under some rooms and walls; I paid $1200 of that.) MassSave then checks the job after it is done. They also make available interest free loans to do some types of work, and since my oil burner was more than 30 years old, they offered $1700 towards the cost of replacing it. (MassSave will not pay for oil-to-gas conversions, however.) The funding comes from assessments to your utility bill, not tax money from the state. That is, you've already contributed to the program each time you pay your bill so its worthwhile to take advantage of a program you're already funding. I recommend it.

Thanks for the Info, I'll give them a call.

Last time the "state" was in my house, they gave me crap about my knob and tube wiring (I have since had the entire house rewired)

 

[newbieinCT]

I didn't find that they harassed you about code. At a minimum they'll give you for free a bunch of new energy efficient lightbulbs and efficient nozzles for your shower. They'll give you up to $2000 for insulation. They tell you what you need, assign a cost to it, and then you pick from a series of contractors who hold to the cost. (My job was $3200 including sealing the garage under some rooms and walls; I paid $1200 of that.) MassSave then checks the job after it is done. They also make available interest free loans to do some types of work, and since my oil burner was more than 30 years old, they offered $1700 towards the cost of replacing it. (MassSave will not pay for oil-to-gas conversions, however.) The funding comes from assessments to your utility bill, not tax money from the state. That is, you've already contributed to the program each time you pay your bill so its worthwhile to take advantage of a program you're already funding. I recommend it.

Wow! The MassSave program seems sooo much better than the CT one! We do get $1/sqft off insulation - but other than that, the perks are minimal. Help on a new furnace, but pretty sure it is not $1700! Nice deal! We just moved into an old house (1894) and the furnace is ANCIENT (25 yrs). It's going to go soon...then we have to figure out what we are going to do.

We just did the energy audit (to get the rebates on insulation). The house all and attic insulation and a lot of air sealing. The company we chose seemed great but now they are pushing ductless heat pumps (b/c CT offered up to 25k loan and they think we are suckers). Not sure if we want them and the hard sell on the heat pumps made me not want to go with them...think we are going to have to get another opinion...getting worried. It's getting colder!

Anyone here have any experience with the ductless? We about to pull the trigger on another pellet stove but dont' want to if we should be looking at ductless.
hmm..what to do what to do..

anyway, thanks for all the info in this thread. Super helpful!!
Meg

 

[Mpodesta]

Anyone here have any experience with the ductless? We about to pull the trigger on another pellet stove but dont' want to if we should be looking at ductless.
hmm..what to do what to do..

anyway, thanks for all the info in this thread. Super helpful!!
Meg

Cant comment on ductless heating (assuming* it would be the same), But we have ductless A/C put in the house, booth upstairs and down, Love it!. Super clean instillation and works wonderfully

 

[AddictiveStew]

Wow! The MassSave program seems sooo much better than the CT one! We do get $1/sqft off insulation - but other than that, the perks are minimal. Help on a new furnace, but pretty sure it is not $1700! Nice deal! We just moved into an old house (1894) and the furnace is ANCIENT (25 yrs). It's going to go soon...then we have to figure out what we are going to do.

We just did the energy audit (to get the rebates on insulation). The house all and attic insulation and a lot of air sealing. The company we chose seemed great but now they are pushing ductless heat pumps (b/c CT offered up to 25k loan and they think we are suckers). Not sure if we want them and the hard sell on the heat pumps made me not want to go with them...think we are going to have to get another opinion...getting worried. It's getting colder!

Anyone here have any experience with the ductless? We about to pull the trigger on another pellet stove but dont' want to if we should be looking at ductless.
hmm..what to do what to do..

anyway, thanks for all the info in this thread. Super helpful!!
Meg

ANCIENT? I have a converted coal boiler from the 40's. Basically a 55 gallon pot of water venting up a huge chimney!

 

[4barrel]

Did any of those guys who did your energy audits mention anything about not putting blown in insulation in old houses?

 

[daffonce]

Mass save was good. I had next step living do mine. Think they gave me 40 cfl bulbs and a program able thermostat free. They air sealed and added 4" of blown in in the attic for about 300 next step living does insulation themselves. They push solar. Knob and tube is a no go otherwise they are easy going. Oh and the insulated attic door and the knee wall