Going Green

Hello again!

So a big part of this project is about going green and greening my grandpa's house. Its a great old house build in the late 1920's and the second floor was put on in the 1930's. Not a time when energy efficiency was the standard. The windows and doors aren't sealed, indeed its amazing they are still in the wall, and there are pretty big gaps even with storm windows on the outside.

As a result my grandfather usually has months in the winter when his gas bills are over $300 sometimes over $400 - and that's keeping the temperature at below 70. He's got an electric blanket and an electric space heater and that helps too but then his electricity bill is over $200 too.

In the summer its worse. There is very little insulation in the house or what is there wasn't installed in the most efficient way. In the upstairs room (that I use as my room) the attic was built out into the roofline for a beautiful HUGE room. The problem is that the sun beating down on the roof makes the walls hot during the summer, and the windows in that room get pretty much full sun all day. Its impossible to air condition!

So a big part of this renovation is making it more energy efficient. Once we get to the point where we're doing the major renovation we're looking at new windows, siding with insulation underneath it, new back door, sealing all of the plugs, putting in a tankless water heater, new furnace and A/C unit for both floors, energy efficient appliances, and finally everything we put up or do if we can do so in a greener recycled way.

Lowe's has a neat little pamphlet my grandfather brought me that basically lists out all of their energy efficient materials, LED Certified stuff, and ways to get that energy saving tax credit. I've been doing a lot of reading and studying to figure out how best to do this and stay within our budget. It isn't easy being green :) At least its not easy to fit it into our budget, but I'm going to do whatever we can.