Efficiency Upgrade: An Adventure in Insulation

This winter has been rough. We blew through a couple tanks of oil even despite keeping our home on a strict heating plan. We bulked up on blankets, invested in some curtains, layered up, but still couldn't keep the house above 60 degrees for longer than 15 minutes before our noses would start running. Even the dogs cuddled up close for warmth. We finally decided to reach out to Efficiency Maine and see what our options were for upgrading our home.

After looking through the list of local vendors in our area, Jacob called Evergreen Home Performance and set up our free consultation. Cree came to our house and showed us where we were losing heat: everywhere. None of the walls had insulation, the basement duct work was operating at a pretty low efficiency, and our attic was an embarrassment. After presenting us with our report, Cree proposed the "hat and socks" treatment: they would come in and use cellulose insulation in the attic and blow in insulation in the basement. As a bonus, he would throw in a fan in the bathroom for ventilation! It sounded great, but paying for it was a major concern.

Once we were given the scope of work, we were put back in touch with Efficiency Maine to discuss financing. Since we had only owned the house for eight months, we had very little equity. They could only give us a small loan with a median interest rate that equaled out to about $80/month payment over the next decade. The work proposed to reduce energy consumption by 25% and would be well worth the investment. It would be possible to apply for rebates on the work as well. We agreed to move forward and Cree put together a team on our behalf.

The work begins March 17.

Winter Renovations

We went into the fall insisting to all who asked that we would be taking a break from working on the house for the winter. After going full bore and redoing almost every room the month after we bought the house, it seemed that we could do with a little break. But, when Jacob and I had a week off together over the holidays we went a little stir-crazy and decided to take on a new project: redoing the hallway. As the last carpeted place in the house, Noodle has been prone to accidents in the hallway. She is adorable, but a bit of a snot. She won't have accidents on the hardwood floors, but give that girl some fabric under her little puppy paws and it is all over. When Jacob pulled up the carpet on the stairs it was a bit like the master bedroom. There was a lot of carpet glue, and therefore a lot of work to be done. With the help of a shiny new hand sander, he had all of the stairs sanded two days later.

Painting the risers will need to be done before we can officially call this project complete, but we can do that when we tackle the rest of the hallway.