Improving Home heating insulation/Effeciency

[fitz19d]

Any good pointers for insulating a 70's era farmhouse. Not sure how cost effective trying to put anything in the walls or the limited semi inaccessible attic. We certainly have door drafts (can see light through front door). Not sure if one kind of stripping is better than another especially for a frame with uneven gaps.

One room is a converted garage with tile laid by the tards directly on the old concrete pad that is at a slope, so we've had some tiles popping up a bit loose from the mortar, but more than anything the floor is just cold as fuck and I'm sure is zapping the houses heat. Problem is it's the backdoor to let dogs out, so carpeting the whole thing to hide slope a bit or deal with any unevenness isn't great since we have muddy dogs coming and going. Maybe just find a ton of carpet squares.

Major concern in all this. We are electric heat/ac. Most of the year even with our 104 degree June didnt seem so bad. But now over winter, we shot from like $180 bill to $350 and now $450 even with a fairly hot winter with some cold streaks in OK. Not sure how easy we could change our heating since it's all in a pretty dang small combined unit in a wall closet thing. (Lol someone telling me electric heat was so efficient?)

We have a unused fireplace, on the back a room was added, so not sure it can be used for wood fire possibly heating up too much through the brick into the closet on the backend, but was thinking of trying to get a propane insert if we can run gas to it without much issue. We have a 250gallon tank we barely use for just water heat/stove and would also help with possible power outages if it can be ran without power.

Almost want to go ghetto and throw foam panels in the windows of a few rooms we hardly use. But regardless, when I dont know much about something, I often get analysis paralysis such as simply picking from 20 brands of weatherstripping.

[encorehunter]

Depending on siding, a piece or two can be removed and blown in insulation put into walls by drilling walls. Blown in can help with attic, even if it is poorly accessible. Used commercial carpet tile are inexpensive on Craigslist and can be pulled and washed or easily replaced when bad. Depending on slope, cut 2x4 on angle and put subfloor in, or use concrete or floor leveler to level floor. If solid concrete, glue down osb/plywood and lay flooring over it. It will insulate some from the concrete.
A wood insert or propane would definately help a lot. It is a lot cheaper than electric. Consider a propane wall heater if need be, or a wall mount furnace. Heavy curtains over windows helps as well. The door may be better off just replacing, but there should be a weather stripping to fix almost anything.

[fitz19d]

Ya, my only fear is going overboard and doing stuff that would take 20 years to pay itself off as well, out here not sure they will do thermal energy audits etc. Almost an argument to try solar though I'm still very hesitant though my shop if they arn't too heavy has ample sun.

[Erni]

Cost vs return is a huge deal. Are you going to do it yourself? Counting your labor as free? How long are you going to be in the house?

Time to number crunch and go from there.

[eddiememphis]

The concrete is sucking the heat away. Heat is drawn to cold. The slab has a lot of thermal mass, meaning it will take a lot of energy to change its temperature. It's likely a losing battle since you are fight the ground temp.

Insulating the slab is the best plan. Carpet is okay since it has foam under it to insulate it. Anything you can put down to keep the room air from contacting the slab will help. You may want to look at pallets. They are often free and you can raise the wood off the slab for an air space that could be insulated with expanded polystyrene, fiberglass or even sawdust or newspaper.

If you can find some concrete blankets, get 'em. They are great insulators that can be spread out on the floor or hung from the walls. We used several of them to insulate the north facing steel doors in a shop and it was almost tolerable in there.

Look for a used pellet stove. Mine works great. They are fan forced so they heat up an area quickly.

[def90]

You can have an energy auditor come out to the house and do an IR scan of the walls and ceiling and they can tell you where your biggest issues are and they can tell you where to use your money in the most efficient way possible.

I'm guessing the concrete/tile floor on the converted garage is just one of the issues, if you've ever camped and slept directly on the ground without an insulated pad you would know how the ground will suck all of the heat out of you no matter how good of a sleeping bag you have. I wouldn't doubt if the old garage walls have close to zero if any insulation in the walls and the ceiling above along with the rest of the house if it was built more than 30 years ago.

[fitz19d]

You can have an energy auditor come out to the house and do an IR scan of the walls and ceiling and they can tell you where your biggest issues are and they can tell you where to use your money in the most efficient way possible.

I'm guessing the concrete/tile floor on the converted garage is just one of the issues, if you've ever camped and slept directly on the ground without an insulated pad you would know how the ground will suck all of the heat out of you no matter how good of a sleeping bag you have. I wouldn't doubt if the old garage walls have close to zero if any insulation in the walls and the ceiling above along with the rest of the house if it was built more than 30 years ago.

My computer is in there and even with socks I freeze even if room warm so yeah seen it in action. The garage was added maybe like 10 years or so ago then converted into a room a few days ago. A lot of this seems done questionable diy given they couldn't even get the wall floorboards joined well for the slope.

[battlemidget]

Get some heated booties. They got electric ones now that are beyond excellent.

[encorehunter]

How long do you plan on living there? What is your comfort worth? As I get older, I like to be comfortable more and more. Pellet stoves are a great investment, though are getting more expensive for pellets. You could get a pellet insert as well. I think the carpet would be a big improvement for the cheapest solution.
https://denver.craigslist.org/atq/d/...579476482.html

[rondog]

I watch too many home improvement/renovation shows, and I'm fascinated with the spray foam they sometimes use, and what they do in attics. I wish we could have our house completely redone, I'm sure it would make a big difference. Not that it's cold & uncomfortable now, but could stand some improvements.