Not Nice Spice
We’re so excited to put a little more of our mark on our first home! Although we’re still somewhat indecisive about a few aesthetics, one thing we know for sure is that we did not want to bleed money on heating this winter—especially since winter tends to last all year. When we purchased this home I requested the previous owners’ utility bill and was shocked! It’s a tiny cape so I chalked it up to them keeping the heat jacked, but when I checked the thermostat settings they had it at 63°(just freaking out a little as new homeowner)! This wasn’t encouraging, considering that it was ridiculously hot upstairs all summer, too. Our first attempt, and waste of money, was having a small scale company come to adjust the venting and add insulation. But it only changed the temperature by a couple degrees. After researching other cape owners’ dilemmas I called around to have an energy efficiency assessment. In our area there were only a few options. I started with Zero Draft and ended going with them to complete the work. I couldn’t give a company more praise! If you know me, that’s saying a lot (Ha!). We had the assessment, processed the paperwork and scheduled the work. The assessment confirmed what the home inspector and previous company noted—we’re heating and cooling our backyard. So disappointing. We used the baby’s monitor to see the difference in temperature between upstairs and down to be well over ten degrees. The best option was to cough up the money and fix the insulation problem the right way and have the house set for winter. I mean we literally had snow in April this year so we’d reap the benefits year-round. Zero Draft participates with federal grants that we qualified for as new homeowners (win!). The grant covers 50% of the total cost, up to $4K. That made a huge dent on the insulation project. Since a few of the energy windows had seals that were broken we chose to get that out of the way, too. They blocked off two days to complete the work, but it was done in less than a day. The kids’ rooms are both upstairs and I was a little apprehensive how Little Dude was going to nap or how him and Chickadee would manage all day with limited play space. But they did incredible! Little Dude napped for nearly fours hours. The workers were incredibly respectful and the kids’ curiosity didn’t faze them in the least. Afterwards, they even vacuumed every single step, nook and cranny. The same went for the window crew—they blocked out half a day but it only took an hour or two. Both crews were on time and beyond professional! We only had two hiccups. One, there was a bit of an oversight scheduling the work, which led to a couple of weeks delay. Two, when the insulation was blown in a garage vent wasn’t sealed properly. Zero Draft sent someone to come and clean the items that were damaged and compensated us within a week for a few things that couldn’t be saved.
We’re so glad to dish out the money on this type of home improvement. Now the upstairs and down are 2-3 degrees different and it’s already snowed twice (hello, winter in Upstate NY!). The house heats up in just a few minutes and stays at that temperature for an extended period of time. Previously, it would literally run all the time and barely make a dent. Next step—kitchen, bathrooms & garage!
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Kate FrancesWhen you don't know what else to do, then it's time to write. Then write a little while longer for good measure. Archives
February 2020
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