Energy Audit

At the end of 2009, I signed us up for an Energy Audit/program through the city. I received a letter a few months later telling me that we made the waiting list. Then I believe another telling me that the $ for that year had been exhausted and that we were on the list for 2010. December rolls around and we finally get a letter asking us about our electric/gas/etc bills are. We only have electric wall heaters and try to avoid using them as much as possible (problem is they kick on during the super cold winter nights anyway). We replaced the broken pellet stove with a new Hearthstone wood stove at Thanksgiving in 2009. Because our house is a sieve, we have been going through A LOT of wood & Bear bricks. Already almost 2 cords of wood and on our 2nd pallet of bricks for this winter!
Anyway....this morning was our energy audit. Now I can't remember if this is a grant to cover the costs of what the Auditor recommends OR a program the city has to offer the upgrades at low interest, long term plan. It turns out that we are eligible for a new refrigerator(!) toilet & insulation in the attic. Apparently he mentioned the water heater but didn't say anything about replacing it or insulating the ceiling of the basement (so much cold air comes up through the floor into the main part of the house). Unfortunately windows are not part of what they do (we are working on that on another front...)
Next step is a mock up or list maybe(?) of what can be done and what the following steps are. Maybe at that point we will understand what exactly the deal is.

Getting up to Speed.

( I have been trying to finish and post this since Friday night...I had some technical difficulties so hopefully I can get more posts added today.)

I think the best way to start off this blog is by posting the history of what we have done with our house since we purchased it in August 2009. I am thinking I will tackle each room every day until ALL the rooms are updated. Looking through all of the pictures I feel few things. 1. We have done A LOT in the 1 1/2 years we have had this home. 2. Inspired to finish a room/anxious to have at least 1 room done! 3. Amazed at how some rooms have already been changed since i first decorated.

I am hoping that this blog will help me get projects done even if they are "small" projects (we all know that in older homes there is no such thing as a SMALL project!)

Okay, to start, let's see the outside of the house...I am going to have to take some updated pictures of the front yard this weekend...

Sold sign & the Dodge.

 

 We replaced a window last spring.
This past winter, we learned how badly we were taken advantage of by Penguin Windows. WAY over charged. We gave in after a 3 1/2 hour house call sales pitch and the allure of only having to pay $25/month (which was never the case) This was one of our first lessons. We HATE paying more than we should and assumed that if a Penguin window was that much surely Milgard would be hundreds if not thousands more...We have now found a wonderful company, Classic Sash & Door, who will being doing the rest of our windows. This window will be the last to be replaced as we will keep it around as a reminder....more on the windows later.

The Trash pile. I think it got bigger before it got smaller...

Believe it or not, these pictures are from almost exactly 1 year ago! Interesting to see the difference in the weather. It was unusually warm and the daffodils were already blooming. This fence is still not 100% finished. We (meaning the hubby) need to put on the decorative gate boards and trim the post next to the house. This is one of the many projects that is 95% done.

This is another old picture from last spring/summer. the plants have grown in more, the drip system was installed and all of the mulch has been laid. I will aim to get new pictures this weekend to show how much it has changed since the plants were first put in.

New Blog

I have recently been exposed to a plethora of local home restoration blogs and felt like it would be good to break apart our personal family blog and the house stuff. Maybe I will be able to keep one of them up to date....

Welcome to OUR money pit.