I'd have to guess without seeing it, that the house is pretty much uninsulated. When we moved into our VERY old house there wasn't a bit of insulation in the walls and only some old loose insulation in the joist in the attic. When the wind blew the curtains moved and cold air came in around the electrical outlets.

It was adrastic solution, but we had the house stripped of the old wooden siding, and the doors and windows were all replaced with new ones. Then the whole house was thoroughly insulated, sheathed and sided.

The house warmed up and has cost much less to heat.

Don

This is our first winter in our old house and all I can say is, I feel your pain. I'm cold natured anyway and boy, is it an ajustment! I'm in Louisiana too, if you can believe it.

Our house is mid 1800's and has very, very little insulation. We were pricing batt insulation this weekend, it shouldn't be too bad to do the attic. We are planning to finish part of the upstairs and someone on here recommended that we go ahead and insulate the attic floor, then do the attic ceiling later when we are ready to add on up there. I don't think you want to insulate above an unfinished attic. We are also going to caulk anything that will stand still, I've heard this helps quite a bit. At some point, we will rewire the portions of the house with old wiring and blow insulation into the walls.

Until then, I'm purchasing all the space heaters I can get my paws on and buying more sweats, and am very glad that it is going to be a warm week. Good luck!

I agree with redbirds about the caulking. Cases of caulking are not really expensive and will give you the best bang for your buck. Also, expanding foam insulation around the sill plate/floor joists in your basement (if you've got one) and where there is a big gap. Be careful with this foam around windows and doors, though. Get that backer rod stuff for big gaps around windows and doors - it's like a thin cylinder of foam that you stuff into bigger crevices. It may be too cold now, but get outside and seal stuff too - windows, doors, exhaust vents. Also, if you have a fireplace that you don't use, make sure it is sealed shut.

Our house was built in 1862 and this winter has been the coldest yet in our house. Our upstairs is freezing, and downstairs isn't much better. Luckily the house is tiny but we're using electric heaters and we've put plastic seals over the windows every winter. The house needs all new windows, and probably a lot of insulation and caulking. But we are not rich so this will take lots of time.

Besides caulking, adding insulation to the floor above the basement and to the attic is an investment that will pay back very soon. The problem is the walls, which I'm sure aren't insulated. It can be done, but involves cutting about a 1-1/2" hole in the siding for each stud space and pumping in insulation. While this will also pay off in the long run, it's somthing you'll probably need to pay a contractor to do.

Also check with your power company. They often do free energy audits, make recommendations on what makes the most economical sensey, and sometimes have rebates or financing programs for more expensive weatherization. Whatever you do, get moving on this before the next heating season...energy ain't getting cheaper.

My 1903 house was freezing also...I remember seeing my breath on the first floor on a really cold day one year. I went thru sh*tloads of caulk,foam, felt,plastic,etc,etc with no significant improvement. It wasn't til I had the whole house insulated with foam blown in thru the walls, and cellulose in theattic and some other spaces that things improved. I still have to change a bunch of can lights to IC and redo the front porch floor, but it is way more comfortable now..and quiter. I would recomend thinking about it and doing that first before fixing any walls, because they drilled thru them from the inside.

In the short term you might have to figure out how to live in a smaller area, so you only have to heat a portion of the house.

I know it took several hundred tubes of caulk and dozens of the exanding spray foam to seal up our 1904 home. We also added insulation to our attic and the basement ceiling.

The caulk and foam are cheap and the insulation can be done in sections every time you have a little extra money.

I kept notes as I was doing stuff, you might find them interesting.

All in all I think we spend ~ $2000 not counting the replacement windows and cut the heating bill in half. Rope caulk on the windows will work almost as well as replacing them did.

Here is a link that might be useful: Energy savings in Older New England Homes

Have an energy audit done by an independant organization, one who isn't trying to sell you something. They will give you a lot of information on how to best spend your money to make your particular house more comfortable.

This is often the prerequisite for tapping into government or hyro funding to reduce energy use.

I discovered no insulation except a little bit in the attic. It isn't hard to blow the insulation in yourselves. My husband was in another state working, so my dad helped do ours in this 1896 house. We drilled 1" holes inside, guessing where the first one should be, then bent a wire coat hanger and fished into the wall to see how far the stud was. From there, if you're off, you can feel over with the hanger and measure appropriately from there for the next one. We did all the outside walls, above and below windows. I bought the insulation and was given, rent free, a hopper for a day and half. We drilled holes one day, I ran over and bought the insulation and got the hopper for the next available day my dad had. It was pretty darn easy. Mix up some joint compound, fill a baggy and cut a corner off like a pastry bag and fill the hole. Sand it smooth, prime and paint.

Call your gas or electric company, or look on their website to see if they offer free energy efficiency audits. My home energy audit was free and the guy looked all around my 150 year old home. What type of furnace and how old it it? Does it vent through the chimney or through a PVC pipe in your wall? If you're not using your attic for storage, I recommend filling it with insulation. Check online to see what R value of insulation is recommended for your area. Your gas company may give rebates for a new furnace, attic and or basement and wall insulation, and weatherproofing. Since this winter is almost over, now is the time to start planning for next year. Oh, when I upgraded my furnace, I got rebates from my gas company and the furnace manufacturer. I notice that it is usually in the Spring when the furnace manufacturers advertise their specials. I've noticed Lowe's and Home Depot having insulation on sale now.

All of the above, and it was chilly in this 1910 house also. If you're on a crawl space, fill in any voids with cement caulk and it will raise the temperature quite a bit.

I've found batt insulation to be kind of pricey this year. $56. for 113 sq ft of R-19. I keep Dap expanding foam in business too. We plan to blow it in as we can afford to when the weather warms. We have balloon framing and the cold travels everywhere. Our attic is well insulated with 2 layers of new batt, and we have new windows, vinyl siding. As new owners, we don't have a clue what's under the siding. I'm sure there are many voids.

If I had the money and the house value could support the expense, I'd rip off the siding as Don Butler did, install batt or have expanding foam put between the studs and then install "hardipanel" for siding. These old houses need as much help as possible to keep moisture out. Most of them are still standing because they could breath from lack of insulation, so extra care is needed when insulating.