Wow. Id recommend an energy audit for your home. They will check not only insulation levels but the probably old inefficient hvac system and bunches of other stuff. Make sure its done by someone qualified and who isnt selling anything else like insulation etc. Also an easy way to check the walls is to pull off an elec outlet plate (with power off). Check and see if you can find anything. Short of that drill small holes in a stud bay then use a plastic stick of some kind to see if you have resistance or some evidence of insulation. Be sure to check in more than one place.

forgot to mention they do heat loss tests with infrared cameras where they take video and pictures to see where the loss areas are located. I think it can be costly to just do that alone and might be better as part of a package deal with the whole audit.

You really need to get an energy audit. I'd suggest calling your power company (any of them, either your oil supplier or your electric or gas supplier, doesn't have to be the connected with your furnace fuel) and ask them if they do audits, or whom they'd suggest to do one and what should be included. Our power company was offering free audits about ten years ago, and we jumped on the chance.

We had bills about that large twenty two years ago, and even at that, the house was never warm or comfortable no matter how high you turned the heat on a frigid night. You can only IMAGINE what our bills would be like since energy prices have doubled since then, had we not done something about it.

We made some modifications immediately, and no they weren't cheap. But, compared to what we were paying, they amortised themselves rather quickly. We managed to cut our energy consumption forty to fifty percent. You can't afford NOT to address it.

Our biggest energy loss was windows. Second largest was fireplaces (this house had one in EVERY room, including the kitchen). Then we had one whole side of the house cold to the touch, so we installed a solarium across that exposure. Eventually when gas lines were run through, we changed over to a gas fired boiler and hot water heat. Numerous smaller changes, like adding insulation to interior walls when we pulled the plaster in one room, installing ceiling fans and reversing the flow in winter, insulating electrical outlets. The list goes on and on.

The house is warm on the coldest days now. It doesn't have to be done all at once, but tackle the major heat losses first. It soon becomes a pattern, and second nature to look for energy savings in everything.

Good luck, Buddy. Been there and done that.

Ceiling insulation, windows and doors are the most effective on lowering your heat bill, forget about the walls till everything else has been done.

Unless of course the wind is whistling right thru and then you caulk the holes.

Definitely get a home energy audit. They'll tell you exactly where you're losing heat from, and it may be things you don't expect. My house was audited, and I was losing heat from my ducts being leaky before it ever got upstairs from the basement! I was losing heat out where the house met the foundation, even though it was insulated, because the house had gaps and the insulation was just filtering the air like a cigarette filter and not fully stopping it.

In my house, it wasn't windows or doors, but the basement and attic being leaky, and the ducts leaking air out into the leaky basement. They'll use a blower door too, and this is a really nice tool for analysing the house.

I agree with hendricus 100%. Attic insulation (ceiling), windows and doors are the 3 worst culprits. If you remedy them, you will solve a huge part of your problem. If you want to spend the money, get the infrared energy audit. But if you want to put the money toward, for example, attic insulation, you'll be cutting your heating bills right away. And, if you have original windows, don't assume that you have to replace them. Learn about supplemental insulation for them, using spring bronze, for example, and you can also make a big difference right away.

Danhunter,
We were just in the same position you were. We have a 1957 ranch in NE Ohio and our heating oil bills were $600/month this winter. Here's what we did:

1. Converted to natural gas. We didn't have gas service to the house, so we had to run the gas line inside and out as well as install a new burner on the boiler. Since the boiler was only 5 years old, it was worth it. Our first gas bill was $141 for 2 weeks, about half what it was on oil (this was before doing any of the insulation below.) The conversion cost us about $2000, since we did as much work as possible ourselves. Besides what we'll save on heating costs, the house will be easier to sell (whenever we get to that point) with gas heat. No one wants oil.
2. Last week, we insulated the attic with cellulose. DIY at a cost of just under $600. We foamed around all the openings we could find before blowing in the insulation.
3. We foamed the exterior walls of the crawlspace and packed fiberglass batts in the joists around the hot water pipes of the baseboard heating system.
3. We has a company come in and dense pack cellulose in the walls for $1800. This was just done Monday, but the house is much quieter. It was raining last night and I had to listen really hard to hear it.

We notice that the furnace doesn't kick on nearly as often as before, but of course this is partially due to warmer weather. It will be next winter before we'll really see how much we'll save, although we should see some savings on AC this summer. I'm sure we would benefit from new windows, but that will have to be in the future. I also installed the foam insulators behind all the outlets and switch plates, and we will redo the weather stripping on the doors.

An energy audit is a great idea. None of our energy providers around here offer them, and I think they cost about $300 more or less.

Lots of good tips. I'm told that the attic is your big heat loss area, so I'd definitely focus there, once any other glaring problems are addressed.

Another place to look is down in the basement along the foundation and sill plates. Some foam board insulation can be cut to fit and I've found that can really make the basement more comfortable, which means that the ductwork down there isn't cold which means that your furnace doesn't have to heat it AND the floors stay warmer.

Also, get some removable caulk next year for your old windows. It's FANTASTIC. It comes off easily too. Also, go around all your windows and outlets with a back of matches or a candle and look for drafts. Seal 'em up with caulk or those neat outlet gaskets.

One thing to consider as well (we plan to do this as soon as we get done with the electric, HVAC, and plumbing) is spray foam insulation. We're going to be using closed cell polyurethane spray foam. It's R-7/inch and a perfect vapor barrier. I'll be following up on the blog when we do it (We'll probably shoot video of it, in fact, if 'Mrs. Lucas' can figure out how to edit it :D).

My research suggests that the outfit for DIY types is Tigerfoam.com. Their support guy is very helpful too.

M

Here is a link that might be useful: RehabOrDie.com

One other thing - I wouldn't blow insulation into walls unless I knew that my home wasn't dependant on active knob and tube wiring. Wouldn't want to risk screwing up the electricity which would then necessitate a much larger repair.

If you have a high quality 33mm reflex camera that has adjustable F-stops and film speed you can go to a high end camera store and purchase a roll of 33mm infra-red film.

Go outside on a cold day and shoot pictures of the house from all side, and closeups of the doors, windows or other suspect areas, then have the film developed.

When you get the prints back the prints will appear basically a blue color but in areas where there is a heat loss the heat loss will appear as yellow to bright red. The brighter the color the greater the heat loss.

Thanks for all of the great advice. I found a company in Virginia that does Energy Audits. I am trying to schedule a time for them to come out now. I am also planning on installing a pellet stove this summer so I think that will drive down the heating costs as well. What happens if you blow foam installation on top of knob and tube wiring?

Do your homework before you make that purchase to make sure it's going to be cost effective for you. I worked in a store two years ago who sold pellet fuel, and alternative heating units. The demand exceeded the supply and I spent half my day on the phone, saying I'm sorry to cold customers begging for pellets. The units are not cheap, and the money may be better spent depending on what your energy audit turns up.

Zone heating is a nice option to have, regardless of what you chose to use to produce it. We use several gas fired fireplaces and grates to give us a boost when we want it, without having to crank up the central heating boiler. But, it won't 'save' you money if you have to use it in addition to your furnace just to be comfortable.

Good luck, and I hope the technician has answers for you.

If you have knob & tube wiring, I would concentrate all my money in getting rid of that, never mind insulating to lock it in! That system has got to be ancient and is probably deteriorated in various places inside the walls - very dangerous! Do upgrade that first, and then worry about heating (or you are likely to end up very hot when you least expect it!).

We have storm windows, which open from the inside, and our original 100 year old windows. We have attic insulation and good seals around the doors. We also have a wood stove in the family room that will heat the whole (2200 sq st) house. The HVAC was updated about 5 years ago so we have AC in summer too. I don't think we have any wall insulation in the old part of the house. In Colorado, even without the wood stove going, we are never cold and our heating bills are very reasonable.
Diane