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And you are right, I probably need to do a bit better on the attic insulation, though it really isn't bad (the snow stays on the roof, the third floor is warm as toast with the radiators off, so the heat ain't gettin' out too much!).
The foam between the brick and granite is probably a nonstarter--they are butt up against one another, and the guy who built this house (he was a builder, and a good one for his time) built it like a fortress--it was an air raid shelter in the duck and cover days. I recently repointed the granite, that could well help--we'll see when the bills come in. It's just that the masonry tends to hold the cold, which is actually a good thing in summer (the interior of the house is really comfortable in the fine weather, except on the most brutal summer days, and even then it is probably fifteen degrees, minimum, cooler than the outside, and maybe a bit cooler still on the lower floor).
Actually, once I get it heated up, if I can just mitigate drafts, it stays pretty cozy. The windows are going in this month, and I am counting on them helping out in that regard. I am wanting to upgrade the doors as well, but I am no Roosevelt, and I do not go for E-Z credit, so I will start budgeting for that, as well. In the meantime, draft stoppers and keeping the vestibule doors closed will have to do!!!
I live in a very old neighborhood, with folks all round, very close by, in similar homes with small yards, but I need to replace some trees out front that are dying from this awful black spot crap that has infected the whole region. I am torn between evergreen screening (busy road--gotta worry about traffic fumes, winter salt on roads, that kind of stuff) and something deciduous, that would mitigate the summer sun. I do not know a damn thing about trees, and of course I also have to concern myself with the aesthetics of it all--not just for the sake of the neighbors, but for peace at home as well (a few lovable fussy types with strong opinions, but few suggestions!).
I am always looking for ways to pinch a silver dollar till the eagle shrieks! I've gone to fluorescent bulbs wherever I can get away with them, and they have done a good job of cutting the bill a bit. I also had to buy a new fridge when the old reliable finally died, and I got a super-efficient one with some nice bells and whistles.
Funny how priorities change--in my youth, I loved a new sports car, now I get a charge out of a space-age fridge!
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