First time poster here. Wife and I bought our home a year ago this past September. The house is a brick/block single story with crawl space and floored attic. Wall construction is plaster on plaster board (sheet rock) with the outside walls furred to concrete block with 2x3 (I think). The outside walls have NO insulation and to add insult to injury, the cavities are open to the crawl space below and the attic above . Needless to say, the exterior walls are FRIGID in Winter as outside air is just the other side of the plaster. The space between the floor joists were insulated sometime in recent years with fiberglass batt insulation and the attic floor has a few inches of blown fiberglass that looks as old as the house. House has original windows and doors and triple track storm windows and storm doors. There are two wood fireplaces.
About 5-6 years ago, the previous owner installed a new York heat pump with electric strip backup heat. Supply registers and returns are all in the ceiling (great in Summer, not so much in Winter). The air handler and all duct work is in the attic and appears to have been installed by someone who took their time and was neat.
The house has a Columbia FT Series oil fired boiler and two zones of BaseRay cast iron baseboard heaters. The baseboard heaters cover most of the baseboards in the entire house. I suspect the boiler is inoperative as the fuse was removed when we bought the house and one of the zone T-Stats is completely disconnected at the boiler.
What I want to do is remove the boiler system completely as I would like to gain the space that the boiler takes up in my shop and the baseboard radiator installation creates a huge (1/2" to 3/4") gap between the floor and the bottom of the wall (difficult to explain) that is open to the wall cavity (outside air!). I have since used some Great Stuff and 1" backer rod to seal up this gap as a temporary fix.
What I want to know is if I am able to seal and insulate the house (suggestions on this are VERY welcome!) is my heat pump going to be adequate to condition the house properly? I don't have the model number handy, but can get it if it will help. The house is not comfortable in Winter. The floors are very cold in spite of the insulation in the crawl space joists and the crawl space vents that I sealed for the Winter. I have given thought to installing a radiant floor heating system at some point, but it's not in the budget now.
What would you do with a very limited budget? Obviously, sealing and insulation is the first order of business, but I'm not sure of the best approach. I am very comfortable/capable with tools, so DIY is not an issue. Sorry for the long-winded post!
David
About 5-6 years ago, the previous owner installed a new York heat pump with electric strip backup heat. Supply registers and returns are all in the ceiling (great in Summer, not so much in Winter). The air handler and all duct work is in the attic and appears to have been installed by someone who took their time and was neat.
The house has a Columbia FT Series oil fired boiler and two zones of BaseRay cast iron baseboard heaters. The baseboard heaters cover most of the baseboards in the entire house. I suspect the boiler is inoperative as the fuse was removed when we bought the house and one of the zone T-Stats is completely disconnected at the boiler.
What I want to do is remove the boiler system completely as I would like to gain the space that the boiler takes up in my shop and the baseboard radiator installation creates a huge (1/2" to 3/4") gap between the floor and the bottom of the wall (difficult to explain) that is open to the wall cavity (outside air!). I have since used some Great Stuff and 1" backer rod to seal up this gap as a temporary fix.
What I want to know is if I am able to seal and insulate the house (suggestions on this are VERY welcome!) is my heat pump going to be adequate to condition the house properly? I don't have the model number handy, but can get it if it will help. The house is not comfortable in Winter. The floors are very cold in spite of the insulation in the crawl space joists and the crawl space vents that I sealed for the Winter. I have given thought to installing a radiant floor heating system at some point, but it's not in the budget now.
What would you do with a very limited budget? Obviously, sealing and insulation is the first order of business, but I'm not sure of the best approach. I am very comfortable/capable with tools, so DIY is not an issue. Sorry for the long-winded post!
David