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Just realized my oil bill dropped $340 after I finally sealed the bulkhead door in my 1920s Worcester duplex
Two winters back I was burning through about 900 gallons of heating oil a season in this old duplex and just eating the cost because I figured that was normal for a house this age. Back in October I finally got up in the basement with a caulk gun and a roll of foam tape and went after the bulkhead door, which had a gap at the bottom you could slide a pencil through. I also stuffed insulation around the sill plate where the foundation meets the frame and hung an old wool blanket over the stairs going down. Just got my latest delivery and I'm on pace for about 640 gallons this year instead of 900, which at $3.20 a gallon is real money. The bulkhead job took me one Saturday afternoon and maybe $40 in materials. Anyone else here with an old New England house, what was the one cheap fix that made the biggest dent in your heat bill?
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derek_bell23d ago
Did you check the rim joist area while you were down there? Everyone talks about bulkheads and windows but in these old Worcester duplexes the rim joist is usually wide open behind whatever the builder stuffed in there, and that is where you get the constant cold draft you can never quite find. Mine had nothing but a scrap of old newspaper from 1923 jammed in one bay and bare wood everywhere else. I cut rigid foam board to fit between each joist, sealed the edges with spray foam, and that alone cut my draft problem way more than the bulkhead did. It is a little more work than a Saturday afternoon but you are already in the basement with the caulk gun so it is worth a look. Also check where the chimney passes through, that gap up top pulls air all winter like a straw.
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