Copy Cat - Copy Cat
Today I spent big money I was saving for a rainy day or rather a cold winter's night-- the padding in the fuel oil fund.
My old house had original windows when I moved in over 10 years ago. Most of the glass panes were either missing or cracked and the rest of the panes were barely secured by brittle caulking. My #1 son spent many grueling days replacing glass and re-caulking all the worst windows, a labor of love and a summer neither of us will ever forget. (I am deeply grateful, he's determined to never do THAT again!)
Despite his overall successful results, the bay window in the parlor remains drafty and cold all winter long and the nearby love seat is the last seating anyone chooses the second time. To finally remedy this, I am planning to take advantage of President Obama's tax credit for energy savings, as other members of my family have done for their homes. I will replace these old windows with double pane, argon filled, modern windows and insulate the walls at the same time. Shhh! Don't tell the town ARB (architectural review board) because I'm not supposed to mess with the historic facade of the building.
I'm sure I won't be able to see enough energy savings from just these windows to justify their cost, but if I'm ever to do this project, well isn't that what incentive is supposed to be? Carpe Diem and all that.
Being frugal by my nature the next bit is what to do with the 6 old windows. Certainly they can be re-purposed somehow, not to the land fill, that is. I have always dreamed of having a small greenhouse for winter blooms. Maybe? This has the potential to be a nice project for the "down" season if Obama would just find extra money in my shrinking budget to pay for it.
My old house had original windows when I moved in over 10 years ago. Most of the glass panes were either missing or cracked and the rest of the panes were barely secured by brittle caulking. My #1 son spent many grueling days replacing glass and re-caulking all the worst windows, a labor of love and a summer neither of us will ever forget. (I am deeply grateful, he's determined to never do THAT again!)
Despite his overall successful results, the bay window in the parlor remains drafty and cold all winter long and the nearby love seat is the last seating anyone chooses the second time. To finally remedy this, I am planning to take advantage of President Obama's tax credit for energy savings, as other members of my family have done for their homes. I will replace these old windows with double pane, argon filled, modern windows and insulate the walls at the same time. Shhh! Don't tell the town ARB (architectural review board) because I'm not supposed to mess with the historic facade of the building.
I'm sure I won't be able to see enough energy savings from just these windows to justify their cost, but if I'm ever to do this project, well isn't that what incentive is supposed to be? Carpe Diem and all that.
Being frugal by my nature the next bit is what to do with the 6 old windows. Certainly they can be re-purposed somehow, not to the land fill, that is. I have always dreamed of having a small greenhouse for winter blooms. Maybe? This has the potential to be a nice project for the "down" season if Obama would just find extra money in my shrinking budget to pay for it.