Looking into heating/cooling options for my house

Arkaneinc · 03-10-11, 04:56 AM

* sorry mods if this is the wrong forum*

Bought a 1950's house a little over 2 years ago in Southern California. Where I live it's not too bad most of the time. During the summer it gets up to 115-117F and during the winter it gets down to 25-30F.

My house has absolutely no insulation. No AC/Heat either. I have someone coming out this week to at least put R-13 in the walls and R-30 in the attic. It'll most likely be blown in to save some money because on top of everything else I'm a single father raising 2 small children.

I'm looking for the most efficient way to do both without spending a lot of money and would like to go as green as possible. We've been using fans during the summer but it only goes so far and is miserable. During the winter we were just using lots of blankets but i think it's time to just improve the house.

I have seen so many options from wood burning stoves to passive solar to heat the house. I've tried researching what I can and just thought I would ask. What would you do and why?

Obviously I know there will be some cost behind it. At some point I'll need to get the house as air tight as possible which I plan on doing. I need new windows as well but would like to start planning the heat/cooling as well.

thanks for all the help.

little info that may be helpful:
House is approx. 1158 sqft. it has a decent size backyard for Southern California standards. I have a train track right behind my house as well.

03-10-11, 04:56 AM	#1
Arkaneinc Lurking Renovator Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 11 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Looking into heating/cooling options for my house * sorry mods if this is the wrong forum* Bought a 1950's house a little over 2 years ago in Southern California. Where I live it's not too bad most of the time. During the summer it gets up to 115-117F and during the winter it gets down to 25-30F. My house has absolutely no insulation. No AC/Heat either. I have someone coming out this week to at least put R-13 in the walls and R-30 in the attic. It'll most likely be blown in to save some money because on top of everything else I'm a single father raising 2 small children. I'm looking for the most efficient way to do both without spending a lot of money and would like to go as green as possible. We've been using fans during the summer but it only goes so far and is miserable. During the winter we were just using lots of blankets but i think it's time to just improve the house. I have seen so many options from wood burning stoves to passive solar to heat the house. I've tried researching what I can and just thought I would ask. What would you do and why? Obviously I know there will be some cost behind it. At some point I'll need to get the house as air tight as possible which I plan on doing. I need new windows as well but would like to start planning the heat/cooling as well. thanks for all the help. little info that may be helpful: House is approx. 1158 sqft. it has a decent size backyard for Southern California standards. I have a train track right behind my house as well.