Energy Efficiency
Historic houses can be made significantly more energy efficient without compromising their character. The key is knowing how the building was originally constructed, how it has changed over time, and what those changes mean for how it performs today. Generic approaches built for new construction often cause more harm than good in old buildings.
Heritage Restoration takes a different path.
How We Assess the Building
We use blower door testing and thermal imaging to find exactly where air is moving through the building. Drafts, missing or ineffective insulation, and hidden moisture problems. These are the issues that standard inspections miss and that quietly drive up energy costs while damaging materials over time.
Before any work begins, we conduct a comprehensive building condition assessment. That includes air infiltration analysis throughout the structure, evaluation of the building envelope for moisture and drainage concerns, documentation of window and door performance, insulation feasibility studies for walls and attic spaces, and review of mechanical systems where relevant. The result is a clear picture of how the building actually performs and what it needs.
What the Work Might Include
Every building is different. The right combination of improvements depends on what the assessment reveals and what the owner is trying to accomplish.
In most projects, we look at energy panels and proper weatherstripping for windows that need help. Air sealing from the basement to the attic to control airflow and reduce heat loss. Targeted insulation using dense-pack cellulose or attic treatments where they are compatible with historic materials. Moisture and water management improvements that solve performance problems without trapping water or harming the original fabric. Renewable energy systems where they make sense for the building and the owner's goals.
The principle behind every recommendation is the same. Improve performance without creating new problems for the building.
A Clear Plan Without a Sales Pitch
Every audit combines independent scientific testing with preservation expertise. What the owner gets at the end is a prioritized roadmap based on the building's actual condition and the owner's priorities, not a list of upgrades designed to maximize what we install.
A historic house that performs well will stand for another century.
Common Questions About Energy Efficiency in Old Homes
How can I make an old house more energy efficient without ruining its character?
You start by understanding where the energy is actually going, then you fix the biggest problems with the least invasive work. In most old houses, the order that makes sense is to handle moisture first, then air sealing, then targeted insulation, and only then think about windows and mechanical systems. The EPA estimates that air sealing a home and adding insulation in the attic and basement saves an average of about 15 percent on heating and cooling costs, and those are usually the cheapest and least intrusive improvements you can make. The goal is not to turn an old house into a new one. It is to make it noticeably more comfortable and efficient while leaving everything that makes it worth living in intact.
Can you insulate the walls of an old house, and is it dangerous?
Sometimes you can, but the walls are the riskiest place to do it, and it should never be the first move. Old houses were built to dry outward, and packing an absorbent material into a wall cavity that was designed to breathe can trap moisture and lead to rot, mold, and peeling paint. The attic and basement are almost always the better place to start, because they give you the biggest savings with the least risk. When wall insulation does make sense, we favor dense-pack cellulose over spray foam, because cellulose lets the wall keep drying while foam seals it up permanently and hides any moisture problem developing behind it. One important note is that if a house still has knob-and-tube wiring, it cannot be buried in insulation safely, so that has to be checked first. The honest answer is that insulating old walls is sometimes the right call and sometimes a mistake, and the only way to know is to look at the specific building.
Why is my old house so cold and drafty?
It is usually not the windows, even though that is where everyone points first. Most of the draft in an old house comes from what is called the stack effect. Warm air rises and escapes through gaps high in the house, around the attic hatch, light fixtures, and the tops of walls, and that rising air pulls cold air in down low, through the basement, rim joists, and foundation. So you feel cold air moving even though the leaks driving it are at the very top and bottom of the house. A cold house with a furnace that runs constantly is almost always an envelope problem rather than a heating problem. The fix is to find those leaks, which a blower door test and infrared camera make obvious, and seal them from the attic down to the basement.
What is a blower door test, and is an energy audit worth it?
A blower door test uses a calibrated fan to pull air out of the house, which forces outside air in through every crack and gap. With an infrared camera and a little smoke, those leaks become easy to see and measure, even the ones hidden inside walls and ceilings. The value is that it replaces guessing with a real picture of where the building is losing energy, and it lets us prove the work afterward by testing again. For an old house, it is well worth it, because old buildings rarely leak where you would expect. In Rhode Island, there is also a no-cost option worth knowing about. Rhode Island Energy's EnergyWise program, run through RISE, offers a free home energy assessment along with discounts on insulation and air sealing, which is a good starting point for a lot of homeowners.
Do I need to replace my old windows to save energy?
Usually no, despite what the replacement-window ads tell you. Only about 10 percent of a typical home's heat loss is through the windows in the first place, and a sound old window paired with a good storm window and proper weatherstripping performs about as well as a new double-pane unit, for far less money. The research backs this up, including studies from the Department of Energy and the National Trust for Historic Preservation showing that restoring and weatherproofing an old window gets you most of the way to a replacement at a fraction of the cost. On top of that, your original old-growth wood windows can last another century if cared for, while a replacement unit is generally good for fifteen or twenty years. We cover this in detail on our storm windows page, but the short version is that keeping and upgrading the original window is almost always the better decision.
