There may be a monetary benefit to doing it after you move in. You'll need to check with your lender for possible mortgage interest discounts, or some other form of discounts, for doing energy improvements.

We obtained our mortgage through Alaska Housing Finance Corp. The benefit to AHFC for us is that they give you 180 days from closing to do energy improvements. You start with an initial energy rating, which includes a heat loss calculation. (In your case, possibly a heat gain, too?) Then you proceed to hemorrhage money. haha! In your case, buy a new heating system. Seal up the drafts. Maybe put in new windows. This rating gives you a chance to see where you should aim your money.

Finally, you wrap it all up with another energy rating (generally discounted from the initial rating). Then you submit it to your lender and mortgage servicing company. They'll look at the actual impact your improvements made and determine how much of a discount you'll get from your mortgage interest rate. We have the potential to drop to 6% interest or lower.

For our home, the initial energy rating scored the house at 3+ Stars, or 73.3 points. By tightening up the house and replacing the boiler, we earned 10 points, making the house a 4+ Star home. That's right above the minimum for an average home. New houses in this area are required to be 5 Star or higher. Some more insulation and windows and we just might get there, ourselves!

Braytonak: Thanks...how would we obtain the energy rating?

(btw, the home had a new roof, new vinyl windows, & new appliances put in last year. Other than some weatherstripping, we don't know what would be left to upgrade - insulation?)

Our mortgage company, AHFC, had a list posted online of all the local Energy Raters. I'm not sure if they have to be licensed, or not? I think ours was a little too laid back and didn't gather numbers on the old boiler and the hot water heater as accurately as he could have. One thing that is commonly done, which will help you find the right kind of person for the job, is to find out who does a Blower Door Test. This is where they put a barrier on your front door, attach a fan and measure air leakage into the home. A GOOD rater will do tests, such as with smoke or powder puffs, to find where this air comes in. A good rater will also put a sniffer in the exhaust vent of your boiler, etc, to measure their true performance.

Insulation is always a good upgrade, if done correctly. Putting the foam pads behind the outlet and switch plates is a start. If you have a crawlspace, there is documentation that will show how to PROPERLY insulate your crawlspace according to its design. (It's not always as logical as you'd think. You don't want to cause problems by insulating incorrectly.)

In my case, putting insulation on the exterior crawlspace walls, as well as 4' inward from the perimeter on the ground, would save us a lot of heat loss. We'd also have to be sure to ventilate properly, though. Adding insulation to the attic can help.

A 20+ year old home was built with different ideas of what was insulated and ventilated "enough".

There is a benefit to converting before you move in in that whoever does the work will not have to work around you and your furniture. If they're installing ducts that likely means cutting drywall, and that can get dusty. Unless you're looking to postpone, I'd do it before moving in. Obviously after you close, however . . . (ideally schedule it for right after closing and stay in your current place for an extra week or two.

Whoa, get your thought's together and think a minute! Based on what you said being a home buyer, you did a good thing by having the house inspected before buying! And good for you. However...... Before making a discision on what you think now. Move in, get settled in enjoy your new home, but more importantly,live in it at least one full year. ( Through all four seasons.) and then make a decide. The reason I say this is because your inspector said that everything was fine and that your home is well built! If still in thinking about the conversion, then get the inspector back and tell him about your thoughts on the subject.

Thanks, heimert - we will not move in until the work is completed, if we choose to convert now.

g-mann - we are also thinking about the "give it a year" and see.

I've also learned that a pellet stove might be a nice transition, and a less costly one. The sellers currently use the wood stove to do most of the heating for them.

We just won't have the cooling (but we don't know if we'll *need* that yet).