You might want go to the historic homeworks forum and browse, or even contact the forum owner, John Leeke. He's in ME and does consultations for old house projects. Since he may be close to you, that might be useful. Of course, one of your options is not insulating, either none at all or just doing some insulation in the highest ceiling. For instance just doing the space above the second floor ceiling and under the attic flooring, along with a very good job of sealing air infiltration into the heated space. Installing in-wall insulation is always hard on old houses because of cavity obstructions, access (either exterior or interior wall clading needs to be removed), technical consequences regarding vapor planes, etc. Plus there are some (and I am one) who are not convinced that wall insulation (at least as most people today think of it) is actually good for an old house's long-term survival. It is a modern technology that is somewhat at odds with the technology that has sustained these old timber-framed buildings so well, for so long. While I recognize the benefits of improving energy efficiency, limiting yourself to attic floor insulation, air infiltration control, and superior penetration -both door and window - weatherstripping will make an immediate, big difference on energy use and cost, without the potentially long term cost to the building. Depending on how you heat, it might also make sense to consider adding some renewable energy capacity to achieve more savings and efficiency rather than just focusing on trying to keep all the heat in. Lest you think that I am merely talking through my hat from a milder climate than yours, I should point out that I'm actually in northern NY, with a more severe winter than yours. My house is probably a dozen or so years younger than yours, with its original, intact, interior and exterior surfaces. I initially thought we'd have to remove one or the other, but fortunately I put the decision off long enough to have progressed beyond the conventional wisdom to a more nuanced view of how my building works, as opposed to how more modern ones do. We heat with wood (mostly from our own woodlot), and are planning to add significant solar thermal and PV components this year, so we are trying to improve the energy profile that way instead filling the walls with insulation. Something you might want to explore before you commit to this decision is what is actually in your walls and what kind of bracing you have. Info about this will help you decide whether some of the sprayed-in/blown-in type products would even work in your building. The average contractor really has no idea how to handle old houses, so you really need to talk to an old house expert. (When I go to Home Show exhibitions, I am often shocked at how glib and uninformed the retro-fit insulation guys often are about how to work with truly old buildings, especially the spray-in/blow-in companies. Their experience and notions of old are really more about houses built after, say, 1930.) If you haven't already done so, you can make a big difference with tightening up the house with caulk and weatherstripping and buy yourself more time to get fully up to speed on this topic. The quest for environmental and energy efficiency has to be balanced by the net environmental gain realized by protecting and preserving existing structures for many more years. Here is a link that might be useful: John Leeke's forum, very useful for old house owners

I would check with a building inspector to get a professional opinion. We lived for 10 years in a house that was built in 1930 that had asbestos insulation in the steam pipes all over the cellar. When we put it up for sale in 1986 we learned for the first time that this was an issue. We could not sell the house until we had it removed professionally, which cost us a lot of money and the air quality after the removal had to be checked. Fast forward to 1991: We bought a house built in 1985 that had vinyl flooring in the kitchen that we wanted to remove. We were told that it was right around 1985 that they outlawed asbestos in the vinyl flooring, so no one would remove it because they weren't sure if it had asbestos. We decided to leave it in place and put new vinyl over it. In the first case, the asbestos posed a hazard for indoor air quality, especially if it was disturbed. We never touched it. In the second case the asbestos is sequestered and poses no hazard unless it is disturbed, and there is no reason to do that. In your case, the asbestos is outdoors. That's a different situation. If you ever want to remove it, that would have to be done according to EPA strict rules to prevent the stuff from crumbling into dust particles and flying in the air. Based on what I have experienced, I would err on the side of caution and ask the seller to remove it professionally according to EPA rules, but then it will be up to you to install new siding. Alternatively, you could install new siding over the asbestos siding, if that can be done without causing the asbestos to crumble.

Ignore R factors for a few days, until you get your mind comfortable with a couple other bigger concerns. kit, when you insulate better and better you transform your building into more and more like a plastic bag. In winter, if you breathe into a plastic bag for a couple seconds you will see dew in it. Or frost. kit, learn about "dew point" ("rosée") in Your Climate, in your walls, in buidings like yours. It's deep inside your walls. It's probably not where the average person posting in this forum thinks it is. Even people from the warmer parts of Canada. In cold climates, it is a serious concern. Then when you insulate well it becomes a big thing to "manage". Ask the government guys for help in understanding this. They will know a lot about it. This is the Key to understanding why some houses rot and others don't, and why some have mold everywhere in their walls and others don't. The dew point is inside the walls; it causes rot. There is a lot of overnight freezing and thawing in walls, for many months in your climate. When the walls have higher humidity in them that before, this problem is worsened. Polyisocyanurate is good, and spray-on is good, and sheets too. Foil-faced polyisocyanurate sheets are great too: do you have a fireplace? HTH -david

A house built in the 30s may have asbestos pipe insulation, vermiculite insulation, asbestos wrap on ductwork (if forced air), and possibly flooring felts and mastics from original construction. In addition, asbestos materials could have been added over the years - vinyl asbestos floor tile, asbestos cement siding, more insulation. Are you a do-it-yourselfer? Any of these products can be removed by a homeowner in our state, using the proper procedures. However, vermiculite is something a homeowner would have a hard time removing properly. Is there a basement and access to attic? Usually you can get a good idea for what might be found. Average home inspectors are not trained to identify asbestos. Unless you disturb these products or they are actively disintegrating and getting into the air, they can be left alone. There are engineers who specialize in hazardous materials remediation who could look at the house and flag any issues.