Saw my heating bill drop $120 after I sealed the attic hatch myself

I moved into a 1970s cape in Concord last November and my first oil bill was $380. That seemed insane for a 1,200 square foot house. I went up in the attic to check insulation and noticed the pull-down stairs had almost no weatherstripping and a huge gap around the frame. I spent about $35 on a basic stair cover kit and some foam tape from Aubuchon Hardware, sealed it all up one Saturday. My next bill came in at $260 even with a colder December. Has anyone else found a cheap fix like that made a way bigger difference than they expected?

2 comments

2 Comments

evant4818h ago

That friend of mine up in Hooksett found the same thing with his place, the stair cover was only doing half the job. He put the kit on and saw maybe 40 bucks off his bill, but he could still feel cold air moving around the edges when it got really windy. So he built a little box out of rigid foam board on top of the hatch, like a lid that sits over the whole opening with a few inches of overhang. Took him an afternoon and maybe 60 bucks in materials, but his next bill dropped another 90 bucks after that. The funny part is he was about to call a guy to blow in more insulation for like 1500 dollars, and this cheap box job ended up doing way more. Sometimes the obvious spots are the ones you look right past, you know?

evant4822h ago

That 380 down to 260 is a solid chunk of change. I did the same thing with my old place in Manchester, those pull down attic stairs are basically a open window to the outside. But here is what I am curious about, did you check the weatherstripping on the attic hatch itself or just the frame around it? I sealed mine and saw a drop, but the real kicker was when I realized the cover kit I bought was thin and flimsy. It took me a second time with a heavier insulated box to really get the number down. Any chance there is a colder spot near that hatch you can still feel on a windy day?