I doubt your exterior walls are insulated.
When I built my house 25 years ago, I checked the US Department of Energy based on wife’s uncle’s recommendation…he had one of those cushy jobs at Alabama Power Company that did energy recommendations for builders.
I was surprised to see that back then they recommended a higher “R” factor for Bham, Alabama than they did on Columbus, Ohio….its harder to insulate from hot than cold was also enlightening.
They recommended R23 for exterior walls and R30 for roof. 2x4” walls cannot accept larger than R13, and R19 mashed in there lessens R19 insulation to like R9 if it is compressed…R13 is better not compressed.
To have R19 walls, I would have to have 2x6” exterior walls.
In the roof, I paid to have 30” of blown insulation vs about 10”-12” that they normally put in. Tip the insulation guy enough, and he’ll blow it as thick as you want.
In upstairs knee walls, I put R19 paper backed roll insulation, then drove nails and used steel wire to hold R30 rolled insulation outside of that.
I was able to count ALL of the additional insulation against taxes due to then current insulation/energy saving tax credits.
I also was told by a Power Company manager AFTER I had built my house…they didn’t like to tell people about tankless hot water heaters because they were so efficient, the power company would go bankrupt….he said electric hot water heaters and AC units accounted for 90% of their revenue.
I insulated like a maniac, and have all electric Ultra-High Efficiency Trane HVAC units, with budget billing my whole house power bill is less than $250 per month year round.
The crazy investments on insulation and energy savings have paid off many times over. I’m amazed at houses less than half the size of mine have $400-$500 months in the summer (HVACS NEVER kick off), and they have $250 electric bill in the winter with $3-$500 gas bills.
My suggestion: See what tax credits are out there for upgrading to new insulated windows, gut the interior walls and add insulation, then resheet rock, add installation in attic, add vented eaves and top of roof vents or even power vents to roof. Swap to Ultra High Efficiency HVAC Units. You may get all of that counted off on taxes, and your energy bill would be stupidly low.
