You're right in the main, of course, that it takes a major renovation to make an old home tight enough to be worth it, but wrong in your assumptions:
* It's a rowhouse, so there are two party walls on either side.
* Brick.
* The front and back walls are half the length (15') of the party walls.
* The house is small, a footprint of 450 sq ft.
* The renovation will extend the back roof line (pitched roof, front to back).
* The attic (with extended roof) will be renovated with a bedroom and 3/4 bath, plus storage and mechanical.
* Plumbing will be replaced.
* Gas boiler (with radiators) and existing central A/C will be replaced with heat pump.
* We'll be out of the house for months.
* It's in a historic district so it can't be torn down.
* Fortunately most of the windows have been replaced before the historic preservation office started cracking down on replacements. We have light-blocking hex blinds that insulate them nicely at night.
* I will try to sneak in a new front door that's the same design as the old one, and fix up the jambs and sill.
* Historically DC is still more heat dominated than cooling dominated, but climate change is tilting the balance. It may be hard to fight the stack effect in the winter but in the summer I hope to run the house at positive pressure. It's when the A/C's been going for days that the air in the house seems stale.
* Even though there's very little insulation today in the attic (just cellulose strewn between joists), it's not expensive to heat or cool, because it's such a small house.
* I care more about the ERV as a luxury good than as a cost effective appliance. I'm quite sure the cost of it will be negligible when compared to everything else in the reno (we're doing the kitchen, too).
Although the cost will be insane, I expect we'll come close to breaking even on value added to the property, given the neighborhood we're in.
You have also touched on why I oppose historical districts. Historical buildings should be something people are required to learn about in their history class.
* It's a rowhouse, so there are two party walls on either side.
* Brick.
* The front and back walls are half the length (15') of the party walls.
* The house is small, a footprint of 450 sq ft.
* The renovation will extend the back roof line (pitched roof, front to back).
* The attic (with extended roof) will be renovated with a bedroom and 3/4 bath, plus storage and mechanical.
* Plumbing will be replaced.
* Gas boiler (with radiators) and existing central A/C will be replaced with heat pump.
* We'll be out of the house for months.
* It's in a historic district so it can't be torn down.
* Fortunately most of the windows have been replaced before the historic preservation office started cracking down on replacements. We have light-blocking hex blinds that insulate them nicely at night.
* I will try to sneak in a new front door that's the same design as the old one, and fix up the jambs and sill.
* Historically DC is still more heat dominated than cooling dominated, but climate change is tilting the balance. It may be hard to fight the stack effect in the winter but in the summer I hope to run the house at positive pressure. It's when the A/C's been going for days that the air in the house seems stale.
* Even though there's very little insulation today in the attic (just cellulose strewn between joists), it's not expensive to heat or cool, because it's such a small house.
* I care more about the ERV as a luxury good than as a cost effective appliance. I'm quite sure the cost of it will be negligible when compared to everything else in the reno (we're doing the kitchen, too).
Although the cost will be insane, I expect we'll come close to breaking even on value added to the property, given the neighborhood we're in.