insulate old house or not?

[Jimmy S.]

House is over 100 years old. Heating bills in winter are around 650 month with electric heat left at 65 degrees and only 1300 square feet. rent is 1100 month. Would you insulate the house or not?  Attic not insulated or any walls house or ducts in the house.

Just put a heat pump and air handlers in, was oil heat. Kind of feel bad electric bills are so high but does not really benefit me to pay to insulate it. What would you do?

Thanksssss

[Marcia Maynard]

Providing a habitable home with proper weatherizing is one of the duties of a landlord. Many electric companies and natural gas companies provide a free energy audit. That would be my first step. Also, look for other incentives and rebates offered by the utility company. If your tenant is low income there may be a program available in your community that would do the insulation job for free or at a reduced price.

If you do proper weatherizing of the home, you will benefit in it being more attractive to prospective tenants and thus more marketable. To leave it as it is, with the tenant paying for a high heating bill, may be enough to drive the tenant away. You could lose more money on vacancies than you would spend on properly insulating the home.