<font color=skyblue>When we moved in here, we fixed the oil furnace that was being used to heat the home. Several problems have occured in the past few years however, such as oil spill under the house, rising costs of oil, and the furnance breaks down occasionally, leaving us to use use Kerosine Heaters instead. I also have a leak around the chimney pipe.

Here are my options for heating our home now. I will be getting some money from school in the next week or so, and it will be enough to take care of whatever I decide to do.

1. Fix furnace and stay with oil.
2. Buy propane tanks and heat with natural gas. (Lines from road not available on my street)
3. Buy Heat Pump.

The propane tanks would have to be refueled as much as the oil drum now is, and would be about the same price, costing about $400 in oil/season.

The heat pump would run the electic bill up, but it might be cheaper than $400/season. At least it is cleaner and no mess to worry about, which would help the home smell better, and is more enviromentally friendly.

What other options are there that I have not considered? What is the best plan?
For reference, I live in a 1956 Ranch-style home. It has three small bedrooms, and one little bath. Overall area is about 1900 sq. ft.</font>

Go with the heat pump, Larry. Much faster to heat and cheaper, especially if you can get natural gas.

<font color=skyblue> Thanks for the response!

Er...did you mean if I can't get natural gas?</font>

I'm voting for the heat pump, too, Larry. With the volatile state of fossil fuel, you'll save money going electic. Those prices are effected by the same volatility, but the effect is moderated.

I do plan on getting a gas hot water heater though. With two kids and a wife competing with me for shower time, I can only imagine the joy of an unending stream of hot water. :D

Electric is always nice, constant unless you have a power failure, but it is more reliable then gas. Gas is great to cook with [img]smile.gif[/img] Also make sure you have good insulation in the attic and your windows are up to spec as well as having a good storm door. Check and see if your windows are properly sealed on the outside if not go and buy so 30year outside caulking and re-seal those windows. You might not think much about it, but it pays off big time. Do you have a fire place ? If so get a nice heavy duty screen for the front of it to keep little hands away ;) and stock up on some fire wood, this will also help by keeping your family room warm and toasty, plus you can roast marshmellows over it and popcorn, hehe ah sweet memories

But do have the insulation checked, Im sure it was when y'all got the house, but make sure you have enough.

<font color=skyblue>*Is there a brand name that is good?

*What price range am I to expect?

*Should I have the floor (craw-space) insulated?

</font>

Gas is more economical and quicker to heat, but since you don't have a gas line hookup, it's a moot point. Electric is reliable, but more expensive. If you have a small home, the difference will be nominal. If you have a large home, the difference will be significant.

A point to remember is that electric is not that environmentally freindly. You burn fossil fuel to make heat to drive turbines to make electricity, and then make the electricity back into heat. Much more energy is wasted in this process than cutting out the middle man and just using the heat produced by the burning fuel.

I'm not sure what I'd do in your place Larry. I guess if the furnace is failing on a regular basis you'd have to completely replace it or do major repairs to it if you keep the oil. Personally, I'm not fond of the mess/smell with oil heat and furnaces but I hear they are more efficient these days than the ones I grew up with.

We have natural gas in our house and I love it. But I have to say the price has gone up drastically in the last few years. I don't know how expensive propane is in relation to either oil or natural gas, but I suspect it's close and of course as you noted, you'd have to have it refilled regularly.

I've heard good things about heat pumps. I suppose you might get a heating rep out there to do an estimate for you on all your options. Then go from there. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Sorry, didn't see the part where you don't have gas. I'd find out what the cost would be to run a line, but if it's too expensive, an electric heat pump would be the way to go, IMHO. We have a Trane, and it has been reliable.

Do you have much trouble with power outages during winter storms? If the power goes out, so does your electric heat...

I would look first at your insulation, reducing your heating and cooling costs both.I would also think taking care of your chimney leak to be very important, you could be poisoning yourself and it might start a fire.About 10 or 12 years ago we replaced the furnace in my dad's old house with one that can heat with oil,gas,electric,coal,or even wood so mabe some sort of hybrid like this might serve you best.I'm pretty sure most states have some sort of energystar program where a state certified person can run a number of tests to to see where you're lacking and be able to make suggestions for improvments based on your house,location, and economic abilities.Including any programs that reduce your tax burden for makeing more energy efficent changes in you home.

I can understand why you'd want to get another type of heating system in your house Larry. The house I lived in 5 years ago had oil heat. I had never lived anywhere with oil heat before. I did not like it LOL. The price for the oil was pretty high, and I can't imagine what it must be now. When they came and filled it up, it stunk the entire house up for 20 minutes of oil. It started to squeak while it was running, bah. Oh, did you hear on the news this past winter about some poor guy who had his basement room flooded with oil cause the guy didn't hook the hose up correctly? I think it actually happened to two different people last year. Imagine that mess! :eek:

No 1 insulate!! Than if gas is available in your area by all means have it installed.It seems you have a raised foundation so getting the pipes under the house would be no problem if you don't have gas available then I think propane would be a second choice.And have you thought about solar?Probably as a backup only,but check with a local heating and airconditioning contractor in your area.They would know what is available and what would be the best in your area..

I am assuming that a heat pump is sorta like central heat and air....if so, that is your best option, the propane is not only just as expensive, it is also just as dangerous. it produces alot of carbon dioxide, which is not good, for there is no smeel to it at all, and it affects small children first :( also you can seal the windows to help hold in heat, but if you do this, always make sure there is a vent hole to prevent build up of the carbon dioxide. good luck what ever you chose to do.