What's the least expensive but most efficient way to heat a house?

Question

I currently have an oil/hot water system. I've heard buzz that homeowners that heat with oil had better start thinking of converting to gas heat before this coming winter. I think it would be more expensive to convert a whole system than to just keep what's there, or is gas, or another system, that much better?

Answer 1

We have gas fired hot water heat at the present time and it is pretty expensive what with the price of gas.  We are looking into the geothermal heat & air conditioning.  It is quite expensive to install but will save a huge amount monthly and should pay for itself within 5 years.  Hope this helps.

Answer 2

These days I would stay away from gas, oil and propane fuels if at all possible because it's certain they will rise in price even more.

If I had the finances, or the equity in the home, I would, as I have seen others do, cover the whole roof with solar panels. I enquired once about this, and if that's all they're being used for--no electricity, just heat--that should be feasible. But it will take several years of heating this way to recoup your initial costs. I once saw on a builder's television show a presentation of a man who used windmills to power his home. But he had  room for just two and it had to suit the local community bylaws.

With both options, you are somewhat limited by the amounts of wind and sunlight, but the same could be very true of fossil fuels.

Environmentalists may not like this--but if you live out in the country--I would install several wood stoves which satisfy your insurance company's guidelines and are strategically placed for optimal heat. Antique grates in the floor allow heat to travel upwards to other floors.. We had a small cottage, under 800 square feet, and one wood stove was sufficient. Wood does increase in price, but gradually. And it realistically is a renewable resource when managed well. One house we lived in had a wood furnance which we used when at home, and an oil furnance as backup if we were away for a winter's day. You regularly have to check with the stoves and furnaces that they are not going out, which can be time consuming. I think it took 8 to 10 cord of wood for one season to heat, but back then it cost only $45 a cord. But things go round circle and we're back to what our ancestors used for heating their homes.