[Amy]

We purchased a New England Cape (2,500 sq ft) last November. Our home uses oil for baseboard heating, and has no air conditioning. Last winter we were going through a 1/2 tank of oil every 3 weeks (totaling about $400 per month)- and it was considered a mild winter.

Our state offers financing at 0.99% for upgrading your heating and/ or cooling to a more efficient system. We do not have the option to switch over to gas, but we could switch over to propane. Our goal is to reduce our heat costs (our home stays relatively cool over the summer and we don’t mind window units)

We could do heat pumps/mini splits, install a forced air system or switch over to propane. Can anyone provide any insight into these options? Would particularly love to hear people’s experiences switching from oil. Thank you so much!

NOTE: We upgraded our windows this spring, and we have booked a home energy assessment through the state.

[Joseph]

Look at your state rebates – for instance rhode island has big rebates if you work with a certified pro to update your system. We needed to replace our ac system and got heat pumps that drastically cut our oil bill for cheaper than a new ac system would have cost and it has the same footprint. Overall win win in my book.

[Ken]

Don’t overlook air sealing. Can lights, pipe penetrations, rim joists. I was surprised how much difference spray foaming the rim joists made.

[Emma]

I’m in Maine and we’re in the process of installing insulation and switching to heat pumps. We have fireplaces (my home was built in 1790) and heating oil furnace. The heating oil we were burning through was astronomical until we changed the old thermostat to a digital and it made a huge difference so that helps since switching to heat pumps is quite expensive. Our heating bill was very much like yours until we switched the thermostat and we mostly had the temperature at about 60 during winter.

My tips would be to get plenty of quotes we had at least 4 companies come out and none of them were giving us the same set up some suggested a unit in the basement, others didn’t, the size of the units differed so see if you can research a bit on your own so you have some idea what might be needed. Our friends have heat pumps so we were able to ask lots of questions about how it handled the -40 winter last year but supplemental heating is used on those super cool days.

Useful: Got the candy o grita dryer – How do I put it on low heat?

[Sylvia]

Maybe this doesn’t apply, or maybe you have already done so, but maybe replacing your windows and doors? I know it’s expensive but we live in MA and were paying about $7200 a year for oil for our 2500 sq ft house , we put new windows and doors and we pay about $4800 a year (and that’s with higher oil prices!) . We priced out doing heat pumps but it was price prohibitive and as others have pointed out you still need a backup system.

[Katherine]

We switched from heat pump to heat pump with propane “backup.” we set an outside temp at which the propane kicks in (like 35 deg F). I love it! I have always hated heat pump “heat”. Never felt warm when it got to winter in virginia. This gives us a middle ground of super efficient heat pump during fall and mid range temps. And super warm air when it gets cold. We used to use wood to keep us warm in the winter, but not anymore.

Also, check out: What are your thoughts on solar panels?

[Carrie]

My house is about the same size built in ‘88. We have new windows and propane. We go through about 1600 gallon of propane a year. We own our tank and have gotten quotes from 3.00/gallon to $2.10/gallon for a pre-buy. I live in NW Ohio. I though these prices might help you make a decision. Oh and I have a forced—air propane furnace, propane stove and hot water heater.

[Mike]

We live in southern coastal Maine and just put in a 24,000 btu two head mini-split. Like you, we don’t have natural gas on the street and run a oil burner in the basement. The mini-split added approximately $175 to our electric bill in both March and April. The burner in the basement would only fire on the coldest days. As others have said, check your state and local areas for rebates and don’t forget your 30% Fed tax credit next year. Ours cost $8,616 installed, after rebates and next year’s tax credit, we are only out of pocket $2,585.

[Author]

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