Newly purchased 1973 house in MI with original oil/forced air system. A little over 3,000 s.f. on main and walkout level, lots of glass. I called to check the oil usage and was told 1,350 gallons last year @ $3.10 a gallon. Holy S*^$**!!! That's over four thousand a year ! Not acceptable...

Here are the options

1 Replace oil furnace/water heater with new oil units and hope for savings

2 Run gas line 1,000 feet from the road and replace furnace/water tank with N.G. units

3 Geothermal

If #2 and 3 cost a similar amount it's a no-brainer to do the Geothermal, although I've heard this doesn't heat well when it's really cold. What would you do ?

 

Geothermal.

True when it is realy cold, but they have fixed that problem 10yrs ago.
when the temps drop below 5F is when the Geo couldnt heat up the house.
But, now they have and electric element that helps get it started. only need for coupe hours...after that the heat pump does all the work... The electirc element is usually install right next to the heat pump....so you would never see it.

No worries the new technology is very good and bulit-proff

 

Obviously Geothermal because no fuel is used to generate the power, which in return, means the running costs are low as there are no costs for purchasing, transporting, or cleaning up.