Just wondering what type of heat do you think is most energy efficient?

We have hot water heat. I am sure it is not the most efficient, but the cost of putting duct work into our old house is prohibitive. We use free standing electric fire places to heat our basement and they work well. At our last house we had natural gas and I think that was cheaper to run.

I do know that whatever you have, proper maintence its essential!!

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The homes I had in TX and SC were natural gas. It was better than electric. Here in NH, I am learning about other kinds of heat now that we are building a house. Our heat will be a combination of passive solar(using thermal mass to hold the heat into the nighttime), with woodburning stove for cloudy days and a forced hot water backup heat in order to leave the home in the winter and know our pipes won't freeze. This and a very tight home should be the most economical way.

My desire for a healthy backup heat led us to reject any ductwork type heat. Avoids mold.

Cathleen

I would love to have a masonry furnace, with natural gas as a backup for when we leave for more than a day.

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Frugal is being wise with your money and resources and cheap is forcing everyone else to.

We had hot water heat at our old house and i miss it. It seemed to be a more even heat and the house stayed warmer longer because the hot water radiated steadily as opposed to a blast here and there of forced air (natural gas).It seemed less drafty too.
My parents have fuel oil heat and have just switched to a new propane heated furnace to save money this year.

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This state has a decent supply of natural hydro-thermal heat that has been piped into some homes (hot water from the ground). Those homes have annual heating costs of less than $100 - usually just the expense of running a pump and fan - and that's with snow on the ground. I'd love that but, of course, I don't live near a hot spring.

When we moved in we switched from an electric forced air furance to a gas forced air furnace. That one switch saved us about $150 - $200 / month in the winter.

However, I do agree that having air move through dusty ductwork isn't the best method. We all have asthma in the house and I would love an efficient heating system that generated less dust.

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