Gas and Oil Home Heating Furnaces - Building new house..what kind of heat??..

We're building a new house that will be about 2000 sq. ft. with a full unfinished basement. We live in NE Pa. where the temperature varies all year. My husband and I are going back and forth about how to heat the house.

We're looking for the most efficient system. Our builder installs forced air heat pump w/ central air as a standard. The most expensive upgrade is what my husband wants...oil heat, baseboard...this will cost about $7000-9000 more.

What is the most efficient AND economical??? These are our options:

-heat pump
-gas
-propane
-oil
-forced air or baseboard for the above 3.

Thanks so much for any help!!!!!

Bridget

A very large question.......You will have to do lots of research on brand, type of equipment, but mostly comparitive prices on oil, gas, electric in your area.

two2town:

I agree with fjrachel in that local conditions would dictate fuel choice.

What I would say is that my choice would be for a forced air system due to its ability to exchange air and ease of A/C installation.

An upgrade to the forced air system would be a consultation with a mechanical engineer to draw up the specifications for the ductwork.
Improperly sized ductwork would lead to the most dissatisfaction one could have in a new house.

Search "ductwork" in this forum. There has been much discussion on this.

not sure of fuel costs there, but i would go with a heat pump piggybacked on a oil/gas forced air unit. an excellent option mentioned on this forum recently is radiant floor heat with a duct system for cooling.

Look into radiant options