Heat Pumps and Electric Heating - What heat system to get?

I have an old (about 100 yrs.) victorian house on the NJ shore. The walls are insulated and windows are in pretty good shape, but I would like to install some kind of heating system to make it livable year round. It's built on brick pilings because the ground is sand, so there is no decent place for a furnace. Also, putting in ductwork or baseboards would be a huge pain. Can anyone tell me, do I have any other options? Or would I just have to get space heaters?

Thanks very much for your help!

cono.

cono,
o.k., i'll take a stab at this, what the heck. first a few questions, how many levels is the structure?
how many,if any, fireplaces? is there any attic space? square feet of needed or projected heated space?
what is being used now for the climate control of the structure? does the structure have any type of crawl space/basement? just a few Q's to try to see where we stand to be able to try and help you with your project. i think that something can be done...........wait, before i answer that, i, as well as we, here on the forum need the questions posted above, answered, we await your reply.

barry

Sorry for the lack of information- the house is 2 stories, plus a walk- up attic. Attic space is probably 600 sq. ft. and the whole house is about 3000 sq. ft. There is currently no climate control whatsoever, also no fireplaces. There is a crawlspace.

Thanks for any advice you can offer,

cono

First go to http://www.warmair.net/html/fuel_cost_comparisons.htm

See what fuel you want to use there. 3K sq ft 2 stories Id say two units for sure. One in the crawl space and the other up in the attic. This is the best way for you to go in a home that old. This will give you a very good heat and cool setup.

ED:cool:

you will, as, ed suggested, need 2 units. what can you spend, is the basic bottom line of this line of questioning. anything can be done, but it all comes with a price, even for a do-it -yourselfer.
do you mean to tell us that there isn't any type of any a/c, heating system at all in this home?

barry

That's correct, no heating or cooling in the home save for a couple of window AC units which we only use a couple of days a year. Additionally, I don't think local code would allow heating units in the crawlspace because the house is built on a barrier island which floods easily.

conodigi

Will home be used year-round?

I would try to find an HVAC contractor who has experience with old homes like yours. And before any instllation, I would make all insulation type improvements to home and then have a Manual J heat/cool load calculation performed and reviewed in detail.

My Opinion.