Hello, we have just bought a home and are looking to lower our heating bills. The house was built in 2003 has good insulation, windows and is well sealed it is on Vancouver island temperature Zone 7. Currently the house is heated by electric baseboards, they have been put on automated timers but are still very expensive to run. I have come up with 3 options to improve my energy and would like to choose one of them. Thinking about cost of set-up (I would do the install), equipment and energy efficiency what would be my best bet?
1. Install solar panels as the house does have a good exposure, the idea about this would be to cut my electricity bill enough that operating the baseboard heaters over the winter would not seem so expensive. In my area you are able to hook into the hydro system to sell power back to the grid.
2. Install a 2 zone ductless heat pump, this option is very popular in my area. each zone would heat the majority of the house but we would still have to rely on the baseboards for nighttime bedroom heating and heating during the odd time that the outside temp is too low.
3. Install two 35,000 Direct vent natural gas wall furnaces. Again same as the heat pump, these would heat the majority of the house but not the bedrooms at night. They would work all winter long though.
Any thoughts or opinions?
1. Install solar panels as the house does have a good exposure, the idea about this would be to cut my electricity bill enough that operating the baseboard heaters over the winter would not seem so expensive. In my area you are able to hook into the hydro system to sell power back to the grid.
2. Install a 2 zone ductless heat pump, this option is very popular in my area. each zone would heat the majority of the house but we would still have to rely on the baseboards for nighttime bedroom heating and heating during the odd time that the outside temp is too low.
3. Install two 35,000 Direct vent natural gas wall furnaces. Again same as the heat pump, these would heat the majority of the house but not the bedrooms at night. They would work all winter long though.
Any thoughts or opinions?