Chrisny, thank you for your opinions. I was hoping beyond hope that I would be able to get under the floor to install radiant heat, but no such luck. And I really don't want to rip up the beautiful tile floor. I only have about 6 feet of exterior wall space in which to put baseboard, so that wouldn't be an option. All other exterior wall space has either doors or sliders. Any thoughts about a 20000-30000 BTU cabinet heater? Do you think it'll cover the room enough to keep all areas fairly warm?

> The generator is powered by propane? Yes. > You need to see what the KW pull is for a heat pump. At the moment with existing setup, what else does your generator power during an outage? Generator powers nearly everything. (The only things not on the generator are the septic enhanced treatment pumps, the pool equipment, and the hot tub.) > Based on your location/climate, a heat pump would be a logical choice for heating versus propane heating. The last few days have been fairly typical for the "cold" part of the year. In the last 72 hours, minimum temp 35, average temp 41. > Can you be a little more specific on how your tiered electric rate works? Without heating or cooling, what is a good average of KWH usage each month for your home? It is the PG&E E-6 rate plan. http://www.pge.com/tariffs/tm2/pdf/ELEC_SCHEDS_E-6.pdf This past month our net usage was 28.4 kWh/day, but during the summer we generate more than we use. > How large is your home? 2400 square feet. > Have you thought of a dual fuel system? Possibly an 80% eff two stg furnace that could be used for those rare cold snaps and power outages?The backup furnace would eliminate the need for aux heat from heat strips. That's what I'm thinking now. Definitely solves the power outage problem, though the woodstove does that nearly as well. Seems like a low or moderate efficiency furnace is about the same price as a standalone air handler anyway. > How would you characterize the insulation qualities of your home? Home was built in 1972, parts remodelled in 1980 or so... so not the greatest insulation, but we have installed double-pane windows everywhere and upgraded the insulation in some areas. > Ductwork has been inspected? Any hot cold spots in your home? Ductwork will be overhauled at the same time we install the new system. No particular hot or cold spots now though.

Probably best to know what State you live in and what the typical average low temperatures are during the Winter as well as amount of installed insulation, number of windows, sun's orientation etc. Having said that and assuming that the temperatures don't typically go below 15-20 degrees a mini split (without backup heat strip) should work well especially with no existing duct work present. If electric rates are very high gas heat becomes more attractive. Without knowing the exact layout I'm guessing you would need a mini split outside unit that would allow two inside units to be hung on the wall...one in the bedroom and the other to cool the living room and kitchen. I presently heat and cool a 400 s.f. sunporch with almost 50 linear feet of 6' high windows and R-15 insulation (not that great)with one 15000 btu mini split heatpump in Columbia,SC. As another poster noted only choose an installer that's got a track record of installing these type units. The Mitsubishi line is excellent as are some others. My personal opinion would be to stick with a brand that a reputable HVAC company has a track record with.(Note: typically HVAC companies that do some commercial work have more experience with these type units). The important thing being rapid availability of repair parts from a local or regional distrbutor. More often than not it will be a Japanese branded company mini split. I've used both Daiken and Mitsubishi in some commercial projects I've been involved with and in my sunporch use a Fujitsu (absolutely no problems with it). I'd recommend only looking at inverter models for best efficiency and comfort. I'm betting that you might need two wall hung units...a 9000 btu unit in the bedroom and maybe a 9000btu or possibly a 12000 btu unit to cover the Kitchen/Living Room area(assuming their fairly open to each other). As there's no duct work losses, comparing a mini split to a fully ducted traditional system is not apples to apples as far as sizing goes...fewer btus go further with a mini split. The better brands of mini splits can actually exceed their nominal btu rating by up to 15%+. They can also throttle down to fairly low btu's when the load is not great so there's little chance of oversizing the unit and having high humidity issues. Bottom line is that the mini split will produce warmer air at the wall unit in the Winter than a fully ducted heat pump system and cooler air in the Summer. The trade off is that all the air to the area will be coming from one wall hung unit (much like a window unit would produce but much quieter than a window unit) versus a number of strategically placed supply grills in a fully ducted system. Cost would be a wild guess without knowing all the factors but I'm guessing that a professionally installed major brand mini split with 2 indoor wall hung units might run around $4000 -$6,000 depending on the size required.

Thanks everyone for the ideas above! Very thoughtful. Unfortunately, a lot are non starters because of some unusual features of our old house. I don’t want to sound like I’m being negative by rejecting everything though! First, I appreciate the comments about an old house and inadequate ducting. On further thought, the bedroom isn’t really significantly warmer than the rest of the house.... maybe just a degree or two. So I probably spoke too soon when I complained about it being at the end of a run. The bigger issue is just that son wants it in the 60s to be comfortable, which means blasting two big units all night to cool 2500 sf total, when he’s only using 150 sf of that. So I don’t think the solution is fixing duct lines or insulation. Second, I’d like to avoid any permanent units (like a mini split) because the home is exposed block walls and architecturally significant. I think the architectural society would come with pitchforks and chase me out of town! Ceiling fans are the perfect obvious solution.... except the middle of the ceiling Is where the one vintage air register is, and there is no power running through the ceiling. And even if I were open to moving it, there is no power running through the ceiling and no way to get it there. Because, as mentioned above, the walls are exposed block. Lighting is all from plug in lamps. So we cant run wires through the walls because there’s no drywall. I guess that also means no booster fan in the duct. So given the extremely limited flexibility my vintage house provides, it sounds like my only solution is a free standing unit. Which I kind of assumed! Thanks all!