Andrelaplume2, a few comments. You do not state where you live. I have a similar situation. I have a 20 year-old, 1700 square-foot, all-electric, split foyer home in Baltimore. I have been in the house for 5 years. The heat pump is original Trane (we should count our blessings that they have lasted 20-plus years). I have a masonry fireplace in the below-grade family room. I have allergies (dust, pollen, grass, weeds, cats, etc - I get an allergy shot every 3 weeks and have been doing so since childhood). I have been using my fireplace w/one-of-a-kind wood-burning insert to suppliment the heat pump. The insert raises the temperature of the family room from 65 to 72 degrees. The thermostat is in the living room and set at 68. The layout of the house is not open so the heat does not directly go to the second floor living area (where the thermosat is located) and bedrooms, but it does add BTU's to the house and heats the floor of the living room. The fireplace does not affect my allergies. Neither does mowing the lawn. Are you so sure of the effects of wood-burners on your allergies that you write-off the best sources of heat from your masonry fireplace (wood/pellet insert or stoves)? Propane and electric resistance heat are the most expensive sources of heat - and by a large margin as compared to other sources of heat. I run the house fan in the summer only. This does 2 things. First, it helps to move air in the summer (I have ceiling fans also). Second, the wife doesn't know when the A/C compressor cycles off so there is less of a chance that she is playing with the thermostat. You can run your house fan in the winter with your new heat source and see how it works. I find that there is cold-feeling air blowing out of the vents in the winter time when the firepace is going in the family room (there are no return vents in the family room in the ceiling). Is there a return vent in the ceiling near your fireplace? I agree with Bob Brown from the HVAC Forum that your basement heating should be done with your current HVAC system. When you replace your current heat pump, you can increase it's capacity if needed and add ductwork to your basement. My opinions.

"alphonse - how big of a house? Maybe I can go with a good heat pump knowing that I should/will insulate later with some type of blow-in when redoing the siding? I haven't looked at a LP tank, but aren't these usually situated outside? If so, I bet the HOA would love that =]" 2500 sq.ft. I'd venture that insulating/ quality glazing always has paybacks and should be a priority whatever system you go with. Being in a rural area far from any NG distribution, many people here opt for propane with a typical tank size of 500-1K gals. The tanks are often buried, but not all jurisdictions allow that. Pricing is better at such volume. Fuel oil prices fluctuate so widely that cost comparison isn't cut& dried. LP serves as fuel for DHW, cooking, and for the Amish, refrigeration and lighting. "I'm also going to look in geothermal and maybe get someone out here for a quote. I have the yard space for it and a well in the front yard (for watering the lawn). Maybe the combination of two would meet my heating needs." As noted upthread, up front costs for geo are pretty high but given your situation absolutely worth looking into. A savvy contractor would prevent glitches that can occur with water pump/demand issues...factor in that such systems can provide all DHW, "free".

I am in the Midwest also and paid a reputable plumber $300 to run the gas line from the furnace up thru the basement ceiling and over to the back of the stove. I believe it was also him who hooked up the range to the gas & everything. I had started out with 2 smoothtop electric ranges, yes, 2 because we had scratching issues with both, so the 3rd time, I said the heck with it, I'm switching to a gas range that I can at least clean without worrying that I'm wrecking the top of it every time. Also, I had not cooked on a gas stove since early marriage 30 years ago, so I had to relearn it a little, but I can tell you both my DH and I both like to cook and we both really like the gas range. Also, here, we were told that a plumber would have to install a gas line. We also just put in a gas fireplace so the gas line was already there for that so we kind of killed 2 birds with one stone. Hope this helps!

I got a Dimplex Revillusion and love it. My condos do not have gas, so the choices are limited. Although it is a wood burning fireplace, I do not want to fool with wood and ashes. The Revillusion satisfies my need for something that looks like a fire. I can use it year round too! It has LED lights projected onto a Plexiglas shield. You can sometimes see reflections on the Plexiglas if there's a lot of light in the room, but most of the time (especially at night), it is invisible. For sound effects you can download a fireplace sound effects app on an old cell phone and put it in the fireplace. Then you can buy candles or wax melts that smell like a campfire. It's just like the real thing. Hahahaha! Here's a video of the logs at night with the glass doors open and the mesh curtain closed. I'm scrolling through the different lighting options. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CR8mKa5CMLI