Need advice on new heat system

[dtopstang]

My coworker has a house in carol county. It is a prefab and was built in 1993. It is 1820 sq. feet and has the upstair and basement finished. It is a cape cod. There is and air handler for the ac in the attic and heating is by electric baseboard units. There is no natural gas in the area. What are the best options to get rid of the electric heaters? Propane, oil? It does have ducting, but he said there isn't enough room in the attic to add a furnace to the air handler.

[BaldLoonie]

Where is Carol County? What are the LP, oil & electric rates?

[dtopstang]

sorry rural maryland close to mountains. don't know the rates

[johnsp]

An option might be an oil or LP hot water boiler in the basement. Just install a hydro-air hot water coil in the air handler, assuming you can get 2 3/4" copper tubing up to the attic. Venting will be a pain with oil. Plenty of side wall venting LP boilers out there. With hydronic heat you might be able to put rads in part of the 1st floor and heat the basement.