Are there any options to replacing a furnace?

I bet there is some kind of solar panel option. I know there are two kinds of solar panels and I’m thinking you would use the photovoltaic kind to supply energy for some sort of heating system you’d have installed. I’m not positive though. Doing some research and asking some companies about your options should help a lot.

Fire pit

@J0E thanks…. I was just waiting for someone to come on like this. I wanted to say “build a fire.”

Nearly everything in a furnace can be repaired or rebuilt. In the process of doing so they also can be made more efficient. Look long and hard at repairing your existing furnace and making it, and your home more energy efficient. The bank account you save will be your own.

@TechScott: I’ve been reading around the internet that what you said is true. Thanks – do you know of any specific upgrades we should make? I have no clue what’s wrong with it [if anything], but I want to move it to the attic, and make sure our house is sealed and insulated properly [since that’s the most important part].

The house is approximately 60 years old at the oldest.

Why do you want to move it to the attic? Heat rises so I would think having it lower in the house would help prevent energy loss.

Otherwise, here are some tips for making your heating system “greener” and Mother Earth News has some tips as well.

I’m no heating expert but if you want something environmentally friendly, you could look into a wood fired system. You have a giant wood burning shed out in your yard (which is essentially like a giant woodstove). Water is heated there and pumped into your house, where it either is circulated around the house or circulated into a blower, which blows it around the house through your duct work. The system also provides hot water.

Environmentally friendly? Yes…wood is renewable and the CO2 you emit was pretty much offset by the oxygen the trees produced when they were alive. When wood burns at the high temperatures that usually occur in these systems, its only by-products are pretty much water and CO2, so there’s no harmful emissions. You don’t use fossil fuels, either.

The problem I see is that they could be high maintenance because you have to keep adding wood but then again maybe there’s a system to take care of that, like an automatic wood-loader or something.

You could always seek the advice of local heating and cooling experts in your area to see what heating alternatives are available where you live.

In fact, you should get free estimates and consultations from such local contractors. Call around and get these estimates.

Incidentally, for your convenience, here’s a great handyman site that I have come to use, which not only offers informative how-to heating and cooling articles, but, you’ll also find a handy text-link ad towards the middle of the following linked page that offers up to four (4) Free estimates from local heating contractors in your area (after scrolling down just a tad bit on the handyman page linked below, the text-link will say, “Find Local Heating & Cooling Pros. Get Up to 4 Quotes Now…Free”):

http://yourhandymanzone.com/Your_Handyman_Zone_How_To_Pages_Home_Improvement_Zone_Heating_Systems.htm

So, yeah, speak to the heating contractors to get their estimates and advice as to what heating alternatives are available in your area, and then go from there.