We moved into a house last year that has propane heat and it costs much
more to heat than our previous house which had a heat pump. Last year we
added 8 inches of insulation to the attic which has made a dramatic
reduction in our heating and cooling bills, but it still costs more to
heat than when we had a heat pump.

The house was built in 1960 and only had about 2" of insulation in the
attic when we moved in. The windows were replaced with double paned
insulated windows, we have weatherstripped all the doors, the ducts are
insulated and we have no detectable drafts. There are no vapor barriers to
speak of. I have no idea how much insulation is in the walls; I wouldn't
expect much based on the attic, but I don't forsee pumping insulation into
the walls.

I contacted a heating contractor who suggests that it would be very
expensive to switch over to a heat pump and that we should wait until we
need a new unit (ours is only about 2 years old).

I'm wondering if I might actually save money by installing baseboard
heaters in the bedrooms and use them on cold nights so we can leave the
thermostat turned down. We are in the mid-Atlantic (Carolinas) so weather
is usually mild with the occasional cold streak. Thoughts?
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Mac Cool