Old oil boilers are relatively expensive to run, but in most cases they were sized larger than really needed, so you may be able to add a couple radiators and improve the heating in additional rooms. If possible, converting to a modern natural gas boiler would help a lot.

If a NG boiler is not possible, you could add an electric heat pump system using mini-splits or a standard ducted HVAC system if you are not too far North in NY. Modern heat pumps are efficient down to about 15 degrees, but then usually have to use electric resistance heat (much more expensive to run) to keep up.

However, its really hard to tell the best solution unless we know the design of your house. For example, a ducted heat pump HVAC system might be straightforward to install if you have access from the basement to run ducts.

Another task is to improve the insulation and air sealing in your house. Start out with adding insulation to the attic, and get prices on having additional insulation blown into the walls.

Bruce

Thanks Bruce. I have gas in the house so that is an option. I’ll have To have someone come and give me an estimate on both.

If you have nat gas, that would be the way to go. The question would be whether a NG boiler or a nat gas furnace which would require ductwork. Assuming AC is not needed, then I would think a high eff NG boiler would be the way to go. Of course your radiator system would need to be evaluated and possibly updated. Since this is a project, you might consider insulation upgrades as well.

good luck!

IMO

My 1280 sq ft house (1940 vintage) had the original oil boiler when we purchased it and we immediately converted to a Buderus NG boiler (IIRC it was about $9k total). Since that time we have added on about 300 sq ft and it still has plenty of heat capacity. The new Myson radiators in the addition don't have the mass of the old cast iron, but we also used much better insulation and the heating remains very even across the rooms.

Since we did not have forced air we also added A/C in the attic and ran vents down to the 1st and 2nd floor. If you are going to upgrade to NG it might be best to just buy a NG heat/ A/C system and run the ducting you need. However, we still like the radiator heat in the winter because it is so quiet and even, and it does not dry out the air in the house.

Bruce