My home is about 2 hundred years old, and we’ve spent a great deal of time, money and effort making updates. The electrical wirings were ancient, unsafe and needed to be completely substituted. The plumbing pipes and drains were corroded, leaked, and also needed to be totally retrofitted. My husband and I tore down all of the aged plaster and lath walls, providing simple access, then added insulation and put up drywall. Our greatest challenge was figuring out how to heat the home. Living in the northeastern space of the country, both of us rely on some type of gas furnace for approximately 6 to multiple months of the year. With temperatures often dipping below zero, the oil furnace needs to be powerful, dependable and energy efficient. Because the studs in the home are turned sideways to allow for more living space, they do not accommodate traditional HVAC duct. The people I was with and I ended up installing multiple uncommon types of furnaces in the many parts of the house. A natural gas fireplace handles the heating demands of the living and kitchen area. The fireplace is both charming and effective and puts out a great deal of heat. The people I was with and I are able to make adjustments with a cordless remote, and it operates really quietly, providing the look of real flames. In the kitchen, both of us have installed a ventless gas heater, which is compact however quite powerful. While it keeps the kitchen nice and warm, the small oil furnace seems to run always and significantly raises the cost of daily energy costs. Part of the complication is that the ventless oil furnace is a single stage unit, meaning it either operates at maximum capacity or is completely shut off.