I am building a new house in northern VT in the spring. House is 1 1/2 story 1400 sq.ft. open floor plan.Winter temps avg. 10 degrees,sometimes to -20.I am building way up the hill so fuel truck delivery is impossible. My question is can I use a heat pump with a 20 kw heat strip with a wood stove running also? I like the idea of electric heat with central A/C also because it does get pretty hot up here during the summer. Am I barking up the wrong tree here? Thanks so much for any ideas

My experience with heat pumps is that they are not very efficient at low outside temperatures. They get their heat from the outside air and at 10 degrees F you will likely be running the auxiliary heat strip more often than not. I've never lived that far north, but I think I would consult a professional and talk to people who have lived there a while before making such a large investment.

Thanks LA for the reply. What types of heat/ac systems are there that don't need gas or oil to run? Any responses would be appreciated.I'm trying to do this research prior to the build. Thanks again

The wood pellet and corn heating systems are getting to be very popular. I have done considerable reading and have no first-hand experience with either, but if they work as advertised, then the systems should be very efficient, environmentally sound, and cost effective. Here are a couple of links: http://www.pelletheat.com/
http://www.cornheat.com/

Ground source heat pump may be ok but remember heat pumps use either ground water temps or air temps to heat. Once the air gets below around 35 degrees its ability to deliver any additional heat is nil thus the makeup heat would need to work. That can be anything from a electical heater to a furnace or boiler. Depending on your electrical rates and what it would cost to have fuel pumped to a holding tank where the house is located would determine what kind of aux heat you would need.
Go with a pellet stove also. Wood stoves use way to much wood as compared to pellet stoves and the cleanup ash is much less.
You can even get pellet stoves that heat water as well. Simply load the pellets in the hopper and let it go.

If you live in northern Vermont, your local availablity of wood is probably your best source. Geothermal is the only way I know which works in very cold climates. However there is a guy in Maine who has claimed to have a very efficient air source heat pump that works at low temps. I do not know if they are commercially available yet. Ground source heat pump and wood stove, combined with some good passive sollar stragies should do you very well. Good luck

Just to note wood is are most valuable renewable resource especially when it is in your back yard. cut one down and plant 3 you will never run out.

Tom ecobuilder@aol.com

http://www.steffes.com/offpeak/comfortplus/cen_overview.aspx

We've put at least 10 of them in our houses.