Addition over garage - electric or oil?

Hello everyone... We are in the midst of building over our garage (master bedroom, closets, bath) and we are trying to figure out the heating system. The entire house has oil-based hydronic heat with 5 zones. The furnace is about 17 years old. The addition will add about 500 square feet to the heating space.

I also have a Jotul woodstove in the main family room which can heat most of the house (cut my oil consumption by 40% last year).

My contractor is telling me that our best bet is to install electric baseboard with a programmable thermostat for the new room. He says that the thermostat can regualte the electric heat and minimize when the heat runs. The room is extremely well insulated.

I'm inclined to agree with him since we'd really only need the room temp above 50 from 6pm - 11pm.

On top of this is the fact that our oil furnace is probably not big enough for the additional 500 square feet so we'd likely have to upgrade it. Now, given that it is 17 years old I'll probably have to upgrade it in the next 10 years anyway.

So.... what do you think? Does the electric heat make sense in this room? It would be nice to not touch the furnace, and when we do replace it would likely be cheaper to replace with a smaller furnace than a larger (to cover the 500 sq feet). I am just leary about the electric heating costs, but it seems to make sense that we wouldn't be using it all that much (with the programmable thermostat).

Any thoughts? Thanks!

steve

Thanks for the response. The room is very well insulated and should be fairly air-tight.

Any other comments out there?

Thanks. The bathroom will have its own hydronic heating element. It is 1/2 in the old space so there is already a water baseboard accessable.

I am not thinking of radiant heating in the floor. This electric heat would be from baseboard heaters, not underfloor heating. The floor is going to be a hickory wood floor.

The main crux is the boiler. If I didn't have to update the boiler due to the extra 500 sq feet I'd probably just do the hydronic, but by putting electric in I might be able to bypass the furnace update for another 6 or 7 years.

Oh, and I don't know how CT measures up with electricity costs, but everythign else here is expensive so I imagine that electricity is as well.

Wow... if this reads correctly Connecicut is 2nd in the nation in kw costs only to Hawaii... is that correct!?!? Holy crap.

I'll have to check the bills when I get home.

http://www.eia.doe.gov/electricity/epm/table5_6_b.html


Also, for those in CT, some reading...

http://www.cga.ct.gov/2010/rpt/2010-R-0015.htm

Thanks... I've been talking to others offline and there appears to be a 50/50 split. Many would do the electric since it is only one room and I don't have to touch the existing system. Others thik the cathedral ceiling and the fact that it is over the garage warrant the hydronic. Ugg... no easy answers.

My contractor is telling me that the install is about the same in terms of money. I find that hard to believe. Wouldn't the hydronic system cost more? It is a new addition so we have access to all the interior walls, etc...