New furnace ( kuuma vapor fire 100) and new member here.

[brenndatomu]

Electric radiant is a good idea, but up in the ceiling...really? I suppose if you had REALLY good insulation in the attic maybe.
As far as backup heat, you might look at mini split heat pumps... they've gotten pretty darn efficient, pretty good even at low outdoor temps.
Look around here on hearth, there's a bunch of heat pump info from knowledgeable experienced people.

have only used about 1 chord this winter so far so definitely impressive

Wow, not bad...we average about 1/3 cord per 2 weeks...a lil more when real cold, less on warmer days...seems to average out to about 4.5 cords/year generally.

 

[salecker]

Roof insulation is so important.
i have R 120 and R 84 in my roof
the only melt from the roof is when the outside temp goes above freezing.
I use 8 cords of spruce during the average winter

 

[R Henderson]

Electric radiant is a good idea, but up in the ceiling...really? I suppose if you had REALLY good insulation in the attic maybe.
As far as backup heat, you might look at mini split heat pumps... they've gotten pretty darn efficient, pretty good even at low outdoor temps.
Look around here on hearth, there's a bunch of heat pump info from knowledgeable experienced people.

Wow, not bad...we average about 1/3 cord per 2 weeks...a lil more when real cold, less on warmer days...seems to average out to about 4.5 cords/year generally.

Yes I don't know why but that's how it was built and the attic was blown in when it was built I keep meaning to climb up and look as I'm sure it's settled significantly contributing to my heat loss. A lot of work but mother and I live here and I'm trying to get the house back in shape where she doesn't have to worry about it.

I did look into the mini splits as in the next few years or so I am looking at building a 900ish sq ft. Basement style house on the property nearby and was tossing around boiler either wood fired or LP for floor heat and not skimping on insulation. I don't really need a big house like our current one, that's a big reason I went with the kuuma so it would be user friendly for the family to use and me being nearby could easily keep it going with how my loading schedule has been this first year.