Replacing Furnace

I'm not an expert, but just replacing a furnace isn't terribly expensive. Given the situation in the Middle East, I'd opt for paring fuel usage down to bare bones.

we had our oil-furnace replaced after 35 years of faithful service. we replaced it with a medium effiency oil-furnace. the estimator walked us through the calculations and did not think we would be able to make up the higher price with the only slightly reduced fuel-oil consumption . we did not switch to gas, because we think that houses with a gas-furnace have just a faint odour of natural gas, and also because there seems to be a somewhat higher chance of a malfunction - and possibly explosion(perhaps just our imagination !). there has been a fair amount of trouble with high-efficiency gas furnaces (apparently now fixed): this i learned from a neighbour who services furnaces(and has a high-effiency gas furnace). we have a fairly small bungalow (1,050 sq. ft.) so our consumption is pretty moderate (house is very well insulated; we live in eastern ontario, so good insulation is important - COLD WINTERS !). if you have a large house , perhaps you may want to look at a heat-pump. it's supposed to be the most economical when it comes to operating cost. in canada, the ministry of the environment (?) provides quite a bit of information on heating and cooling(i know there is a website out there, just don't have it handy). hbg