I know it's not $1,000, though. I'd hear about it.
Minnesota houses are insulated up the wazoo, with double and triple-paned windows. It gets frigging COLD there, a lot colder than it ever gets in New York.
My parents have a furnace so efficient, there isn't even a real chimney. It's a plastic pipe that goes out through the wall and poots warm, wet air when the furnace is running.
Where I live, it wouldn't pay to install such a thing. It rarely gets below freezing, but my house isn't very well-insulated, either. My bills can crack $300 on a bad month, but that's with electricity and water heating thrown in.
Out here in my garage, I have a free-standing Toyotomi heat pump with a hose going through the wall for heat exchange. It's not spectacular, but it both warms and cools.
Current Events » in reply to How much do your folks pay?
Not sure.