I just recently went through this myself. I don't have gas in my house but could have it run from the street.
I ended up upgrading the burner on my 60+ year old Dynatherm (it has a 36" heater coil). It reduced my oil consumption but I still have to deal with the oil prices. I'm getting a fireplace insert and will be burning wood this winter.
My heating bill for oil last winter (excluding DHW) was $3600 and I can get corded would delivered for the same heating ability for $700-$900. It will be more work, but the savings are worth it.
I also plan to install a solar preheater to lighten the load on the burner. I may end up getting an electric water heater and use the preheat just for that.
After the upgrade to my heater was complete, the tech showed me how carbon build up had my heater running at less than 50% efficiency.
With the new burner and a new delay that gives a 5 second flue priming before the burner fires, I am running at at least 87% efficiency and the carbon won't build up nearly as fast.
I'm in the process of adjusting the boiler temp so I can have it as low as it can be and still offer comfortable hot water and heat. So my efficiency has the potential to be even better.
I'm interested in knowing what you end up going with so I'll be following this thread. Good luck.
