When I bought my house in 1995 we immediately undertook to modernize. This included revamped wiring and cat5 and coax to every room, but it also included new windows for most of the house, blown insulation, attic blanket, and special stuff for between the beams that hold the roof (so a balloon-frame house can still "breathe").

Now I'm about to refinance and was considering upgrading from forced air gas heat to a ground source heat pump. I'm unsure, though, if I have the lot size to deal. I'm also considering solar collector panels or solar water heating, but that's probably just for show in our unusually cloudy city.

Have any of you done anything like this before, and perhaps have advice to offer?