What do you think is the best alternative to oil heat?

Depends on what’s available. Being a TECH in the industry I can tell you that apart from wood, oil is the best value. If you burn a gallon of furnace oil and a gallon of natural gas you’d burn at 144,000 btu’s or British Thermal Units as opposed to 92,000 btu’s for natural gas. There are some oil furnaces that can have a wood add on. The venting can be a challenge though if the chimney flue is too small. Update your furnace if you need to. Kerr makes a great furnace as does Newmac. Both of which are highly rated for efficiency and also have wood add ons available to them. Keeping your tank and furnace in good repair and clean every year will help reduce the overall operating costs as well. Properly maintained the oil furnace will be your best bet. Do not go propane. Propane is just that. A pain. Do a search online for alternate heat sources as well. Heat pumps are great but you need the space to supply for the lines to go out and back. Also, check the date of your oil tank. If it’s older than 15years you may need to replace it. If it’s outside then it’s more than likely that time frame is lessened. Have your service tech check it out and don’t be afraid to ask questions.