well, I'm a bit warmer than you (zone 6) and I don't use dormant oil, but I do use burlap to protect my first year or slightly tender roses. I usually do this after Thanksgiving; some of the roses may have leaves, but not a lot of leaves. I have 2 techniques: 1. build a little cage out of stakes or chicken wire around the rose, then wrap this in burlap or 2. (my favorite): buy a bunch of those sturdy brown paper leaf bags. Cut out the bottom, so you have this sort of "tube". Put it over the rose and secure it to the ground with stakes. For an extra tender rose, I might add leaves or straw inside the bag, or even wrap the exterior with burlap. For tougher roses, the thick paper is enough protection against winds. I prefer this technique because its easier, and seems to work very well. Also, the bags are quite sturdy and I usually get a few years out of them. Hope this helps, and hope somebody else can give you advice about dormant oil!

#1- 40 years old?, over 10 years past due for a cast iron steam according to averages. #2- Steam is a bit more complex than a water boiler, besides removing that mammoth dirty sooted boiler, most often the smaller foot print boiler required new return piping (hartford loop) new header, asbestos?, new safeties, auto fill, system vents, radiator vents.... Seems in the ballpark to me not knowing everything #3- I would but N/G is a choice of yours. Oil will continue to go up but still the fuel of choice in the NE states. If your chimmney is bad for gas it can't be good for oil too. It's not the operating efficiencies here, you may improve by 1-2% though. I'm sure you stand to save alot in fuel as a boiler today closely matched to your Btu's, square foot of radiation and EDR (condensate) will be much smaller thus, less mass to heat to receive heat and less lost due to standby loss after shutdown. Your planning on staying awhile? Get a new one and releive yourself of one more thing to fail (always at the worst time) and enjoy the payback now.

"I looked up "heat punp" on Wikipedia and don't understand it. I mean, I understand the physics aspect of it but not how it works in your house." - A heat pump is simply a central air conditioning unit that has a reversing valve and produces heat in the winter and a/c in the summer. If you have existing ductwork for a central a/c system, you're good to go for a heat pump.

Here's the extent of my knowledge. It's not much but may get you started. Be sure to get a home inspection before you sign a contract! Summer/Winter Hook-Up Systems Summer/winter hook-up systems use a gas or oil fired boiler to heat hot water for radiator or baseboard heating. They also provide the hot water for your house and eliminate the need for a water heater tank. Since this type of system is in use year round, even when there is no need for heat, it is called a summer/winter hookup. The hot water supplied by the boiler for personal use is the same temperature as the water used to provide heat. Therefore, the output temperature of hot water at sinks, faucets, and bathtubs in the house can exceed 150 degrees. This is a very dangerous temperature that can result in instant scalding and burning of exposed skin. To prevent accidental scalds, a tempering or mixing valve should be attached to the main hot water supply line. The tempering valve mixes cooler water with the hot water from the boiler to reduce the temperature of personal use hot water to a safe level. Summer/winter hook-up systems also have a temperature & pressure relief valve. Its purpose is to discharge water from the boiler if the internal water temperature of the boiler exceeds 210 degrees F or 30 PSI. If water temperatures or pressures were allowed to exceed these points, the boiler could become damaged or worse, the boiler could explode. The TPR valve should have a directional pipe installed that points towards the floor and ends about six inches above the floor. This helps prevent anybody standing nearby from getting burned with scalding water if the TPR valve were to open. This exhaust pipe should never be capped or plugged shut. /tricia