cost to convert house to electric heat?

[wdoa]

Currently living in the Northeast where heating oil is skyrocketing at an ever increasing rate. Considering converting the house to electric (something that I would have considered insanity years ago).
Can someone give me a ballpark figure of what it might cost to convert (Yeah, I know the only real figure could be given by an electrician after they came into the house and got an estimate). Here are the basics...
The house was built in 1885, about 1400 sq. ft, 2 floors. The current electric is two services. 1) 75 AMP service w/breaker for electric hot water heater 2) 100amp service with breaker box for everything else in the house.

The electrical is a mish mash of several generations of electrical work. There is some active knob & tube feeding ceiling fans and ceiling lights. There are many outlets that are basic 2 prong outlets, but I don't believe they are fed by knob & tube, there are also several modern grounded 3 prong outlets (most of them I had put in after I bought the house, so I know the wiring on them is modern). I know the knob & tube will have to go. We tried to get the house insulated a few years ago, but the company couldn't do it until we get rid of the knob & tube. So basically we are looking at replacing the knob & tube, probably kicking the 100AMP service to 200AMP and rewiring associated with adding electrical registers and thermostats in the house, maybe replacing some of the 2 prong outlets.
So what ball park am I looking at for $$$
Any input is appreciated, thanks!
-Mike

[HayZee518]

you say northeast. what state does this mean? I'd check first with your utility if they still offer a cut-rate for all electric houses. you're probably right about changing the service to a 200 amp 40 circuit panel because the baseboard heaters take a two pole breaker on each. how many rooms and approx what size? [length X width.] kitchen will take kick space heaters that go under the cabinets

[wdoa]

Massachusetts. 1 bathroom 5x20, kitchen 20x8, 1 living room 15x15, bedroom 15x10, front hall 4x15, bedroom 20x15, bedroom 10x10, small room 7x12 bedroom 8x10.. these are all aproximate.

[HayZee518]

OK, I was a licensed electrician in western mass - turners falls/greenfield area. I wired houses in Northfield, Turners, greenfield, leverett, erving, athol etc. I wired up the driving range on route 202. I wired up an old house in greenfield for new service and lighting and outlets no electric heat. total here was about $12,000. Had another brand new house in Northfield with electric heat, 200 amp service, the cadillac of electric heat (singer) this came to about $18,000 included the inspection fees etc. Mass has their own offshoot to the NEC code. Outlets cannot be installed above a unit of electric heat because of the hazard of draping cords that may heat up and cause a fire. outlets integral with the heater is ok. Your electric heat will be installed on any "cold" wall that is any outside wall below a window. All this was in or around 1994. I'll bet a figure of $22,000 isn't unreasonable.

[Speedy Petey]

Originally Posted by wdoa

Currently living in the Northeast where heating oil is skyrocketing at an ever increasing rate. Considering converting the house to electric (something that I would have considered insanity years ago).

It's STILL insanity!!
I won't comment on pricing other than to say IMO you'd be nuts to go all electric with ANY fossil fuel existing in the house.

Look at it logically. They burn fossil fuels to make the electricity.

[tudor]

I'm not sure it makes sense for a whole house the size of yours. But you might consider closing off some rooms for the winter no matter what kind of heat you use. We have a very small (2 br) house in upstate NY and close off 1 bedroom in winter. We have no basement for an oil burner but have gas heat and are wired for electric heat too. I think they are about the same costwise right now--maybe gas is slightly higher. The most important thing is to use lots of insulation--under the floor, in the attic and on the walls.

[wdoa]

Thanks everyone for your input. It doesn't look financially feasible to do the electric conversion plan, however I still would like to get the knob & tube gotten rid of so that we can at least put some insulation in because right now the insulation is minimal (tiny bit in the attic, none in the outside walls). We already now block off the entire upstairs, which actually only gets heat anyway through vents from the first floor or electric space heaters.
Thanks again all.