Home energy options

I did a calculation recently about how much I spend to heat my home and hot water (using oil) and for myself and my wife to get to work and I estimate the bill to be roughly $6,500 annually. A figure that has doubled in the last few years.

With that kind of money, we don't have a choice but to consider alternative means of energy. But that's only half of it, for the energy that is consumed, we have to make sure it's used in the most efficient means possible.

All of the internal and external lighting as been switched over to compact flourescents. CF's have been getting a fair bit of attention lately as they contain mercury and have to be disposed of accordingly but they do last for years. In addition, digital thermostats control the temperature in every zone of the house and are set to drop the temperature overnight and during the week while we're at work. Additional insulation will be the next item on the list.

My personal preference is solar energy although I'll admit I have not given wind it's fair shake. Luckily, the front of our house is a southern exposure (south south east actually). On a sunny day the house can approach 78-80 degrees in some rooms but the air circulation isn't that great, rooms on the other side stay at a cool 67-70. We also live in an area that get's it's fair share of wind on a regular basis and have enough land to put in a wind turbine.

A few produts that I'm looking at right now are:

1) Photovoltaic shingle by Uni-Solar, given that I'm going to have my roof done either this year or next - why not.
2) Solar Boiler, a local company, Thermo Dynamics, has one but I find it a little pricy.
3) Radiant in floor heat.
4) Woodstove (never said I was going green)

We currently have hot water baseboard heat and I've read articles that using solar to heat water to be incorporated into a baseboard heating system would not work as the water temperature would not be high enough. I'm not sure I get that; converting to radiant is pretty expensive and if water can be heated to a temperature to supply up to 2/3 of a homes hot water needs then why couldn't it be pre-heated to circulate through a closed system with oil as a supplementary source if needed? No one I've asked has been either able or willing to answer that question.

For the PV system, what what I'm looking for is a system that at the very least can power the my furnace (heat and hot water) water pump, selected lighting, fridge during an emergency but is scalable so that I can add additional PV units to it.

For the gas, other than carpooling, driving a more energy efficient vehicle (I drive a Corolla) there's not much that can be done. I've got a few years left in the one and I have, for my next one I'm thinking a Prius.