Stove Vs Furnance

Looking for input Why would you choose a stove vs furnance? Looks like several of the memebers of this form have stoves to me a stove = space heater Furnace = whole house heat . In my way of thinking heating the whole house with with coal is the way to go.

I have a 2nd small house to heat that I do not want to use oil in anymore but I do want a central heating unit for.

The house is small, a boiler costs to much. It had a oil furnance with forced hot air. is a stove with ducting better or furnance with a thermotsatically controlled blower better I hope this question makes sense.

Depends what people can afford and use. Yes, some us are using the Stoves as primary heating devices in the basement tied into the heating system(s). There are not too many choices for true Furnaces, so many of us adapt what we have to use as a heating source/furnace. For small applications, yes, a stand alone stove would work fine. Some "stoves" however put out as much heat as a furnace. My hyfire I stove is rated 130K BTU.

A small house with the right layout a stove may work fine, I would go with a used boiler myself.

My house had the hot air oil furnace and the duct work. About three years ago, I replaced the oil furnace, due to a cracked heat exchanger. Once oil prices started to escalate, I started to put more heating burden on the coal stove, which I also had, but only used on occasion, due to the drafting problem. Once I saw the stove's potential, I modified the "system" further.

Oil is nice, if going away for a week or so in the winter. My ideal system, would be a remote (in adjacent outbuilding) multi-fuel boiler with hot water or steam radiators.

Many people like me look for an alternative heat source and when they find one that they think they will like, often buy a stove (or better yet a used stove) because it is cheaper than the whole house outfit and many people do not want to spend thousands on something they may not like. Also some like me have relatively cheap (at the moment) natural gas and a large $$ investment will take many years to return. Many start out using a stove to get their feet wet and in a couple of years sell the stove and buy a boiler.

Burnedup wrote:Why would you choose a stove vs furnance?

Cheaper, works & looks good. I've been heating my entire house with a stove for over 26 years & it does the job fine, uses less coal than a furnace & is the focal point of my downstairs family room.

Came out a little dark

gambler wrote:Many people like me look for an alternative heat source and when they find one that they think they will like, often buy a stove (or better yet a used stove) because it is cheaper than the whole house outfit and many people do not want to spend thousands on something they may not like.

I grant you it is cheaper, but having heated with wood stoves for 30 years I am a big proponent of central heat, I want to make sure he has all the options. The "may not like" experience you speak of percentage goes up exponentially when people sweat in one room and freeze in another, need to install fans/cut holes in their floors/etc. to move air around the home for comfort. Central solid fuel heat provides a level of comfort that is unmatched by any combo, this is particularly true with forced hot air systems, the change in a homes character is phenomenal. The extra cost of central heat makes it a much more rewarding experience in my book.

There are a lot of choices to make when you step into this coal thing. If you are neurotic and need something to play with, you get a hand fired. If your lifestyle says you are gone on weekends you go with a stoker. If you don't want the mess in your home, it goes in the cellar. When you want a warm, even heat you go central. I just want to make sure Burnedup is grinning like the rest of us when he is done.

coaledsweat wrote:when people sweat in one room and freeze in another,

Spoken like a man who has "heated with wood stoves for 30 years ".... I burned wood one year & then went right to coal. Wood is always hot & you have little control of it. On he other hand, coal stoves can be throttled down to very low temps with ease. (The worst I may have to do is open a window a crack in the room with my stove to keep all rooms within a few degrees of each other, all winter)

coaledsweat wrote:need to install fans/cut holes in their floors/etc. to move air around the home for comfort.

Granted, it makes keeping uniformity of temps in all rooms much easier if you have a few floor vents. I have small (maybe 8"x10" vents cut in a few room & they are not even noticeable. You do this once & don't even think about them again.

coaledsweat wrote:I just want to make sure Burnedup is grinning like the rest of us when he is done.

Me too, but I think that many home layouts would lend themselves to a stove rather than central heat, especially ranches & split levels with a finished basement. A stove can be a nice focal point in a room & provide all your heat to boot.
I think we'd all agree that it really all depends on your particular home's layout & your needs/desires. What works great for one person will not work for others.

Devil505, the family room looks great with the Harman in it. My hand fired sits in my dinning room. Its in the dinning room by default not by choice. When I bought my house it had a unused chimney at one end of the dinning room, hence the stove in the dinning room. My stove is rated at 90k and will more than heat my house, mind you I live in NY where it realy gets cold. My oil furnace is rated at 130k and works double time to do what the stove does all day and all nite. Gotta love a stove.

I think if we had a layout of the house ,some idea of the system that's in the house now(BTU's),1 story or 2,is it a full cellar and so on we could advise you better.

I have a furnace in my house but that's because it's a drafty old house and a stove will only heat a few rooms evenly with a house like this.If it is a modern house with good insulation and windows then a stove might fit the bill.
DON

SemperFi wrote:Devil505, the family room looks great with the Harman in it.

Thanks Marine! Just installed all new stove pipes & a homemade wall thimble, so I'm ready to go! Just waiting for an excuse to fire it up for a few days!

Be aware that some styles of homes and floor plans lend themselves much better to sucessfully heating with a stove alone. Devil has a split foyer which is an ideal style and floor plan to heat with a stove. A regular 2 story or even a ranch style may not work as well with just a stove. You'll have hot rooms, warm rooms and cool rooms. Right now with coal burning equipment in short supply, I'd get a stove if you can and try it. If you don't like the results, you can always order a boiler or furnace and sell the stove. There's usually a good market for used coal burning stoves. The important thing now is to cut the oil man or gas company out of the equation.

Reason I use a stove. Because I can.

BUT, I have a 20 yr old house with dual heat pumps. I'd be lots of work & money to add a true furnace. and this would only add hot air to the 1st floor thru the vents. Besides, the heat pumps work well and are actually cheaper to operate cost of electric than it is to burn coal until the cold really sets in and drops below 34F. But obviously coal offers a warmer heat and it is FUN.

Cap, If I had two heat pumps, I'd install a coal boiler and a water to air heat exchanger coil in each systems supply plenum. That would be sweet, heat your home uniformly and warmly. You'd still have dual zone with individual control over each. I guarantee you it would be cheaper than running the heat pumps, even in moderate weather.