Stove Vs Furnance

coalkirk wrote: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.

We'll find out soon Terry. My split-entry is ideal for using a coal stove in a finished basement family room. The heat gets trapped above the suspended ceiling downstairs or goes flying up (& down) the central stairway which is wide & always open. My daughter & son-in-law just bought a TLC for their ranch house, which is about the same size, but with just a narrow stairway from the unfinished basement (where the stove is going) to their upstairs. They are going to replace the kitchen/basement door with a louvered one to let the heat flow easier to the upstairs. We'll also be cutting a few floor & wall vents up there to get more circulation & probably a cold air return in the far bedroom.
I'll keep you posted how well it works!

Thank you for the info everybody. In my residence I do have a Harman a SF1500-A central heat furnance and very stasified with it. For the 2nd house which is my offfice / hunting and fishing funhouse / hide-a-way. (yes I have a fridge with beer in it)

The only reason I was considering a furnanace was to keep some heat in the basement which is nothing more than a small concrete pad where you enter and dirt beyond that. The old oil furnance sits on the pad with a single vent in the ductwork to keep the waterlines from freezing. The sq ft is 600 plus the basement as described. The house used to be a chicken coup but when the previuos ower's mother inlaw moved in he made it bigger and and put her in the old chicken coup.

With a radiant heat stove or stove with a blower in the offfice area what would be the best way to get heat into the basement to prevent pipes from splitting.

I really like hand fed stoves...being a long time wood burner.

You could insulate the pipes real well( 2 layers of pipe insul).Then you would only need a small amount of heat.Small duct off the stove.
DON

Or, you could wrap them with heat tape! Done deal.

Terry wrote:

I'd install a coal boiler and a water to air heat exchanger coil in each systems supply plenum.

Terry, I have 20 yr old York air handlers. I do not see many years left in these two units. Keep in mind, the smaller unit is in the attic. The day will come that both air handlers need replacing but hopefully not in the next 10yrs. This may be the time to go with a boiler. I simply do not want to invest over $12,000 to upgrade to 100% coal, not now. I'm not 100% committed to this home due to the job market and this lousy economy and other factors. It's be hard to recoup that kind of investment from this market if I was forced to sell in the next 10 years. My 2d of three is off to college next year. This house is getting too big for this guy. I need that little 2br cabin in the woods when I pay off my mortgage in 2016.

But I like the idea in theory and can draw up plans for the heck of it.

That makes sense. The odds are that you will need to replace those air handlers though probably sooner than later. I assume you have already had to replace the condensing units? York equipment in my experience lasts longer than many other brands but 20 years for a heat pump is pushing the envelope.