In the 1980’s my husband and I purchased a Victorian house that we had moved. We moved in the house with a lot of work yet to be done. It had 32 windows and that caused lots of drafts. We had insulated the attic and under the floors. We live in the lower south and winters are not very cold so we had electric fan forced air and heat installed, ducts running under the house blowing up from the floors. The high ceilings, using ceiling fans, worked fine for the mostly warm weather we experience. But the few really cold fronts during Dec. and Jan. made us miserable. One winter I had a jug of water partially freeze on the kitchen counter (kitchen faced North).
The heater ran almost constantly, we were still cold and the electric bill was through the roof.
We learned about a company that made a wood burning stove that is external to the house. It was wrapped in stainless steel to weather proof and the fire box was surrounded by a tank holding 100 gallons of water. The water is automatically replenished as needed by a float valve, much like a toilet has.The stove is hooked up to a heat exchanger and water supply much like a car radiator, that is then joined to the duct of the house. The fire heats up the water to 180 degrees, and a pump pumps the water through the line to the heat exchanger and back to the stove. The stove is controlled by a thermostat inside the house, which is wired to the central system’s blower motor. At the set temp. the blower is on and blowing air across the 180 degree heat exchanger into the house.
We bought the stove and were warm all winter at a HUGE savings. Electric bill went from $500.00 a month to $90.00 a month. A cord of wood lasted for 2-3 months, most of our winter. We added wood twice a day and there was no danger of fire or extra insurance on a 100 yr. old all wood house. That stove was a lifesaver in more ways than one.
The company was located in Ms. and I can’t recall the name but will look into it (see if they’re still in business) if anyone is interested.