Architectural Designs

I need a reccomendation on a furnace system for a small house with no ductwork?

This house was heated with wood and we do plan on utilizing the woodburner. I need help figuring out what my options are for back up heat. The house has no ductwork system and a crawlspace instead of a basement. Thanks!

Public Comments

1. those amish heaters would be ideal for you
2. Plug in heaters, they are a lot safer now than they used to be. You can get them at Wal-Mart or Target for a reasonable price. Good luck!
3. I don't know lol... you have nice boobs lol ahahahhaha
4. Many owners of older homes without forced-air HVAC systems, would like to add central air conditioning and/or heating ducts, but are daunted by the cost and difficulty of the installation process. Installation of ductwork may require removing large sections of walls, floors or ceilings, or adding unsightly box chases. However, high velocity heating and cooling systems minimize these alterations by using small diameter ducts that can be more easily threaded through floor, ceiling, and wall cavities. Mini-duct air distribution system throughout the home. According to the manufacturers, these high velocity systems operate quietly and improve dehumidification, room air mixing, and energy efficiency over standard air-delivery duct systems. High velocity heating and cooling systems use a special fan coil and air handling unit that generates high pressure air forced through small diameter ducts. The main supply trunk is either a rectangular or round duct that supplies air to flexible, insulated, 2" diameter plastic feeder ducts. Air passes through sound-suppressing tubing at the end of a duct run before entering the room through a plastic collar fitting. According to manufacturers, air is supplied at 440 to 1200 cubic feet per minute (CFM). High velocity systems use standard outdoor condensing units for air conditioning and heat pump systems. As an option, a water coil can be mounted in the air handling unit for boiler heating or chilled water cooling. Alternatively, adding a bank of electric heating elements to the air handler can provide heating capability to a high velocity air-conditioning system. High velocity system air handlers can satisfy cooling capacities between 18,000 and 60,000 BTUH and heating capacities between 24,000 and 143,000 BTUH.
5. They make a heat pump that provides both AC and heat that mounts to an exterior wall. The air handler mounts on the inside, and the compressor goes outside. All you would need is a 220v/50 amp dedicated line to run it. Trane is one manufacturer, but there are others.
6. Without duct work you will have to use space heaters. If it's just for back up heat you can use kerosene heaters, but be aware the best ones give off some smell and fumes.I used them for years.And the price of kerosene has went way up.You can also use electric space heaters.They're really pretty safe ,with the tip over switches and guards they put on them now.There's also gas space heaters which I use in my house.Mine are natural gas but if that's not available in your area you can buy a propane tank that can sit outside your house.I like to have at least one form of back up heat in the house just in case one of them fails.
7. a lot of this decision depends on what part of the country that you live in. the easiest system to put in is electric baseboard. you can heat just one room at a time,and no need for ductwork or pipes.And replacement heater units are the easiest fix---but they seem to last forever.
8. radiant heating is quite good you can by area mats that plug right in or the full system with a hot on demand system it`s suppose to be the cheapest way to heat your home or even just water
9. pellet stove, electric base board heater, wall mount propane/natural gas. We have a 2000 sq' house 2 story and no duct work. A furnace style wood stove heats the whole thing with no trouble. We also installed a pellet stove for times when we can't keep up with loading the wood stove. The biggest key is to have good insulation, windows, doors, etc.