Indoor Wood Boiler vs Wood Furnace vs Wood Stove: Which One You Actually Need
These three appliances all burn split cordwood, all sit inside the building, and all get talked about interchangeably online. They are not interchangeable. The difference is what they do with the heat once they have made it, and that is what should decide your choice.
The three, plainly
Indoor wood boiler. Heats water, which is circulated through radiators, baseboard or radiant floor loops, and usually a domestic hot water tank as well. It is the indoor cousin of the outdoor boiler, without the trench. Most modern ones are gasification boilers, which is worth understanding: they burn the wood in one chamber and then burn the resulting smoke in a second, hotter chamber, which is why they run cleaner and get more heat out of a given load. They almost always need a large insulated storage tank to buffer the output.
Wood furnace. Heats air, which is pushed through your existing ductwork by a blower. It is a direct substitute for the oil, gas or electric furnace already in your basement, and in many installs it is tied into the same trunk so the two share the ducts.
Wood stove. Heats the room it stands in, by radiation off the steel and convection off the surfaces. Distribution is doors, stairwells and possibly a fan. No ducts, no pipes, no water.
The question that answers it
Not square footage. What is already distributing heat in the building?
| What you have | What fits | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Radiators, baseboard or radiant floor | Indoor wood boiler | Only appliance that speaks hydronic. A furnace or stove cannot feed a water loop |
| Forced-air ductwork throughout | Wood furnace | Uses the ducts you already paid for; heat reaches every room |
| Open plan, or you only want to heat where you live | Wood stove | Cheapest by a wide margin, simplest install, nothing to fail |
| Ductwork, but you also want to see the fire | Stove in the living space | A furnace in the basement is a machine; a stove is also furniture |
What each one really costs to get running
The appliance price is the smallest part of the difference.
Boiler. The unit, plus an insulated thermal storage tank often measured in hundreds of gallons, plus circulators, mixing valves, expansion tank and controls, plus a plumber who understands wood-fired hydronics. Water chemistry has to be maintained for the life of the system. This is a project, not a purchase.
Furnace. The unit, plus a tie-in to your existing plenum and ductwork, plus a chimney. Considerably simpler than the boiler, and it reuses distribution you already own. The Drolet Heat Commander II at $4,349 is the one we stock.
Stove. The unit, a chimney, floor protection and wall clearances. No ducts, no water, no controls. Most of our range sits between $999 and $1,929.
Where the boiler genuinely wins
Hydronic heat is more comfortable than forced air — no draughts, no fan noise, even temperature. If your house is already on radiators or radiant floor, a wood boiler keeps that comfort and changes only the fuel. It will usually also make your domestic hot water, which neither a furnace nor a stove does.
The gasification design is genuinely efficient. A well-run gasification boiler with proper storage extracts more usable heat from a cord than any of the alternatives here.
The catch is that it wants to be run in hard, short burns into storage rather than idled, and if you plumb it without storage it will smoulder, tar up and disappoint you. Cheap boiler plus no tank is the most common way people end up hating this appliance.
Where the furnace wins
If you have ducts, the furnace is the least disruptive whole-home wood option there is. Every room that gets warm air now still gets warm air. You keep your existing thermostat behaviour and, in most installs, your existing furnace as backup for when you are away.
The trade is that it lives in the basement or utility room, you carry wood down to it, and you never see the fire. It is a machine, and it behaves like one. Factory replacement parts for the Heat Commander II are stocked, including the 1/3 hp blower, the Heat Commander II door and the HD fire brick. Our Fire Chief comparison and DAKA comparison look at how the Heat Commander II stacks up against the other furnaces people shortlist.
Where the stove wins
Cost, simplicity and reliability. There is no blower to fail, no circulator to seize, no water to treat and no ductwork to balance. In a power cut a stove keeps working with no intervention at all, which is not true of a furnace or a boiler with electric circulators.
It also does something the other two cannot: it makes a room pleasant to be in. A large share of people who start out researching furnaces and boilers end up buying one of our wood stoves because the practical gap is smaller than they expected and the experience is better.
| Home | Stove | Price | Output |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2,000–3,000 sq ft, whole-home ambitions | Drolet HT-3000 | $1,899 | 110,000 BTU/h, up to 10 hr on 22" logs |
| 1,500–2,700 sq ft | Drolet Escape 2100 | $1,929 | 110,000 BTU/h |
| 1,000–2,000 sq ft | Drolet Escape 1800 | $1,549 | 75,000 BTU/h, up to 8 hr on 20" logs |
| 600–1,200 sq ft | Escape 1500 or Columbia II | $1,279–$1,349 | 65,000 BTU/h |
One thing all three share
Chimney requirements do not scale down with appliance simplicity. All of these need a correctly sized, correctly heighted flue, and on a big appliance that is a meaningful share of the budget. Price the chimney before you commit to the appliance — our chimney and stovepipe guide and flue sizing guide cover it.
The honest verdict
Follow your distribution system. Radiators or radiant floor, and you are in boiler territory — we do not sell them, and we would rather tell you that than sell you something that cannot do the job. Ducts, and the Heat Commander II is the least disruptive route to whole-home wood heat. Neither, or an open layout, and a stove will do more for you than either at a fraction of the cost and complexity.
Every model is ranked by heating area in our best Drolet wood stoves guide. All ship with No Sales Tax in any state and free shipping over $250, delivered curbside. Call 1-888-914-0022 and tell us what heats your house now — that is the fastest way to the right answer.
Appliance specifications are from Drolet published documentation as of September 2026. Always follow the owner's manual for your specific unit, and note that the certification label affixed to the appliance overrides published figures. Have any furnace or boiler tie-in to existing ductwork or hydronic loops designed and installed by a qualified professional.