Wood and pellet boilers/furnaces can heat an entire house through forced air or radiator systems, as well as provide a household’s hot water supply.  Some units have automated ash removal making them virtually as convenient as a conventional fossil fuel furnace. Just like a smaller-scale pellet stove, the pellet furnace automatically draws fuel from a storage site and feeds it into the combustion chamber at the rate needed to achieve a pre-set temperature. Unlike conventional fossil fuel furnaces, however, furnaces that use cordwood are not automated and require the homeowner to re-fuel the furnace periodically. If a homeowner is willing to put in this maintenance time, wood furnaces can provide huge savings on home heating bills. These biomass boilers/furnaces can range in price from $4,000 to $20,000 for pellet appliances and $3,000 to $12,000 for cord wood appliances. Cordwood stoves, on the other hand, allow the user to self-harvest wood, and therefore could theoretically be operated with minimal cost (just the electricity to run the system), which might be more appealing to low-income households.

Policy Considerations
By 2014, indoor boilers and furnaces are expected to be regulated by the EPA, which will ensure that particulate levels are within set limits. Once that occurs, it will pave the way for programs to provide incentives for these whole house systems aimed at switching 100% of home heating needs from fossil fuels to renewable biomass.  Scores of incentive programs in Europe can provide a wealth of data and experience about this process.  However, due to the elevated cost associated with these units, they are less suited for programs targeting low-income consumers, and units will require a larger financial incentive. In addition to the heating units, policies aimed at building the fuel delivery infrastructure for wood pellets will also be needed.