I can't discuss the geothermal part of your question, but years ago I lived in a 1200 sq. ft. home in Pocatello, Idaho that had an oil stove in the basement along with, siting next to it, a wood furnace. The wood furnace was double walled with a thermostatically controlled blower on the bottom blowing through the space between the two walls which terminated in a 4" round duct at the top. This duct then went into the outlet duct from the oil furnace. I could fit 3 or 4 pieces of Douglas Fir into the furnace whidh would produce enough heat to heat the house for 4 - 6 hours. I'd feed it in the morning, noon, supper, and before I retired and it did just fine. The only time the oil was on was if I was going to be out of town for a day. Probably burned a couple of cords/winter. As usual, YMMV! |