Basement HVAC Wood Burner System

A wood burning furnace is the only way one can legally tie a wood heater into the ducting system that I know of. It is freestanding, usually adjacent to the existing furnace unless it has its own independent ducting system. It does not sit in a fireplace.

Download the manual for a Caddy wood furnace. In it you will see the clearances it needs. Plan on connecting an OAK to the furnace.
Hot water is a whole nuther animal and not an option on the wood furnaces I know of. But maybe there is something out there. It definitely brings up safety issues. Steam is potentially very explosive.

there are quite a few hot water wood furnaces out there. but most of them I have worked on are real creosote factories the water jacket takes off to much heat and the exhaust temp is way to low. we worked on one last year that was installed by someone else 3 years earlier with a light wall flex liner. he had burnt through the liner and the tee at the bottom. the furnace had auto draft control and a huge fire box so it would just sit there smoldering and making lots of creosote and then the draft would open up and the huge fire box would light up and in turn light off the chimney. we put in a heavy wall liner and told him to use the manual setting on the draft but don't know how it is going hew hasn't had us back to look at it yet. in my experience hot air ones work better we have also seen many regular free standing stoves with a hood over them to collect the heat and direct it into the ducts

Thanks mellow! Didn't know that.