Do a search for "Gravity heat". I found a nice page that explained it that way when I was shopping.

A boiler is a very good way to heat a home. As mentioned, it is loud when you first turn it on for the season. It'* much more economical to operate than forced heating. There'* no blower to disrupte the air throughout the house. And, it'* the most consistent heat you'll ever find. There'* no noise during normal operating times. A boiler typically lasts 20% longer than a furnace. The pipes should never have to be replaced unless a joint is disrupted.

The biggest downfall is that there'* no air filtration system. The radiators are gaudy. And, it'* not adapatable with forced central air conditioning.

If I could do it over again, I would have hot water heat in our house.

You may want to check with your insurance provider to make sure they will insure a house with that type of heating system. I know those types of systems here get written through the state insurance plan and the coverage isn't nearly as good and it is more expensive.

Flood Insurance for a Hot Water Heating System? What next?? Flood Insurance for Water Beds???

That'* interesting. Here, i'ts cheaper to insure a home with hot water heat because it'* deamed more safe. I have a rental property with a boiler and I got a discount for it having hot water heat. Same level of coverage, too.

Not flood insurance. Regular homeowners insurance. Most insurance providers are pretty particular about the types of heating systems they will write. The wall heaters (like Van Guard gas heaters) are not acceptable at all unless the homeowner has a central heat/air unit as a primary source.

As stated, hot water heating is more efficient than forced air.

If you wanted to convert or add central iar you would need to add the ductwork. 900sq ft is small and sounds like a single story home so could be done reasonably as long as you have a basement. I would have said inexpensively but sheet metal and ductwork stopped being cheap years ago.

Check with your local housing authority and see what you can do on your own. Best case is that you will need a licensed contrator to do the gas and/or electrical but that you can preinstall everything else. The work is time consuming, sometimes frustratinf, but not hard.

Lastly the one drawback with gas that frustrates me is the minimum charge from the gas company. Here we get billed a minimum of 3 therms of gas so in the summerish weather I get a bill (~$60) for $10 worth of gas I've used. if i turn it off for the summer, theres a $80 reconnect fee in the winter