I hear some people use their charcoal grill to heat their house. Once they went to charcoal, they never used anything else.
My only suggestion is to do your own research, with any suggestions you get here as a starting point. Pay for quality, not value - for the furnace AND installation.
I also suggest a natural gas backup generator, if you can afford one. I use my gasoline powered generator at least a couple days a year. It's great, but getting the gas and refilling the generator is a pain.