I have a gas (forced air) furnace in the basement at the opposite
end of my workshop for 15+ years. I have
not had any problems with excessive dust in
the rest of the house, but I do have a dust collector
on the machines and try to exercise caution where
necessary.

MDF is always a problem, no matter what you do, but
most normal woodworking should be ok. Try to cut
MDF outdoors if possible.

I will admit that using a pleated filter has helped
in this regard too. SWMBO said that she noticed a
significant difference over the cheap fiber type
filters.

Lou

In article .com,
wrote:

Howdy,

I have an oil furnance in my basement, which is also where I want to
place my woodshop. My concerns are not over blowing up the house.
They are over the air quality of the rest of my home.

I have no problem turning off the furnance when I am in the shop,
'cause it's my home and mine alone! But what about dust particles
being sent into the rest of my home where I won't be wearing a HEPA
mask when the furnance is on.

Will the open flames of the oil burning make that a non issue?
Frankly, I don't know how the internal parts of an oil burning furnance
work other than the oil is sprayed out and set on fire. So, I don't
know if the air passes through the flams thus litterally burning
anything that would be in the air or if it passes through heated
baffels or something.

Granted, I have a filter on the furnance, but I think that is on the
intake side.