Oh yes I know of these!! In Europe they are known as Kachelofen and they are truly wonderful ways to heat a space. In fact, years ago I glazed the tiles made by another artist - now retired . He had the knowledge of how to make these since they need to have a special structure and shape for insulation. Here is a photo of the stove-bench for which I glazed all the tiles, it's in Maryland:
By the way, my sister is really into permaculture so I now am a believer too even though I haven't done much except be very careful about the farms I support. In any case, great to meet you!