When we talk about heating your home or office, heat is distributed in a variety of ways. Forced-air systems use ducts that can also be used for central air conditioning and heat pump systems. Radiant heating systems also have unique heat distribution systems.
There are different ways to heat your home and office. Furnaces (gas or oil), Heat Pumps, Boilers.

Energy efficiency can be improved even more in central heating systems by introducing zoned heating. This allows a more granular application of heat, similar to non-central heating systems. Zones are controlled by multiple thermostats.