Modifying an sf250 to be more like a forced air furnace

Hey I'm relatively new to burning coal. I used to have a coal furnace as a teenager it was my chore to keep the coal fire burning basically because I enjoyed it. Anyway my question is I now have a Harmon sf 250 which I have connected heating duct to an existing register in the center of my house by using 3 of the four tubes on the front of the stove. I have thought about surrounding the stove with sheet metal and then putting a forced air fan on the back of the stove that would pull cool air from the upstairs and blow warm air upstairs using the old forced hot air heating duct which would heat my house more evenly. Normally in the winter my basement is about 80 and the upstairs depending on which room is anywhere from 72 to as low as 62 which just happens to be my bedroom and my wife needs a heating blanket to be comfortable. I'm wondering has anyone has tried this before or if it would just be a waste?? I do not want the stove upstairs just because of the mess it would create.

It can and has been done with other stove models.

Need good fabrication skills and the ability to size plenums, ducts and blower size and speed.

Hey thanks I was kinda hoping maybe someone had pictures. I have seen forced hot air oil furnaces with the outside taken off the only difference I see with what I'd like to do is the oil furnace is round, and my stove is square. Also an oil furnace is only hot when there is a demand for heat. I figured you probably wouldn't need a massive blower because of the fact that the coal stove will always be hot. I think my biggest problem would be trying to manipulate flow to the colder rooms. That was an issue with my oil furnace before, living room 75, bedroom 65 wife angry because I didn't want the heat on 75 eating massive amounts of oil!!! I love my coal stove and from what I've read the Harmon sf 250 is one of the better stoves. I've thought about just buying a coal forced air furnace but the good ones are really expensive and I'm just not sold on the hotblast stoves tractor supply has. I also saw a Harmon sf250 forced air furnace on Craigslist so I'm pretty sure it can be done. I guess I'll get the sheet metal and get after it.

If I was going to do what you say I would have the cold air return in the bedroom under a window and pan in a couple of floor joists for a duct going to the furnace. Make plenum and supply duct large think a 2 foot tall plenum with 6 or 8 inches clearance on sides and flush front and back or at least so no flue gases can mix with room air. Personally I would try gravity circulation before adding a fan as dead quiet and works with or without electricity. The plan is to pull cold air from the bedroom so the heated air heads in that direction with no help. Gravity also ends the pn and off feeling and ends any noise or increase in power bill.

You are trying to turn a stove into a furnace. In my opinion, unless you are a skilled fabricator and have lots of time and money to spend on this project, you should just sell the stove and buy a furnace.

Here is a Harman SF2500 for sale. $3500 is kind of high in my opinion. You can usually find them for under $2000.
https://altoona.craigslist.org/grd/d/berlin-harma ... 28727.html

The factory jacketing and blower are not the only advantages. The furnace is also taller and has a lot more surface area to scrub heat from. It is designed to plumb into a central heating system, not just heat a space.

-Don

Keep your eyes open for any deals...thet're out there, as was indicated by Don S above...

Thanks guys I have been watching for deals!! Just like was said $3500 is pretty high. I think for this year I'll just keep using it the way I have it set up. The wife can have her heat blanket and I won't sweat to death while trying to sleep. 5 ton of coal last year was way cheaper than fuel oil was the year before and for most of the house its way warmer as well

I’ve only read the first post. Need to go back and read replies, but...

...I’d like to see a coal unit like this in a down draft unit...like for homes with crawl spaces that may have a slab addition onto the house. I’ve not heard of a single coal fired down draft unit...where the hot air is sucked down through a hole in the floor of a slab home and blown through duct work in the crawl space. Then there’s unit clearances to worry about...the unit would need to fit into a small closet type space like my oil burner.

Yep, Don, you’re speaking my language with a coal fired furnace, but I’d need a down draft model like my ThermoPride oil burner. I’m not sure even those oil burners are that common.