New Stove: SF-250 Vs Hitzer, Etc

Hi everybody... I'm completely new to this forum stuff so please bear with me. We remodeled and replaced our ancient oil furmace with a high-eff. heat pump. I've been using a 14yr old Osburne wood stove to help heat the first and to a lesser exent, second floor of our house, but the kids' bedroom gets cold, especially on those single digit nights. I grew up with my dad running an old Surdiac in the basement, but I remember him complaining about having to use electric baseboard because the heat never made it all the way upstairs. Fast forward 20yrs and now I'm looking to add a freestanding coal stove to our basement in hopes of better and more even heating, but I don't know the best route to take.

We only have about 2000 sq feet over three floors (including the basement) and right now the basement is unheated (but completely underground) and the bedrooms are on the nippy side. I like the idea of a Harman SF-250 in the basement and using the heat collector to pipe into the supply side of my heat pump duct work, but I don't know if the blower would be strong enough to efficiently move it to the upper floors, or if I would have to constantly run the heat pump fan to help circulation. Plus, I don't know if that stove would heat us out of the house. Would a freestanding Hitzer or Reading stove with lower BTU output be a better choice and just cut holes in first and second floors to allow the heat to rise? My dad never cut holes when we were younger, but I don't even know if that would've helped. With either set-up, I already have a clay-lined masonary chimney with a 6" collar left from the oil furnace ready to use for exhaust.

Any help would appreciated. Thanks!

If you are piping it into your furnace, I would get a furnace type stove that can easier be hooked to your duct work, either using the built in blower or the furnace blower. Keystoker, Alaska and a few other make more of a Furnance type Coal Stoker than a stand alone Stove.

I second the kind moderator's opinion. I trialed my SF250 into the return duct. There was not enough fan cfm's to move 25'.

The Sf-250 heats our 2000++ sq.ft. farm house very well, but the stove is on the first floor. The 135cu. ft./ min fan may blow out a candle at five feet, but this is not the best setup for your application.

Also the ash pan is too small for the shaker and the ash door is too small for a larger pan.

We have to clean the overflow ash at least once a day... This Stove is well made but very DUSTY!

Hope this helps.

R.S.

I too go along with the moderator. You need a BIG volume of heat, along with big volume of air, in order to push it thoughout your existing duct work to other floors. Should you try to pipe heat from a free standing stove, the heat duct/pipe should go directly from the stove to the register. For best results in this situation, the fan should be pulling the air out the register. Although pushing the air works, it also cools the same air. Should the stove be in the living quarters, the fan can be on low, with good results.

New to forum and new to burning coal.I recently installed Hitzer 82 Fa furnace in a 3000 sq. ft. home. This model Hitzer heats the house with no problem and seems to be very easy to mantain. The blower is very powerful and has different settings the draw back is the blower box is big. I installed this in my sister's house who has never even burned wood ect. she caught on very easily.Myself and three other family members have hand fired Hitzer stoves and it has been trial and error.

Look at the hitzer 82, the FA model is probably just for you. A big freestanding stove with a furnace box around it, then you suck the heat off with a fan and have it go into your existing duct work. Using a radiant stove with a heat collector cabinet, then ducting it to where you want it seems to be the method you need. Using a stove with a built in blowing isn't going to work over 3 stories. I have a house that is 2 stories plus basement and about 800 s.f. per floor. I use the hitzer 82 u.l. and built my own heat collector around it, then put a 8" duct on the top, and ran it to a register on the first floor, I pull the air off of the stove with a 500 cfm fan in the duct. Then it heats that floor and the 2nd story. You then have to replace the air you pull with cold air returns to the basement.

This is my first year burning coal, and I have no problems keeping a fire going and heating the house. I'm sure i'm not pushing it near its capabilities. Its a pretty easy to use stove.

Hi. Take a look at the Harman sf-1500 or 2500. These are the their hot air furnaces designed to work with ducting. I recall they were much less than the boiler I bought from them.