Combustioneer questions

I lack a basement, otherwise I'd tie one into my central unit. I'm far enough south that an expensive boiler system is hard to justify. I already have gravity wagons and augers (4 & 6 inch) so stoker coal is the obvious choice for ease of handling. So a couple of questions regarding combustioneer:

I realize the front can be blocked so all heat comes out the top. Can the top be blocked and push all the heat out the side?

Can they be used with a power vent?

Could one be used in the same manner as the Little House wood furnace? http://www.outsidewoodheater.com/index.html
IE one large supply in one end of the house and a return in the far end. Would I roast out of the room the supply dumps into?

Thanks for your input.

you could definitely block the top instead of the front. I have found they don't work extremely well as they were designed (for space heating) short-cycling, high exhaust temps and vast temp overshoots (firebox coke reignition) are common. As an add-on central furnace they are excellent, especially when coupled with a heat reclaimer. They really need a big squirrel-cage fan and the smallest pulley on the motor is still a bit big for the ideal feed rate (too much coal feed). I really do not recommend powerventing them - not only will you eventually soot up the side of your house, the egt's are VERY high and with a potentially large amount of coals burning in the firebox it could be dangerous should the powervent fail or you lose power.

I think dumping heat into one room will still leave you with many of the same problems of temp overshoots (a thermostat with an adjustable anticipator goes a long way here) not to mention the fact that you will heat yourself out of that room on a regular basis while the rest of the house will be cool.

It's really too bad you don't have a basement, You would really love heating with it as an add-on furnace.