Clayton 1600m burn times?

[apollo]

Great site!! Been around here for while but never posted.
Was wondering if anyone on here has one of these furnaces and what kind of burn times your getting?
I can't get more than 8hrs. to save my life! We've been burning 4 weeks now and i've already went thru a little over 2 cords of wood! At this rate all i'm going to get done doing is cuttin and splittin wood!!! Any suggestion are welcome.

 

[laynes69]

I'm not familiar with your model, but I do know you will go through more wood until you get the hang on things starting out. I know for me, I will load on a good coal bed, run open for maybe 15 to 20 minutes, then damper down. 8 hour burn sounds fair, but 2 cords aint. Are you reloading it full each time? I know I can load a few pieces every 4 hours and still get nice heat from my unit. Plus what kind of wood are you burning?

 

[apollo]

I don't burn any coal. I know what u mean by getting used to it, but i've been burning wood for 6-7 yrs now and have a US Stove that heats my shop. That stove will burn 10-12hrs. on green wood!!! The wood i'm burning in the clayton is seasoned 2yrs. the last year being covered.
I've tried everything possible that i know of , even tried putting in an pipe dampner, that didn't work!
If i watch the Rutland temp gauge and if i keep it between 300-350 it won't last more than 4hrs. If i shut down further it lasts a little longer but falls in the creosote range. If i shut it down completly it will last 8hrs. but creates so much creosote i have to clean the pipe every two weeks!
By the way it's located in my garage with single wall black pipe to the ceiling with 3 sections of double wall insulated the rest of the way about 2ft above ridge line of roof.
Oh all wood is wild cherry, ash, oak and maple. And yes i'm loading it full every time unless it's 40 or above outside.

 

[laynes69]

I don't know what to say. We burn a few pieces every few hours. My 1500, I can load it at night, and produce 400 all night long. I would check the gaskets in the furnace. Other than that, I don't know. Dont those have a bypass damper in the secondary chamber?

 

[apollo]

Gaskets are all good. Yes it has that by-pass dampner in the secondary chamber. I know most here won't agree but i think them by-pass dampners are pretty much worthless. JMPO

 

[tdb]

Love My Clayton

I have a Clayton , been in service over 20 years, depending on the wood and weather I can get 10 hours or more burn time , yes I do shut the damper and air flow down I do have to clean the pipe and chimney more , I have never changed a gasket on it , so far I have burnt about cord of wood , also the only damper on the furnace is the one in the heat exchanger . TEDMI

 

[apollo]

I have the same thing just new. Maybe i should get one them motorized draft inducers?

 

[skid row]

I agree with what tdb posted. I have a jensen wood furnace which is very similar to the clayton 1600. The more these furnaces are throttled down, the longer the burn time, colder stack temp, and a bit more creosote maintenence.

It's just the nature of the best. If you follow the stack temp gauge within the correct stack temps you will have a hot fire but shorter burn time.

I burn 90% well seasoned oak 24/7 unless we get a little heat wave. As far as stack maintenence, once a month I shut it down and clean the chimney cap, stainless outside chimney, and the black single wall inside the house.

 

[ericjeeper]

OK burn times

Lets say the heat lost in your home is 50,000 btus per hour on a cold night. In order to maintain interior temperatures that you are accustomed to. You will have to provide 50k worth of heat to replace what is being lost. They say wood is somewhere around 6500 btus per pound. So basically you are going to need to burn about 8 pounds of wood per hour to put off the heat. Then you have to figure in inefficiency of the wood burner.So might want to go as high as 11-12 pounds an hour.
If you load 100 pounds into the burning device. you might get a 10 hour burn and still stay warm..
If build up of creosote worries you. Every morning or night toss in a big handful of newspaper and get it to rolling up the flue.. That should clean it out on a daily basis.. Do not try this trick on a once a month routine or you might have one heck of a flue fire.

 

[apollo]

Just ordered a motorized draft inducer, we'll see how that works out. It's just goofy how things work. As i stated earlier i have a 1500 US Stove in my shop and it only has a pipe dampner and intake dampner in the ash door and i only ever burn green wood in it and have never had to clean the pipe in 3 yrs. I can shut it down completly and stack temps hover right around 300 and will burn for 10-12hrs no problem. I was under the assumption that newer furnaces are more effecient not to mention that this 1600 will hold WAY more than my 1500!!!

 

[laynes69]

I would hope you have some sort of heating load on the new furnace. If not that inducer will run quite a bit to meet the needs of the thermostat. Hopefully you aren't thinking the inducer will cut wood consumption. It will burn more. Also burning green wood isn't too safe, but if it works for you then great. I run a 1500 and it treats me well.

 

[apollo]

Heating load? Whats that?

 

[dwinch53]

I have a fire chief wood/coal furnace...i usually lite when temp is about 25 degrees out...it takes a while to get the secondary burn going...when it is the stack temp is about 200 to 250 at most but the sec burn takes care of the gasses and the smoke (burns it ) which in return creates less creosote and cleaner chimney..After i get about 6 inches of good hot coals i only throw in a few pieces of hard dry wood and i can get about 5 hrs and a nice house temp...if i filler up then the wife has the windows open and i have to shut er down a bit only to produce creasote...just play with er...i use my inducer to really get er going to help the chimney stay clean and nothing more. does your clayton have a air control in your feed door? and one on the ash door? if so play with these till you find the right seting...outdoor temp, size of home and dryness of wood all play a part...hope this helps..DW

 

[dwinch53]

also try this once a week, it will dry out the creosote and a he-- of a lot eashier to remove...DW http://www.acehardwareoutlet.com/(o1tunzm1tuv51d55xvrlzv55)/ProductDetails.aspx?SKU=49972

 

[laynes69]

Well maybe not a heating load as much as a demand. If the woodfurnace can keep up with the heating demand, then you should be okay with the forced draft. Mine only operates when its 0 or below at night. At 15 out I can keep the house above 74 at night. I have my forced draft set at 68. If the woodfurnace can't keep up with the heating demand for the house at 68, the forced draft will run at 67 and shut off at 69. When its cold out, the forced draft will do its thing (below zero), but the burn times with my fire will go from 7 to 8 hours down to 4 or 5 depending on the temps outside. What i'm saying is if you can get plenty of heat w/o the fan, then thats good. If not and the woodburner has problems heating now, then you will lose your burntimes and burn more wood. Now in return though you could get more heat. I bought the forced draft kit for my 1500 only to find I really didn't need it. But its in and I'll keep it on. I bought a digital thermostat with setback for my forced draft.

 

[reaperman]

Just ordered a motorized draft inducer, we'll see how that works out. It's just goofy how things work. As i stated earlier i have a 1500 US Stove in my shop and it only has a pipe dampner and intake dampner in the ash door and i only ever burn green wood in it and have never had to clean the pipe in 3 yrs. I can shut it down completly and stack temps hover right around 300 and will burn for 10-12hrs no problem. I was under the assumption that newer furnaces are more effecient not to mention that this 1600 will hold WAY more than my 1500!!!

Be careful when using this draft fan, start by keeping the little slider open just a crack and go from there. It can get a fire "way too hot" in short order. I never use the one on my furnace (another firechief), I experimented with it my first year and I just dont need it. My furnace is a hungry little thing also. If I dont damp it way down it will eat a full load of oak in under 3 hours but I can normally stretch it into 4 or 5 if I want. But at the same time it will keep my house 80 degrees at -20 easily. But I give much credit to a well insulated home. I only have to run my furnace either in the evening or in the morning but not both. If I light it in the morning and its out by noon. I wont have to start another fire until the next morning. I normally loose 6 to 8 degrees overnight without adding any heat in the home. The other night when I checked the house temp before bed it was 74, I woke up to 68 the next morning. The outside temp was about 15 degrees overnight. Insulation pays, large windows facing south pay for themselves also, wood floors catching sunlight also radiate daytime heat. Good luck

 

[laynes69]

Yeah thats another thing. If that side is open on that fan, it will introduce even more air into the firebox. They aren't so bad on the 1500, cause the air is over the fire. I know on those its on the fire. Its like a blast oven.

 

[apollo]

Keeping my house at desirerable temp isn't the problem. I like to keep the house at 72-74 which is no problem at all. The problem is at that temp inside i have to choke down to where the stack temp is 150-200 and it creates excessive amounts of creosote. If i keep the stack temps between 300-350 it doesn't create much if any creosote but runs me out of the house to the tune of 85 or better. I've been playing with it now for the better part of 4 weeks and haven't found that sweet spot yet. I'll try to take some pics tomorrow and post them; maybe my set up is completly wrong? Thanks for the help, Mike

 

[laynes69]

Apollo, Whats your square footage? Go ahead post some pics. You may just need to build small fires if thats the case. And go longer inbetween loadings, maybe to the point its almost out.

 

[apollo]

Square footage is approx. 1600. It's a 4 level split. Thats what i have been trying the last 2 days. It just sucks building a fire 2 times a day!