# usstove hotblast furnace



## woodfarmer (Oct 26, 2007)

does anyone have one, how long have you used it? etc


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## NORTHERN NYer (Oct 28, 2007)

I have a Clayton hotblast made by US Stove Co. I probably wont be of much help to you though,I bought it in the spring when there was an end of season sale and I just put it in this fall. I have used it only a couple of times. I am using it as a stand alone furnace in my cellar, I have a toyostove monitor upstairs we use when the wood heat is too much. Like I said I cant tell you much about it as far as burn times, wood use etc. I would be glad to help you where I can.


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## EastwoodGang4 (Oct 28, 2007)

*USStove*

I have one model 1557M. Is this the one you'd like to know about? It says hotblast on the door, so i assume it's the same one. I've only used mine for 3 seasons, but has been trouble free. We have a 1500 sq ft house and it's more than enough to heat our house. In fact it's too big for our house. It will cook us right out of here unless the temps fall below 20 F*. Overall im happy with the unit. If there's anything else you'd like to know just ask i'll be happy to tell you what I know.


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## YCSTEVE (Oct 29, 2007)

*Hot Blast Model 1400*

I've been using a Hot Blast Model 1400 going on 3 years now. I heat a 2 1/2 story, 2700 sq ft, 107 year old Victorian house. The house has 10ft ceilings and over 45 windows in it that are original. This house is cold with out wood heat. I lined the old brick chimney with a stainless steel liner and connected the stove to my existing duct work in the basement. The stove was about $1000 at Orscheln's. I would say the stove works good for a $1000 stove. It does use alot of wood as expected. To keep the house good and warm November through February I could burn 10 cord / 20 rik. I really need a little bigger stove for this house. When it gets below 15 degrees and if there is any wind than its hard for the stove to keep up. Last winter when the temperature got down to Zero my wood furnace was running with Osage Orange in it and both the upstairs gas furnace and downstairs gas furnace was running at the same time.

Bottom line is we went from keeping the thermostat at 60 degrees and freezing with a $450 gas bill to keeping the house at 75 degrees with a $80 gas bill. That's with a gas dryer and two gas water heaters.

I hope this was helpful.


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## EastwoodGang4 (Oct 29, 2007)

*wood consumption*

Steve, my stove also uses alot of wood. I easily went thru 10 cords last year as well. Seems like a lot, but given what the stove does I guess it could be worse. I don't complain too much because of the gas savings. sounds like your stove gets quite a workout trying to heat that old house of yours. Does your stove burn coal too? The 1557 says it can take 80 lb of coal or some such ammount. I've considered mixing a lump of coal or two when the temps fall real low.


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## blunt (Oct 29, 2007)

YCSTEVE said:


> I've been using a Hot Blast Model 1400 going on 3 years now. I heat a 2 1/2 story, 2700 sq ft, 107 year old Victorian house. The house has 10ft ceilings and over 45 windows in it that are original. This house is cold with out wood heat. I lined the old brick chimney with a stainless steel liner and connected the stove to my existing duct work in the basement. The stove was about $1000 at Orscheln's. I would say the stove works good for a $1000 stove. It does use alot of wood as expected. To keep the house good and warm November through February I could burn 10 cord / 20 rik. I really need a little bigger stove for this house. When it gets below 15 degrees and if there is any wind than its hard for the stove to keep up. Last winter when the temperature got down to Zero my wood furnace was running with Osage Orange in it and both the upstairs gas furnace and downstairs gas furnace was running at the same time.
> 
> Bottom line is we went from keeping the thermostat at 60 degrees and freezing with a $450 gas bill to keeping the house at 75 degrees with a $80 gas bill. That's with a gas dryer and two gas water heaters.
> 
> I hope this was helpful.




bbbbrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr ... you guys certainly get cold over there  Quite a different world that I'm pretty ignorant too. 10 cords in 3 months ... now thats stacking - stoking fun


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## YCSTEVE (Oct 30, 2007)

*Hot Blast*

The Hot Blast 1400 that I have is a wood only stove. I think the 1500 models have the shaker grate in the bottom that makes it easier to burn coal. I've read other threads on ArboristSite about burning coal and they say it will spoil you. I guess it burns hot and for a long time. 

The Hot Blast 1400 is rated at 114,000 btu. One day I may put my model 1400 in my shop and replace the house furnace with something closer to 150,000btu. Hot Blast has a model 1950 EPA which is rated at 140,000 btu and is supposed to burn 40% less wood. From what I've read a stove with a secondary burn chamber is worth the money. 

My total cost of lining my chimney and purchasing the furnace and having it professionally installed (for insurance reasons) came to $3600. This is my 3rd year burning this stove. It should pay for its self and then some this year. 

I'm fortunate because I live in a rural area and have all the wood I can cut. My inlaws have 80 acres 8 miles from my house where I have my wood lot. I cut wood there and on the a joining 160 acres. The lady that owns the 160 acres of timber was having to buy firewood from a local guy paying $50 a rik. She said I could cut all the firewood wood I wanted if I brought her in some. She now has all the firewood she can burn delivered to he front door, split and stacked by me. 

Today my father-in-law is cleaning out an old hog shed that has a cement floor so I don't have to use old tarps and plastic sheeting to keep the wood dry. It would be tough to keep up with this stove without a good source of wood.


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## YCSTEVE (Oct 30, 2007)

*Burning Coal*

EastwoodGang4, Do you have a place to buy coal? I don't know how expensive the stuff is in comparison to natural gas, fuel oil or purchased firewood. Last year I started burning my stove early in the year. I ran out of seasoned firewood in late February. It would be nice to have the ability to switch to a cheap fuel if it was available.


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## NORTHERN NYer (Oct 30, 2007)

I have the model 1537G, I believe it is rated for 2500 sq ft. and I have about 1200. It will drive us out of here for sure if the temps arent low enough. I bought it because I got a great deal on it, and I guess I figured if I ever add on to our house like I need to it will still be plenty. I have about 20 face cord ready to be burned this winter.
Blunt- when temps stay at -10 to -20F for weeks at a time it doesnt take long to burn up a cord of wood, and all the work you put in to it is well worth it.


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## EastwoodGang4 (Oct 30, 2007)

*Coal*

No I don't know where to buy coal either. Some block layers at work use it in a metal culvert pipe to heat their sand in the winter time, so I thought I'd ask them for a few lumps to try out and maybe they know where to buy and how much. also i hear you can still find it by the railroad tracks now days. The EPA stove that burns 40% less wood interets me.. do you have any more info on that one? These wood hogs are good heat, but a lot of work. ahhh who am I kidding it IS worth it.


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## laynes69 (Oct 30, 2007)

I started burning mid september last year with my Hotblast 1500 and ended around march. I believe I burned about 5 1/2 cords of wood to heat our home. 2400 square foot victorian, 10 foot ceilings, 150 years old. The difference in ours is I ran mine in series with the propane furnace. It kept our home at 70 when it had stayed around 20 below for a few days. Ours smokes very little, but its all on how you load and how much air you put in it. We have the forced draft, but I don't use the thermostat unless its going to be extremely cold out. By having the back plug open with the forced draft fan, it allows for secondary air to enter from the back. I like to rake all my coals to the very back of the firebox, and load about 5 logs in it for the night. The coals ignite the wood in the back and it burns like a cigar. It will burn hotter than hell all night, and basically just burn up the smoke. Ours is 20 years old, and I just rebuilt the interior of it a year ago. They arent bad units, but the crapsmanship sucks on them. Few tack welds. Overall they will produce a hell of alot of heat. I average 8 to 10 hour burn times at night. Those also are clean burns, the only time I get smoke is when I reload. I burn less than a cord of wood each month, and it burns 24-7. I will also tell you they are not made to burn anthracite coal in them. Just doesn't work, they are made for soft coal, but of course it will produce some clinkers. We used to have ours installed in paraelle and it couldn't keep the house over 68 to 70. We now average 76 most of the winter.


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## YCSTEVE (Oct 31, 2007)

*Hot Blast*

EastwoodGang4, you can get more info on the Model 1950 at usstove.com. It's expensive but the efficiency would make up for the cost in time.

laynes69, it sounds like you have your stove figured out. I don't have the forced draft on mine. I just have the manual spin draft on the ash pan door. I don't have a damper in the flue pipe either. Once the firebox gets to a certain temperature it just kicks the fans on. I don't know that I need a thermostat for the wood furnace. My wife is cold blooded so she would have it running wide open from November thru February anyway. I don't know if mine is ran in series or parallel. I have one heat duct coming off the wood furnace into the plenum of the gas furnace and one going right into the existing duct work. The reason they both don't go into the plenum is because one of them vents right into open stair well this helps heat the up stairs. 

I don't necessarily like the way this is ran but thats the way the installers did it. I would like to run both wood furnace heating ducts into the 
gas furnace plenum and have the gas furnace squirrel fan kick on to help circulate. That's a project I need to get done. 

Have you had your stove for 20 years? I wasn't sure how long one would last before it burned out.


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## YCSTEVE (Oct 31, 2007)

*Hot Blast Parellel & Series*

Okay, I'm starting to catch up here. I just cheated and read the manual. Its amazing what you can learn if yor stop and read something:bang: 

I think my furnace at this time is ran in series. It runs buy itself with no theromstats (except on firebox) and uses only the blowers on the back of the wood furnace. It also has no forced draft. Just the spin draft on the ash pan door. 

According to the manual when you run it parallel your wood furnace blowers kick on and your gas furnace squirrel fan helps circulate the heat. If you have the forced draft kit this will also kick on helping you raise the temperature. This sounds like you would get a more efficient burn and the draft would shut off when it is not needed. 

laynes69, did I read your post right. You get more heat with it ran in series with forced draft as opposed to parallel. If so I will leave my stove the way it is and just buy the forced draft kit and try that first.


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## laynes69 (Oct 31, 2007)

I have 1 blower on my wood furnace and its from the main propane furnace. Your is installed in paraelle not series. When my limit control on the wood furnace hits 140 the propane blower kicks on. All of the air goes through the main furnace into the wood furnace. The thing about series is you use your cold air system, and distribute the heat through the main heat trunk. Instead of heating 60 degree air from a basement, you are heating 70 degree air from the main living space. I don't use forced draft often, only if it gets below zero out. Ours has been in operation for 21 years straight. We have burned coal and wood in it. Like I said, I had to rebuild some of it last year, but it has held up well. With the firebrick it helps keep the firebox from burning out.


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## YCSTEVE (Oct 31, 2007)

*Paraellel & Series*

Thanks for the info. My wood furnace has a return air drawing warm air from the main living area. When it leaves my Hot Blast it by passes the gas furnace and distributes heat in two places. It connects to the main trunk of the duct work and the plenum. It only uses the plenum as an entry point it gets no assistance from the main gas furnace blower. It dosen't circulate as well as I would like it to. I would like for the gas furnace blower to help circulate the air.


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## YCSTEVE (Oct 31, 2007)

*Hot Blast*

I looked when I got home hoping I could just run the hot air from my woodstove thru the cold air of the gas furnace. Both manuals say that the hot air from the wood stove would damage the circuit board in the gas furnace. I looked at what it would take to run the gas thru the wood and it would be quite a job getting the duct work to match up. I will have to scratch my head on that one for a while. 

Thanks for the advice on the forced draft and the pushing the coals to the back and burning the wood like a cigar. I will try that first chance I get. Hopefully it will cut down on wood consumption.


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## EastwoodGang4 (Oct 31, 2007)

*good idea*

laynes69 That's a really good idea about using your regualr furnace fan to push the air thru your wood furnace! Your theory on heating the already heated air from the house and not the cooler basement air is exactly right. I seem to remember another post from a year ago where you posted some pics of your setup and duct plumbing. do you still have those pics? What happens if your propane furnace kicks on? does it just blow the propane heated air thru the wood furnace shroud and into the house? 

I was on the same boat as ycsteve for the air circulation. My mickey mouse solution was to add an old furnace plenum thermostat to the main plenum of the gas furnace. when the wood furnace heats the air in the ducts to a preset temp it's wired to kick the gas furnace fan on low to push more air. then when enough cool air has circulated thru the ducts it shuts down the main fans for a while until the wood fans heats everything up again. this way the main fans don't run constantly. If I do it right I can raise the temp from 68 to 75 in a hurry. 

I do think that laynes69 has the best idea though


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## matt701 (Jan 12, 2008)

I also have the 1557M and use it to heat 3700 sq feet. This is my second winter of owning it and finally have it set up how I want it. I first tried hooking it to my main ductwork which has a trunk about 50ft long and 18 vents. No air actually made it upstairs from the 2 little blowers. Until last week, I had it hooked to the return air duct of the main furnace because I have a lot less return air vents, but this pretty much only heated the middle of my house and would overheat this area..while the bedrooms and bathrooms stayed cold, but I was finally getting the heat upstairs. I didn't want to hook it to my furnace because I want to be able to just move it out of the way in the summer so I bought a 1/3hp 1200 cfm blower on ebay. I cut out the side, took out the 2 old blowers and hooked the 2 8" ducts up to my main plenum and it works as well or better than my main furnace. It doesn't backflow through the main furnace either, which I was worried about. I had to take out the thermodisc fan control because they only sell them with a 20 degree differential in setpoints (that I could find). I bought an adjustable fan control on ebay and have it set to 150 on and 90 off and get decent run times. Instead of having extremely cold and hot now, I have even room temperatures and can control it just by how much wood I put into the furnace because I can't raise the temp fast anymore because it's heating the entire house now. A good fan control that I found is the white rodgers 5D51-35. ALso, I dont use return air ducts because the furnace sits by an open door that goes upstairs. I might install that in the future. Here are some pics


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## Tesen (Jan 21, 2008)

woodfarmer said:


> does anyone have one, how long have you used it? etc



I use a 1537 Hotblast and it works okay; I am not 100% happy (mostly 80%) with how well you can choke it down (leaks badly from the load door damper) but other than that it keeps us nice and cozy.

My inlaws have a clayton (1500?) and to be honest I like the hotblast better; the shaker is easier to use in the hotblast (my wife can use it ) where as the clayton requires some uhhh work. The downside is, the Hotblast does not support (with out creating a custom rig) heating coils to heat water.

Tes


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## Hedge (Jan 21, 2008)

I have a 1557m and it is a good solid unit. I am sure that there is better stoves but for the money I can't see how I could go to wrong. I have less than a 1000.00 in it and I laid the brick in the chimney myself so I have about 2500-3000 in a new setup and it keeps the house 75-80 almost all winter. I have a 2yr old high efficiency propane funace that only runs when the stove burns down and we are gone or when it gets to those early spring or late fall days when the temps just fight a good fire in a wood stove. I like mine and here is shot of how I set mine up..

<a href="http://s167.photobucket.com/albums/u133/Cooldeere/?action=view&current=WoodStove-2.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u133/Cooldeere/WoodStove-2.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

It taps in on top of the reg furnace and there is a deflector inside of the plenum to turn the air up. I do at times use the funace to push air but most of the time the wood stove does fine on it's own.


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## Tesen (Jan 21, 2008)

Nice setup Hedge, close to what I have (digital camera is charging atm). It isn't a bad stove for the price I agree, just don't like the front damper.

We had some back draft issues the first year we installed it; there were a lot of weather inversions in the area and my house is very old and suffers from the stack effect. We were burning mostly cheap (read: free) coal at the time and the stove was not doing so well. I decided to purchase an exhausto exhaust fan for the top of the tripple wall flue for it and it works well. Only when we have severe weather do we use the exhaust fan or when we start it dead cold (i.e. when we've been away).

We also have the draft inducer fan installed as well (works semi okay, we hardly use it though, since once we have the stove all lit and hot, we choke it down and it does extremely well at maintaining a nice temp).

This years project (apart from a new kid  getting more wood etc) is going to be a) Install some kind of sensor (pressure sensor? Air flow?) so if whatever we're measuring drops below a certain point, the exhaust fan will kick on and b) purchase the rest of the 12V deep cycle batteries and generator. The plan is, if we're sleeping, we are away that if the juice goes off the blowers, exhaust fan and draft fan will automatically kick over to an emergency backup. This means a) We stay warm, b) if something happens to cause a major negative pressure in the house we won't wake up dead (that'd suck ). I'd fit an alarm to it as well, to inform us of such a condition so we can check on things.

We're in the city my wife calls me paranoid - but I hate being without juice during the winter  And as for backdrafting, again I'd hate to wake up dead ;-)

Tes


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## matt701 (Jan 21, 2008)

I completely agree about the air leak issue with the hotblast. I tightened up the door and keep the damper in the door closed all the time and only use the ash damper when burning. The ash damper is not usually opened over 1/2 turn and I am very surprised that I can shut everything completely down and still keep a pretty hot fire going all night. I have the packed double wall pipe which helps with the draft, but it would be nice to be able to shut it down completely if I needed to in a hurry.


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## Tesen (Jan 22, 2008)

matt701 said:


> I completely agree about the air leak issue with the hotblast. I tightened up the door and keep the damper in the door closed all the time and only use the ash damper when burning. The ash damper is not usually opened over 1/2 turn and I am very surprised that I can shut everything completely down and still keep a pretty hot fire going all night. I have the packed double wall pipe which helps with the draft, but it would be nice to be able to shut it down completely if I needed to in a hurry.



I've talked to US Stove a couple times about the feed door damper and they have no plans to create a replacement with a different style damper (unfortunately).

Have you had to replace any gaskets yet? Mine are still in good shape (can't say much for the shaker handle, I am on my 3rd atm ) and I was expecting to have needed to replace them by now.

Tes


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## Festus Haggen (Jan 22, 2008)

I looked at the 1557 really hard before I bought the 1600. The door construction and the draft arrangement, plus the ridiculously cheesy blower and ducting really put me off the 1557. Also looked at the wood only model, think it's the 1400? Been very happy with the 1600, more than enough heat, and a monstrous firebox, I sometimes get 14+ hour burns, not smoldering, either. 

It is 100% of my heat, no furnace hooked in at all. I have one fire damper in the return and two in the supply, above set temp they pop and the spring closes off the duct to prevent fire/smoke spread. They were pretty cheap at my local HVAC supply house. I also added a Desert Spring humidifier on the return, makes a huge difference in the house, and never have to fill it! 

Next furnace I buy will be a Caddy EPA-approved. Not much more than the one I have, but burning less wood is always a good thing. I use 10-12 cords per year, so even a 20% increase reduces my workload alot.

I've burned coal a couple times in mine, I just don't like dealing with the large amount of ash/cinders that coal produces. Used to burn nothing but coal, but wouldn't go back now, especially with "free" wood.


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## Kansas (Jan 22, 2008)

woodfarmer said:


> does anyone have one, how long have you used it? etc



Yes I have one and I've had it 3 heating seasons as of now, with no problems whatsoever it works great heating my 3500 sq ft well insulated auto repair shop. It paid for its self after 2 months (I gave $750 for it on sale) and has continued to pay off. I just bought a new 346xp with a small part of what I saved so far this year yahoo! FWIW I am thinking about getting one for the house for next year because corn and wood pellets went up so high this year I think I will be ahead not using the corn heater as much but who knows what next year will bring if I do??? HTH btw mine is a 1400 wood only unit.


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## Madspeed (Nov 20, 2008)

any pics of these installs? Can these be set in an attached garage then ducted to the main house ducts?


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## Kansas (Nov 20, 2008)

Madspeed said:


> any pics of these installs? Can these be set in an attached garage then ducted to the main house ducts?



You could yes, they have an optional box that covers the fan so as it can be ducted too for return air it should be very simple to do depending on your hvac unit.

Kansas


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## southbound (Nov 20, 2008)

Ok don't laugh!!!!!

My 1557
It runs us out of the house..


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## Madspeed (Nov 20, 2008)

with the windows open too!!


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## whiting-5 (Nov 20, 2008)

heres how my us stove is set up its an 1800 series please excuse the mess it was a hurry up and get going for this winter so we didnt freeze it will be going in its own little shed this spring!!! as you can see in the pictures i have 18" return air duct running from inside of house to unit my discharge is also 18" duct that drops down to 12" at the end of the 60 foot run i was a little weak at the end so i did add a 12" pusher fan in the duct it really helped. this is our only heat source in 3200 sq. feet house i can keep it between 70 - 75 no problem can get it up to 80 - 85 if i throw the hickory and the air to it. i was at the us stove outlet store this morning there buried in orders said one of the best years they have had. looked at the hot blast quickly looks like nice unit


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## fontainr (Apr 8, 2009)

*looking to buy a us hotblast 1557 furnace*

After reading the manual for the hotblast 1557 furnace, it doens't seem to run off a thermostat, but a thermodisc. I'm a bit confused about this, is this what controls the blowers? If so I'm assuming it is attached to the plenum to monitor it temp and keep it from getting to hot. Is there any way to add a thermostat, or do I just adjust the dampers to get more or less heat?


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## CrappieKeith (Apr 8, 2009)

Blowers to distribute heat through ducting are normally controled by a fan and limit switches.
Honeywell makes a full line of controls that would mount into the plenum.
Part of the fan & limit is that the limit side of the control will kill the power to what is making heat and send the blower to run non stop if a over heat situation occurs. It's a safety thing.


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## CrappieKeith (Apr 8, 2009)

whiting-5 said:


> heres how my us stove is set up its an 1800 series please excuse the mess it was a hurry up and get going for this winter so we didnt freeze it will be going in its own little shed this spring!!! as you can see in the pictures i have 18" return air duct running from inside of house to unit my discharge is also 18" duct that drops down to 12" at the end of the 60 foot run i was a little weak at the end so i did add a 12" pusher fan in the duct it really helped. this is our only heat source in 3200 sq. feet house i can keep it between 70 - 75 no problem can get it up to 80 - 85 if i throw the hickory and the air to it. i was at the us stove outlet store this morning there buried in orders said one of the best years they have had. looked at the hot blast quickly looks like nice unit



I'm normally not going to be too picky about a guys install ,but dude!!!
In pic#2 that plywood on top of your furnace could ignite.
It's so against heating code.
You have to have 18" of clearence to combustible surfaces.
All it takes is for the wood to get to 500 degree and it will start on fire.
Please save your home and remove it. Replace with a piece of sheetmetal instead if it needs to be there.
Please know I'm trying to save your home and possibly your life!!!!


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## sbhooper (Apr 9, 2009)

I was going to post pics of my furnace, but I think the files are too big. Is there a way to save them to the album here and get them reduced so they fit the guidelines? This is my first attempt at the pics on this forum.
Thanks.

Just found my answer!


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## sbhooper (Apr 9, 2009)

Here is a trial run on pics of the furnace using photobucket. It is attached to the main ducts of the house. It does not reach all corners of the house real well, but it warms our living area real well. For quick warm ups we turn on the fan on our furnace which really helps move the air. It will raise the temp by a couple degrees within a few minutes. 
Hope this works.


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## laynes69 (Apr 9, 2009)

Seperate those ducts and you'll see a difference.


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## sbhooper (Apr 9, 2009)

I intend to do that. I got it done just to get it in service last fall, but I think that is going to be the next project with it. I just have to decide where to route the second one.

Layne, the duct is an 8" duct. Do you really think that there would be enough of an increase in airflow to warrant the extra duct? I really don't know and do appreciate the feedback.


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## fontainr (Apr 10, 2009)

You mentioned you connected the 2 ducts to your main duct work in your house, I'm looking to do the same, but wasn't sure if blowing air back into my duct work would cause any problems with my primary gas furnace. Any thoughts ?


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## sbhooper (Apr 10, 2009)

There has been no issue with that at all with my setup. If I am concerned, I can shut the duct off completely where it comes out of my gas furnace. However, it does not seem to affect anything. 

I was concerned about the flow back into my wood furnace if the other one turned on and so I originally put one-way flappers in the duct work coming off the stove. That was a mistake. They impeded the airflow and got very hot. I would never recommend that. 

My wood furnace is a long way from my gas furnace, so the blow back is diminished greatly by the distance. It could possibly be more of an issue if the wood furnace is added onto your gas furnace.


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## LANNY (Apr 10, 2009)

Do not buy the draft kit for your hotblast. It will EAT wood and the fans cool off the limit switch Crappie Keith was talking about. Then it cycles on and off , on and off. Disconnected mine , uses a lot less wood and heats the house better...Lanny


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## flotek (Apr 10, 2009)

ideally you want a natural draft intake but with a servo by use of a chain that opens and closes it as the need arises ,this is all controled by a thermostat nearby ,having a forced induced draft keeps things hot but ultimately burns through alot more wood .


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## howellhandmade (Apr 11, 2009)

I'm getting interested in these setups. I remember a post a while back by somebody who complained of dust/soot all over everything in the house after installing a wood furnace. I couldn't see how that could happen, I'd hope that the heating air is kept separate from the combustion air. Anyone have problems like that with the Hotblast?

Jack


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## reaperman (Apr 11, 2009)

howellhandmade said:


> I'm getting interested in these setups. I remember a post a while back by somebody who complained of dust/soot all over everything in the house after installing a wood furnace. I couldn't see how that could happen, I'd hope that the heating air is kept separate from the combustion air. Anyone have problems like that with the Hotblast?
> 
> Jack



I dont have a hotblast but another brand of furnace. They do have "furnace filter" like a normal furnace does to control dust from being blown throughout the house. Simply, replace the filter as needed and no troubles.


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## sbhooper (Apr 11, 2009)

I don't notice additional dust of any consequence in the living area. Downstairs with the furnace there seems to be a bit more, but so what? Well worth it unless you are allergic to the dust and then you should not have it anyway.


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## matt701 (Apr 11, 2009)

I put a larger furnace filter inline and have changed it 3 times this season. With the old setup, I was constantly having dust getting sucked into the blowers and pushed upstairs, but this year we have yet to have to dust our house.


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## woodfarmer (Dec 6, 2009)

well, i still havn't bought one yet, TSC has them on sale for $1300, $300 off, for the 1400


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## Tesen (Dec 6, 2009)

woodfarmer said:


> well, i still havn't bought one yet, TSC has them on sale for $1300, $300 off, for the 1400



Just a note, the 1400 I believe is wood only. So if you intend to ever burn coal, it is not rated for it. May not matter to you, but I like to throw some coal in the deep cold of Jan/Feb.

Tes


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## Junkfxr (Dec 6, 2009)

We've had the Hotblast 1500 in since November 1996. Came from Central Tractor when they were still around. It's plumbed into the main duct header about midways through the house and we very seldom have to use the blowers at all, they usually stay unplugged and the heat just thermosiphons up through the ductwork. It took a year or two to figure out how to burn it and we finally ended up not using the bi-metal thermostat for the door damper and just use the spin damper in the ash door. No problem at all to keep the house at 80 degrees and can get 14 hour burn times easily with hickory, oak and locust. Our hose is 1200 square ft. on two levels (2500 total). I have had to replace the grates one time, they didn't burn out, just warped and sagged so bad that you could't get the ash pan out, and had to replace the rear liner once. I was slamming wood into the back a little too hard and broke it. It's our main source of heat with a heat pump that comes on if we're away for a long time. Been one of the best investments that we've ever made.


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## ziggo_2 (Dec 7, 2009)

sbhooper said:


> Here is a trial run on pics of the furnace using photobucket. It is attached to the main ducts of the house. It does not reach all corners of the house real well, but it warms our living area real well. For quick warm ups we turn on the fan on our furnace which really helps move the air. It will raise the temp by a couple degrees within a few minutes.
> Hope this works.



YAY!!! 

I thought I was the only one one the site with the norseman. 

Yes seperate the ducts, I think two 8in ducts are too restrictive, I couldnt imagine having basically only one.


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## johnnylabguy (Dec 7, 2009)

*He's right. You cannot go two into one.*



ziggo_2 said:


> YAY!!!
> 
> I thought I was the only one one the site with the norseman.
> 
> Yes seperate the ducts, I think two 8in ducts are too restrictive, I couldnt imagine having basically only one.



With your heat ducts. Its a common mistake that I almost made back when I started. You always want to keep the airflow opening wider. 

The hot blasts are a good unit if you're on the fence and just getting back into it or in it the first time. From my experience I'd like to tell you to spend a little more to get a more efficient and quality unit the first time but I understand if your looking at the budget.

I still burn a Hotblast too but if I knew how much fun it was to cut the wood (with my chainsaw addiction as a bonus), feed a nice warm house roaring fire, and feel good about not paying a heating bill too I'd definately tell you to spend a little more to get either a duel fuel and/or a nice epa tight unit that costs a little more. You'll thank yourself later. Anyone in the market for a 3 year old Hotblast? It does work great if you like the above activities!!


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## johnnylabguy (Dec 7, 2009)

Oh, and plus 100 to Keith's comment about the plywood. NOOOO!


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## 7hpjim (Jan 2, 2010)

*coal*



EastwoodGang4 said:


> No I don't know where to buy coal either. Some block layers at work use it in a metal culvert pipe to heat their sand in the winter time, so I thought I'd ask them for a few lumps to try out and maybe they know where to buy and how much. also i hear you can still find it by the railroad tracks now days. The EPA stove that burns 40% less wood interets me.. do you have any more info on that one? These wood hogs are good heat, but a lot of work. ahhh who am I kidding it IS worth it.



Central fuel in Nwe Philadelphia Ohio, 330-339-5049, got loose stoker size last year at $95 per ton.


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