# Englander model 28-3500 wood furnace



## KFC (Nov 29, 2008)

Anybody have the Englander model 28-3500 wood furnace??? 
Seen one at Home Depot and they look like they are built pretty heavy duty. I like the window in the door, not an option on most wood furnaces. I was wondering if they were worth the money.


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## ericjeeper (Nov 29, 2008)

*I helped a friend install one*

Good unit for the price tag. Could use a bit more cfm blower imo. Has a nice ash pan setup. Although I would add a piece of plate steel in the back half of the firebox to keep some of the smaller coals up in the firebox.
I would not own it myself as I prefer something with a controlled draft. This one is totally manual.Set it and hope it keeps up or does not run you out of the house.
But for an automatic draft you will add considerable amount of dollars to the price too.


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## DocDryden (Nov 29, 2008)

*I think they are well worth the money.*

I think they are well worth the money. I bought a used Englander 28-3500 3 years ago and I love it, the only downside to mine is I don’t have a glass window in the door (older model ) when it comes times to replace mine I will buy the same model.


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## LumberjkChamp (Nov 29, 2008)

I've got one. Its going right now. This will be my fourth winter with it. It offers alot of bang for its buck. I like the glass window also because, like advertised, you can check your fire at a glance. I know that much more expensive models offer the option of an automatic draft control but the idea dosen't set well with me because if you guess the weather wrong it could shut the draft on you and end up smoldering, leading to a buildup of creosote.

I heat a 2000 sqft cape cod style house with my furnace and burn about 7-8 cords or wood per heating season which lasts about 7 months or so. Our average Jan. temp is about 11 deg.F (I live at high elevation).

It has served its pupose and never failed me once. Its much better that a stupid oil furnace


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## flotek (Dec 8, 2008)

I have a brand new one and i love it easily heats a 2,000 sq foot house to 85-90 degrees no problem ...a sturdy well made well thought out furnace and for the money it cant be beat .i can already see its going to pay for itself this first year i have owned it !


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## bigoakhunter (Jan 3, 2009)

*I like my Englander*

I bought a 28-3500 last Feb. and swapped it out with a Decton Iron Works Blazer wood furnace that I bought in 1983. The englander works well. Burns less wood. The window in door is a cool feature, nice to watch burn without opening the door. Heat's my 1340 sq ft. and 860 sq ft. of basement very well. My only issue is burn times. No matter how dry wood or orientation in frunace, i can only get 4-6 hours. But all in all a good furnace for the price.


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## DocDryden (Jan 4, 2009)

Since we all have the same wood furnace, I would like to share my experience with you, , although this is the way I operating the stove I am open to any suggestions that would improve my operations of the stove. 
I heat a 1500 sq ft ranch + 1500 sq ft basement ( 1500 sq ft )
avg. temp is 68-74 deg. F in the house & 80-95 in the basement near the stove.
So far this heating season I have used 2 & 1/2 cords of mix hardwood.
This will be my second winter heating season with the stove. Last year I used about 9 cords of wood.
The stove is not tied in to the furnace duck work. 
Over night burn time is about 4 ½ to 5 ½ hours
Out of concerns for safety I don’t load the wood in the firebox any higher than the fire bricks, But then maybe that’s the wrong way to do it. 
Normal I close 1 out of the 3 intake draft controls ( yes the older stoves has 3 draft controls ) and set the exhaust draft at 45 deg.
I have the blower thermostat set and it runs 80% of the time 
I have a wireless thermometer that has 3 sending units that tells me the temp in the kitchen / bedroom / outside / and one near the stove,
So when the temp drops below 88 deg in the basement I know its time to ad some wood to the stove, It saves me time, I don’t have to check the stove all the time.
My stove does not have a glass door, so I have to open the door to check the fire.
I have no problems with the draft. I have a thru-wall chimney system. Yes its easy to control the heat, just add more wood, and it does use a lot of wood. 


I am open to any suggestions that could help me in prove things. 


Some of the questions that I have are,
When I load the stove at night should I stack the wood higher than the fire bricks?
Should I tie the hot air from the blower in to my duck work?
Do you think it would be safe to bring some wood into the basement to store, maybe a cord or two, being so hot I thought I could bring in some green wood and let it dry from the heat.


One other thing I have not had my LP furnaces on yet!!!!!!!!


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## havenodog (Jan 4, 2009)

I've had a 28-3500 for about 4 years now and love it. My house is about 1500 sq. ft rancher and it stays 70 to 74 all winter. As far as burn times, if its loaded full at night around 10:00 to 11:00 pm I still have plenty of hot coals in the bottom at 7:00 in the morning. All I do is shut the bottom damper to about 1/8" maybe a little less and move the top slider about 1/2 to 3/4" from its full stop and it burns great. You have to have enough hot coals in the bottom to start before you load fully, also keeping the bottom door slightly open until the wood is fully lit (about 15 minutes) is the key. 
By the way I load mine full at night, about 5 logs and dont worry about it as the coals fall and rest on the firebrick on the bottom. This unit is just as sound as the day it was purchased and looks like it will last for many years to come. My basement is not air tight as there is airleaks around some of the windows but this also works great when the blower starts up it helps to ease the vacuum created at startup. I always like to have some outside air coming in the basement. Hope this helps


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## KFC (Jan 4, 2009)

Thanks for all the replys folks, I think the Englander 28-3500 will be my next heat source for my 1400 Sq ft rancher plus basement. The time has come to retire the 16 yr old Johnson wood furnace. It still has no problem keeping my entire home at 80 plus, but the old school design (not air tight) requires too much wood and low burn times. If I can get a 6-8 hour burn time out of the Englander I will be a happy camper.


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## havenodog (Jan 4, 2009)

You will get a 6 to 8 hour burn time out of it. Remember to keep the blower clean of dust.(compressed air), and burn good seasoned wood and you will be very happy. Cheers
Greg


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## DocDryden (Jan 4, 2009)

When you say its loaded full at night, do you load the stove higher than the firebricks?

Also is your stove tied into the furnace duckwork?


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## flotek (Jan 5, 2009)

its all in how yo uoperate it and how the dryness and quality of wood is .I load mine to the gills right up till it hits the baffle plate ,it really likes some air on the bottom damper and be sure it is good dry wood dont be afraid to load her up,i do pretty much the same as havendog when it comes ot damper settings ,it really puts out the heat when used with the ducting .. i would definitly use the existing ducting ,it will act as whole house heat transfer and it will retain temps alot longer and much more evenly too


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## powerstroke73L (Jan 7, 2009)

I'll jump in here as I'm considering buying a 28-3500 that's 4 years old but the owner says it was only used 1 and 1/2 seasons. I'm just curious who has been burning theirs the longest? If this stove has only been used 1 and 1/2 to 2 seasons, how much longer could I expect to have it assuming its well cared for? 10 more years? 15?


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## DocDryden (Jan 8, 2009)

*I have been using my 28-3500 for 1 ½ years now and I love it.*

I bought my stove used, actually I am the third owner.
I have been using my 28-3500 for 1 ½ years now and I love it.
My stove is an older model MFG. date 12/95
There is a metal plate on the rear of the stove that gives you all the info. 
The older models don’t have a glass door.
Anytime you need more information on the stove just ask.
These guys are very helpful.
Right now I am working on hooking it up to the existing furnace duckwork


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## DocDryden (Jan 8, 2009)

*owner's manual*

you can go to www.englanderstoves.com and down load the owner's manual.




http://www.englanderstoves.com/manuals/28-3500.pdf


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## ericjeeper (Jan 8, 2009)

*Hey Doc*



DocDryden said:


> 1 ½


How the heck did you get the half inch small like that?


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## powerstroke73L (Jan 8, 2009)

DocDryden said:


> I bought my stove used, actually I am the third owner.
> I have been using my 28-3500 for 1 ½ years now and I love it.
> My stove is an older model MFG. date 12/95
> There is a metal plate on the rear of the stove that gives you all the info.
> ...



Thanks! That's just the answer I was looking for-hopefully this will work out because it sure beats paying $1300 new!


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## havenodog (Jan 8, 2009)

I've had mine for about 4 years now and have had absolutely no problems with it. It was even bought used at Home Depot. Some guy didn't like it I guess after the first or second burn and brought it back. For the money they are hard to beat.


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## DocDryden (Jan 8, 2009)

*The Home Depot near me has a new one for $1600.00*

To get the small half inch, I typed every thing out on Microsoft Works Word Processor, and then copied and paste.

$1300 new! The Home Depot near me has a new one for $1600.00


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## powerstroke73L (Jan 8, 2009)

DocDryden said:


> To get the small half inch, I typed every thing out on Microsoft Works Word Processor, and then copied and paste.
> 
> $1300 new! The Home Depot near me has a new one for $1600.00



I bet its because of the shipping. If you buy online it was $1600 (they recently reduced it to $1400 and change), but in my local store it's $1300. I'm in New Jersey and Englander is in Virginia.


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## flotek (Jan 8, 2009)

this thread has invoked me to do some testing to repeatedly get overnight burns so i have something to work with in the morning with hot coals ot easily recharge the fire and heres what i would suggest that seems to do the trick ,granted this may not work for everyone but here it goes : 

about 10 or so at night i traditonaly load 3 medium size (for example a 7 inch round x 22-24 inches )in a row on top of a nice thick 2 inch or so bed of coals that accumulated let that burn for 10miuntes so its dry and charred on outside then a get a large bucked in half cherry log approx 15 inches wide 24 inches long (yes i know its big) and place it bark roundish side down ontop of the 3 smaller splits so the flat part of the halved cherry is close up against the baffle now i let that burn with dampers open just a few minutes till its slightly charred and warmed up good ..then i slide the upper damper over to half so its in middle and i then stick a penny against lower screw damper till it screws in and holds the penny against the ash door i then unscrew justa tad to let the penny drop out ,now its ready to rock,..see the splits burn for maybe 2 -2.5 hours slowly drop the cherry down onto the coalbed then the cherry bark underside protects and acts as a insulator for a while too till the fire slowly consumes the cherry dow nto a smallish glowing slab in morning around 7-8 hours later ,this seems to work really well for me and provides just enough air to draw a good steady slow burnrate ,try it and report back


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## DocDryden (Jan 9, 2009)

*baffle question*

Thanks flotek for the info on the overnight burns I will let you know how it works out.

I have another question for you. After removing the baffle for cleaning the other day l noticed the baffle has a small bent edge on it. Now I clean my stove 3-4 times a year. I may have the baffle installed the wrong way. The baffle could be installed 4 ways the bent edge could go up or down in the front or up or down In the rear. The next time you guys clean your stove look at the bent edge on the baffle and let me know the way its installed.


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## havenodog (Jan 9, 2009)

Doc
Mine's in the front bent down. I didn't know you could put them in anyother way, well maybe bent up. I think think the smoke curls better if its down.


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## powerstroke73L (Jan 9, 2009)

flotek said:


> then i slide the upper damper over to half so its in middle and i then stick a penny against lower screw damper till it screws in and holds the penny against the ash door i then unscrew justa tad to let the penny drop out ,now its ready to rock



Sounds like a good technique-just a few questions. When you say you move the overfire air control to the middle and the leave underfire air control open just a crack, do you mean for the rest of the night until you stoke the fire in the morning? Also, you mention that you use large cherry half rounds for overnights-have you experimented with similar size pieces of maple, oak, or locust? I don't tend to see a lot of cherry, but the latter three I usually come across often (I'm a scrounger)-my neighbor even has an ailing apple tree I'm hoping he'll want down soon. :greenchainsaw:


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## flotek (Jan 9, 2009)

powerstroke73L said:


> Sounds like a good technique-just a few questions. When you say you move the overfire air control to the middle and the leave underfire air control open just a crack, do you mean for the rest of the night until you stoke the fire in the morning? Also, you mention that you use large cherry half rounds for overnights-have you experimented with similar size pieces of maple, oak, or locust? I don't tend to see a lot of cherry, but the latter three I usually come across often (I'm a scrounger)-my neighbor even has an ailing apple tree I'm hoping he'll want down soon. :greenchainsaw:



yep i go to bed and leave it untouched just like that as i described ,concerning the wood species im sure you would have even better results with oak and locust as they are denser and have a higher btu per pound than cherry does ,maple is probably real close to the burn times of cherry ,biggest thing is *be sure its dry* ,cant stress that enough ..it wont do any good to put partialy dried wood in your furnace in an effort to have a long burn only for it to sizzle dro pthe flue temperature and smolder out at 1 in the morning after the big log lowers down and hits the coalbed


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## DocDryden (Jan 15, 2009)

*Now I use 10 to 15 % less wood*






THANKS for all of the suggestions and helpful information.
Now that I have tied the wood furnace in to my ductwork 
avg. temp is 68-73 deg. F in the house & 72 - 78 in the basement near the stove. ( it was 80 to 95 before the ductwork ) 
Now I use 10 to 15 % less wood.
My overnight burn time went from about 5 hours to about 6 1/2 hours 
And my baffle was installed the wrong way so I had flip it around.

I would like thank all of you guys again for your help.


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## powerstroke73L (Jan 27, 2009)

Well I bought the used one I was posting about before-$350.00!!! And it looks virtually brand new. The guy I bought it from only used it two seasons and it was cooking him out of the house. I've got a lot more space to heat so I should be fine.


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## DocDryden (Jan 27, 2009)

*great deal…..*

Hey if you can deliver it to Michigan I will give you $ 400.00 for it


No,,,,, all kidding aside I think you got a great deal…..


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## DocDryden (Jan 27, 2009)

*owner's manual*

Don’t forget to download the owner's manual.




http://www.englanderstoves.com/manuals/28-3500.pdf


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## flotek (Jan 27, 2009)

cool ..ill give you 400 for it and drive over and pick it up


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## powerstroke73L (Jan 28, 2009)

flotek said:


> cool ..ill give you 400 for it and drive over and pick it up



Ha! Sorry guys, no dice. I'll never get rid of this thing for two reasons: One because it's such a great furnace and two because I never want to move the damn thing again!!! Even with it totally "gutted" (firebrick, doors, grates, baffle, etc...) removed it's still a beast!


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## DocDryden (Jan 28, 2009)

I hear that……I broke the axle and bent a wheel on my dolly, so I had to barrow a heavy duty one, plus I had to do the same thing as you, remove the firebricks, doors, baffle, ash pan….I hope you got the newer type with the glass in the door, Mine does not have the glass door.

One other thing I don’t think you can use coal in the newer type.


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## powerstroke73L (Jan 28, 2009)

DocDryden said:


> I hear that……I broke the axle and bent a wheel on my dolly, so I had to barrow a heavy duty one, plus I had to do the same thing as you, remove the firebricks, doors, baffle, ash pan….I hope you got the newer type with the glass in the door, Mine does not have the glass door.
> 
> One other thing I don’t think you can use coal in the newer type.



Mine has the glass which I agree is definitely a nice feature. I was lucky enough to have a heavy duty handtruck with pneumatic tires, etc...that I borrowed from my father. My buddy guided it from behind down the steps and I stood in front holding it as he let it down. We were actually pretty nervous about my steps as they don't have a center stringer and the treads were bowing quite a bit! I'm about 220lbs, he's 180, and the stove with everything removed still weighs every bit of 450lbs so we had nearly 900lbs on those steps! 

As far as coal you can use bituminous (soft) coal in any of the add-on furnaces regardless of when they were made. They just stopped recommending it because people thought it meant that they were a wood OR coal unit. They're actually wood AND coal units. I actually got this from an Englander sales rep who posts over on **********. The way he explained it was that having a firebox that large full of coal would simply get too hot, however, you CAN add about 10lbs of coal to the firebox once the wood has passed the char stage in order to lengthen burn times by a couple of hours.


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## Skier44 (Dec 30, 2009)

*3 years with the Englander Wood Furnace*

New to the group; Hello.
I'm on year 3 and it's been a overall good experience. Placement is in the basement (2300 sq ft w/8.5' walls), heating just under 3000 sq. ft above. I have it connected just above the "A-Coil" in the plenum. I run the furnace blower (adjusted to come on when hot enough) to help get the heat to the rest of the house. To conserve wood, I stay around 68. I'm willing to suffer at 62-64 on near zero days. Important details learned: Cut wood to 24 inches, burn seasoned and dry. Oak and Locust are best, but all wood does fine if dry. I also have a 3" PVC line coming in from outside to supply make-up air. It dumps out about 6" from the ash door. I have a plastic bag over the end with holes to regulate air down (low tech for now). Have a flue temp thermometer and run in the white zone (275-550F). Have a Magic Heat unit that adds another 10000-20000 btu from the flue. I do regular inspections of the HT pipe and there has never been any significant build up. First year I burned 5 chords, last year I did 4 chords and 100 gallons of oil. This year, I will make it through with just over 4 chords and not one drop of oil burned in the furnace. It took 2 years to experiment w/ different burn settings. Now when considering the temp outside, I know how to set it up for the best burn. I have been able to go 10-12 hours on warmer days over 32F. Colder days, 0-10F, warrant 4-6 hrs reloads. The glass window is the advantage over the rest. The fire burns completely different once the door is shut so the only way to see if you are burning correctly is to look through the glass and make the proper adjustments. Without the glass, you're guessing. This is a different way to heat... It takes an hour to raise the temp in the house 4 degrees, so there is give and take. As I said, colder days mean 64 in the house. I could go to 75 but I would burn way too much wood. This unit paid for itself halfway through the first year!!! I would otherwise go through 1500 gallons of oil. My next move is to install a Hilkoil to chisel down the bill on the electric water heater. Because of the parts needed to complete a worthwhile setup, i suspect that the payoff will be 2-3 years, maybe more...
Other last thoughts, The flame impingement plate or baffle plate can warp if burning too hot. I have been able to hammer mine back into shape. It should not allow the flame to exit to the sides where the rail hold it in place. The lip needs to be in the down position and on the door side. Also, I store the wood in the basement and watch the humidity. I run a small fan that blows on the wood stack and this has helped to keep the wood extremely dry.


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## jburner (Dec 30, 2009)

SKier - A suggestion for you regarding the PVC cold air intake. Put a 90 on it so it's facing up toward the ceiling and extend it a little off the 90 toward the ceiling. That way the furnace will draw cold air as needed, and it's won't spill into the house when their isn't a draw.


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## DocDryden (Dec 30, 2009)

Thanks for the info..............


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## flotek (Dec 31, 2009)

dont be like i was: i was anal i cleaned the ashes off the firebrick floor religiously each day turns out the ash base act as a wonderful insulator for those coals and really help extend burn times by leaving a good portion there and the spacing slots still allow for plenty of air from underneath . mild cleaning only every few days seems to work best on this unit,this season im much smarter and know the unit better ..this year if i filled her up and set the slide on low I cant count how many times id come home after work to a nice bed of embers and 200 degree stack temps after atleast 10-11 hours of running before the last charge.also i set the thermodisc to keep the blower on a good bit longer than the factory setting,nice thing is the englander blower may be small in cfm (850cfm)compared to alot of other furnace units but this is actually a good thing in a way because it wont have the firebox cooling effect other models do once the fire eventually dies down ,to me a strong fan is nothing special if it only lasts 3-4 hours then ultimately cools the box temps and makes creosote just blasting cold air through the ducts ..in my unit even if you only have a 200 degree stack temp the registers still seems to blow warmer than ambient temperature for many hours well into the coaling stage and that helps level things out


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## mickeyd (Jan 2, 2010)

powerstroke73L said:


> Sounds like a good technique-just a few questions. When you say you move the overfire air control to the middle and the leave underfire air control open just a crack, do you mean for the rest of the night until you stoke the fire in the morning? Also, you mention that you use large cherry half rounds for overnights-have you experimented with similar size pieces of maple, oak, or locust? I don't tend to see a lot of cherry, but the latter three I usually come across often (I'm a scrounger)-my neighbor even has an ailing apple tree I'm hoping he'll want down soon. :greenchainsaw:



I never use the bottom screw air supply . I open the bottom door for a few minutes to get fresh wood burning then close the door . the upper slide I keep about 25% open during the day and then close that down over night . I keep my house at 70degrees during the day and about 62 over night . I am heating a fairly new well insulated 2000 ft colonial . I have not had to run my furnace in the 3 years I have owned the furnace ! I LOVE IT !
I use about 7 cord per winter 
MD


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## Skier44 (Jan 3, 2010)

jburner said:


> SKier - A suggestion for you regarding the PVC cold air intake. Put a 90 on it so it's facing up toward the ceiling and extend it a little off the 90 toward the ceiling. That way the furnace will draw cold air as needed, and it's won't spill into the house when their isn't a draw.



Happy New Year !!! 
Thanks... I could not do as you said because the PVC pipe comes in from outside through the rim joist already at the highest point... You did get me thinking and since I had the pipe and fittings, I made a " Trap" configuration.
The pipe comes in from outside, now drops to the floor in the basement and then takes a 180(w/a small condensation hole at the bottom) back up to the ceiling and then back down again. This seems to have done the trick. I cannot tell for sure as the past three days have been horribly windy and the wind pressure inside that pipe is unreal. If only there was a way to harness that wind. Hmmmmm...


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## Tedward (Jan 3, 2010)

Skier44 said:


> New to the group; Hello.
> I'm on year 3 and it's been a overall good experience. Placement is in the basement (2300 sq ft w/8.5' walls), heating just under 3000 sq. ft above. I have it connected just above the "A-Coil" in the plenum. I run the furnace blower (adjusted to come on when hot enough) to help get the heat to the rest of the house. To conserve wood, I stay around 68. I'm willing to suffer at 62-64 on near zero days. Important details learned: Cut wood to 24 inches, burn seasoned and dry. Oak and Locust are best, but all wood does fine if dry. I also have a 3" PVC line coming in from outside to supply make-up air. It dumps out about 6" from the ash door. I have a plastic bag over the end with holes to regulate air down (low tech for now). Have a flue temp thermometer and run in the white zone (275-550F). Have a Magic Heat unit that adds another 10000-20000 btu from the flue. I do regular inspections of the HT pipe and there has never been any significant build up. First year I burned 5 chords, last year I did 4 chords and 100 gallons of oil. This year, I will make it through with just over 4 chords and not one drop of oil burned in the furnace. It took 2 years to experiment w/ different burn settings. Now when considering the temp outside, I know how to set it up for the best burn. I have been able to go 10-12 hours on warmer days over 32F. Colder days, 0-10F, warrant 4-6 hrs reloads. The glass window is the advantage over the rest. The fire burns completely different once the door is shut so the only way to see if you are burning correctly is to look through the glass and make the proper adjustments. Without the glass, you're guessing. This is a different way to heat... It takes an hour to raise the temp in the house 4 degrees, so there is give and take. As I said, colder days mean 64 in the house. I could go to 75 but I would burn way too much wood. This unit paid for itself halfway through the first year!!! I would otherwise go through 1500 gallons of oil. My next move is to install a Hilkoil to chisel down the bill on the electric water heater. Because of the parts needed to complete a worthwhile setup, i suspect that the payoff will be 2-3 years, maybe more...
> Other last thoughts, The flame impingement plate or baffle plate can warp if burning too hot. I have been able to hammer mine back into shape. It should not allow the flame to exit to the sides where the rail hold it in place. The lip needs to be in the down position and on the door side. Also, I store the wood in the basement and watch the humidity. I run a small fan that blows on the wood stack and this has helped to keep the wood extremely dry.


 Skier, If and when you put that hilcoil where would you mount it? above or below the smoke shelf? been thinking bout putting one on.. have one of these stoves for five years and love it heat a big rancher with it 7 cords a year


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## Skier44 (Jan 3, 2010)

*Water Loop for D.H.W. 2B or not 2B???*



Tedward said:


> Skier, If and when you put that hilcoil where would you mount it? above or below the smoke shelf? been thinking bout putting one on.. have one of these stoves for five years and love it heat a big rancher with it 7 cords a year



I would put it as near to the top of the inside of the firebox as possible. I would go with the 24" single loop that they make. Here are some of my concerns. I need to have a way to dump the extra heated anti-freeze after the waterheater is to temp. I would consider using a fancoil type setup and let it blow off into the basement. I have a 35 gallon indirect water heater that I picked up on CL. I've tested it at pressures up to 150 psi, it's a champ. I'll use this as a pre-heater or tempering tank placed before the water heater. I'll need to circulate between the two tanks. The other heat circuit going thru the stove will be of a food safe anti-freeze and back into the exchanger of the tempering tank. Both circuits will require expansion tanks, pumps and I havn't decided on a controlling system as of yet. I'd like to put one of my old PCs to use by connecting thermistors and be able to control flow rates in the pumps. Because dreaming doesn't get it done... I'll probably go with aquastats or something like that. I really believe this has to be a dynamic setup to adapt to the amount of heat being produced in the Englander. Smoldering would require slow pump speeds and a blasting fire, the opposite. Heating a liquid is a whole other game and if not played correctly, could end in a violent explosion. For me, I have to see it all on paper before I start drilling... I want to eventually use a few flatplate solar collectors for heating the tempering tank in the summer. This can get really, really complicated but I know there is a way through the chaos...

Another point I did not reveal: I know that many have stated their cord usage around 7 to 10 and that mine being at 4-5, seems very low... I built my house using 2x6 walls with the cavities filled with closed cell foam from Corbond. The house is amazingly air tight but also very well insulated. I have my windows covered with dual core shades and this makes a huge difference... 

Back to the Hilkoil thing... If anybody else out there has any experience using these in the same application, I would like to read about it.
Thanks...


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## jreed (Jan 4, 2010)

Im new to furnaces and was looking around at different brands. I am planning on installing a stand alone wood furnace and having new ductwork installed. Will this furnace work in that capacity or is it an addon only?


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## Skier44 (Jan 4, 2010)

jreed said:


> Im new to furnaces and was looking around at different brands. I am planning on installing a stand alone wood furnace and having new ductwork installed. Will this furnace work in that capacity or is it an addon only?


This would be an add on furnace... I can't imagine that the 850 cfm blower would suffice in any sizing. Others may want to chime in on this question as well. I use mine as the primary, and so far this year, the only source of heat. I have a forced hot air oil furnace just in case the weather gets like the movie "The Day After Tomorrow" cold... Keep in mind that if you want to go somewhere for a week or two, and you want the house to keep from freezing, no wood stove will do that for you, unless it comes with a homeless relative that knows the deference between taking the chill out and burning the house down. Also if you are going central air, you'll need the larger blower. If these things are not an issue, an air handler would do the job as well. 
Remember, what works good for somebody may not be your answer as all houses have different characteristics and requirements not to mention your own preferences. I have saved a ton of money in the last three years, but it did not happen without considerable effort. The work to get in 5-10 cords, cut, split, stacked is enormous... remember too that time is money. There have been times where I want to just go to the thermostat, set it and forget it.


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## flotek (Jan 4, 2010)

Skier44 said:


> This would be an add on furnace... I can't imagine that the 850 cfm blower would suffice in any sizing. Others may want to chime in on this question as well.



here was my explanation to the blower from a previous post :

nice thing is the englander blower may be small in cfm (850cfm)compared to alot of other furnace units but this is actually a good thing in a way because it wont have the firebox cooling effect other models do once the fire eventually dies down ,to me a strong fan is nothing special if it only lasts 3-4 hours then ultimately cools the box temps and makes creosote just blasting cold air through the ducts ..in my unit even if you only have a 200 degree stack temp the registers still seems to blow warmer than ambient temperature for many hours well into the coaling stage and that helps level things out


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## Skier44 (Jan 4, 2010)

flotek said:


> here was my explanation to the blower from a previous post :
> 
> nice thing is the englander blower may be small in cfm (850cfm)compared to alot of other furnace units but this is actually a good thing in a way because it wont have the firebox cooling effect other models do once the fire eventually dies down ,to me a strong fan is nothing special if it only lasts 3-4 hours then ultimately cools the box temps and makes creosote just blasting cold air through the ducts ..in my unit even if you only have a 200 degree stack temp the registers still seems to blow warmer than ambient temperature for many hours well into the coaling stage and that helps level things out



I completely agree... But I do use my furnace blower, from time to time, to help move the hot air coming from the Englander when I have a very hot fire going. The plenum gets hot enough to turn the blower on from the furnace once in awhile. Other times, I just turn the blower on from the thermostat for the first 20mins to hour. The 850 puts out too little to be the main blower in my house. 2700 sq ft on the first floor alone means there are long duct runs. Also the returns have better suction this way.


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## Tedward (Jan 6, 2010)

Yea I would say just an add on... But an add on that would pay for itself....... My house is 36' wide 76'long and full basement lp hot air as primary heat... At the farthest end of the house it gets alittle cool compared to directly above where the stove is, But still I am very happy with the englander... I previously had a vermont casting defiant no comparison at all to the englander


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## jburner (Oct 9, 2010)

Skier44 said:


> I would put it as near to the top of the inside of the firebox as possible. I would go with the 24" single loop that they make. Here are some of my concerns. I need to have a way to dump the extra heated anti-freeze after the waterheater is to temp. I would consider using a fancoil type setup and let it blow off into the basement. I have a 35 gallon indirect water heater that I picked up on CL. I've tested it at pressures up to 150 psi, it's a champ. I'll use this as a pre-heater or tempering tank placed before the water heater. I'll need to circulate between the two tanks. The other heat circuit going thru the stove will be of a food safe anti-freeze and back into the exchanger of the tempering tank. Both circuits will require expansion tanks, pumps and I havn't decided on a controlling system as of yet. I'd like to put one of my old PCs to use by connecting thermistors and be able to control flow rates in the pumps. Because dreaming doesn't get it done... I'll probably go with aquastats or something like that. I really believe this has to be a dynamic setup to adapt to the amount of heat being produced in the Englander. Smoldering would require slow pump speeds and a blasting fire, the opposite. Heating a liquid is a whole other game and if not played correctly, could end in a violent explosion. For me, I have to see it all on paper before I start drilling... I want to eventually use a few flatplate solar collectors for heating the tempering tank in the summer. This can get really, really complicated but I know there is a way through the chaos...
> 
> Another point I did not reveal: I know that many have stated their cord usage around 7 to 10 and that mine being at 4-5, seems very low... I built my house using 2x6 walls with the cavities filled with closed cell foam from Corbond. The house is amazingly air tight but also very well insulated. I have my windows covered with dual core shades and this makes a huge difference...
> 
> ...



SKier - Did you ever install a Hilkoil water heater? Is that approved by Englander?


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## Skier44 (Nov 15, 2010)

jburner said:


> SKier - Did you ever install a Hilkoil water heater? Is that approved by Englander?



Jburner: No to both... Still on the "to do list" though. Now considering something more passive that will not affect the heating properties of the stove or flue exhaust temps at all. My stove pipe travels a good five feet at a 30 degree (from horizontal) pitch before going full plumb to the Flue. A considerable amount of heat comes off this pipe. I'm not going to wrap this pipe with copper but instead try capturing this extra heat with something suspended above the stove pipe. My main goal in this method would be to reduce the delta T (pre-warm) the water so the electric water heater works less. I may also just go forward with the Hilkoil but I've heard and read about corrosion pitting problems on these types of setups, some after a very short time span. If I'm to lay down the greenbacks, it has to work as a solid solution for a good number of years. So far, the corrosion pitting has me concerned enough to look for other solutions. To be continued...


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## gpsman007 (Nov 16, 2010)

http://www.homedepot.com/Englander/...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053


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## mustangwagz (Nov 30, 2011)

Have any of you guys thought about adding "Secondary Burn" tubes to the Englander Fire Breathing Dragon? Ive got one too, going on 3 years now. i get some insane heat out of this thing. Currently at 88 degree's and im rollin on just coals now. lol I bought it to keep warm...and it does that along with melt the snow off my roof within a day when we get a sudden 2 foot drop of snow. (Sure beats shoveling, but plays hell on my gutters..lol) Most amt of time ive got outta this thing is 10 hours of burn time.. Thats with HUGE splits of wood. Talkin 3 pieces MAX and its upto the baffle plate. i was wandering if adding secondary burn tubes would help with burn times for smaller loads? as in we could then turn down the main stream drafts (Spin Valve on ash door, and Over Fire draft above glass door) and make Less emissions, with longer burn times? I read an article on here about a guy who did this with a diffrent woodburner. and i'm seeing MORE and MORE newer burners that do this. 

What do you guys think?


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## jburner (Nov 30, 2011)

I've already done this to my 28-3500 with cast iron pipe, still holding up well. I posted a bunch of info on it, but I can't remember where, whether here or on **********. . . I'll have to hunt around for it. Here's a link to it burning. Englander Furnace Secondary #2 - YouTube


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## mustangwagz (Nov 30, 2011)

jburner said:


> I've already done this to my 28-3500 with cast iron pipe, still holding up well. I posted a bunch of info on it, but I can't remember where, whether here or on **********. . . I'll have to hunt around for it. Here's a link to it burning. Englander Furnace Secondary #2 - YouTube



AWESOME!!! Let me know when you find the pictures. i'd like some detailed ones if possible. Like to see Where you mounted the tube, how you routed the piping and where it exited the burner at. 

Also, how much has this helped the burner? has it helped with burn times? What about the creosote buildup? I have very little with mine now, cuz i burn so warm with it..but figured that if i can damp it down via the 2 built in dampers, and open the secondary to burn cleaner, etc etc, burn times shoudl go up, and crap gasses should go down in theory. 

Cant wait to hear back jburner! Let me know bud!


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## mustangwagz (Nov 30, 2011)

Pictures aint workin j...


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## jburner (Nov 30, 2011)

mustangwagz said:


> AWESOME!!! Let me know when you find the pictures. i'd like some detailed ones if possible. Like to see Where you mounted the tube, how you routed the piping and where it exited the burner at.
> 
> Also, how much has this helped the burner? has it helped with burn times? What about the creosote buildup? I have very little with mine now, cuz i burn so warm with it..but figured that if i can damp it down via the 2 built in dampers, and open the secondary to burn cleaner, etc etc, burn times shoudl go up, and crap gasses should go down in theory.
> 
> Cant wait to hear back jburner! Let me know bud!


Can't find my pics, but here is one I just shot. Pretty crappy looking, nice and dirty. Firebrick is added above and wherever I could squeeze it is. The baffle plate is still in there up above. The pics should tell you alot. I think the pipe is 1" ID cast iron pipe. The ladder rungs each have 16 holes, and I believe they are 1/8 - 3/16" (can't remember) I just remember drilling alot of holes. Everything fits together loosely, DO NOT TIGHTEN EVERYTHING TOGETHER, you don't be able to replace anything if you don't. I put the sides in first, then the "ladder" rungs. They slide all the way to one side, and then back to sit in the other side. Never mind my crap weld job on the front. There could be more air above the fire, but it works. I get more flame inside the firebox, that's for sure. Burn times, I'd say I get 1-2hrs more. Not really sure with the crap wood I'm burning right now (silver maple). Creosote last year was about 2 gallons for the whole year. This year I don't know if it's the wood or what, but just cleaned chimney and found quite a bit in there, probably because of the shoulder season, too many hot/cold days, and not running it hot enough or ignoring the fire too long. I usually run it with the bottom screw damper open one to two "cogs". I marked mine with white paint so I know where it's at. The top damper I usually run at 1 finger width open when the secondaries and furnace fan kick in and the flames are really going. It does take longer for the furnace fan to start from cold because the firebrick needs to warm up, but you recoup it later on after the fire has gone out. I'd say that's it for now, ask away...I'll see if I can get these pictures up or not...View attachment 209302


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## jburner (Nov 30, 2011)

One more, with the crappy weld job!!View attachment 209303


That youtube video is the actual furnace mod though. It still burns that way.


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## jburner (Dec 1, 2011)

They should be working now. At least they do for me. What happens when you click on the link?


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## Tkramer (Feb 4, 2012)

Thanks for posting pictures and video. I've had my englander since 2001 and it still going strong. I'm in the process of replacing my steel baffle with a custom refractory and adding secondary burn tubes while I'm in there. As far as the hot water coil goes I installed a homemade setup and love it. It dropped my electric bill $56 dollars the first month and our January bill was down $71 over last year. 5 showers a day plus laundry = a lot of hot water usage. Here are some pics of my setup. The coil is schedule 40 stainless and I installed three safety blowoffs. 40watt circulatory and 150 gallon of storage.


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## cabman (Sep 22, 2012)

why can`t you add a coil of copper on top of the fire bricks to heat domestic htw.


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## Vector6 (Jan 3, 2013)

*28-3500 burn issues*

First post here, and i need some advice

just installed an Englander 28-3500 on xmas eve... i am having a hard time figuring the proper way to burn it. (used to the a fireplace)

it seems to burn the end of the wood closest to the door, and turns the ends in the back to char.

i continually have to go down and pull the un-burned ends towards the front to get them to burn.

typically i leave the spinner on the ash door closed as it seems to really be useless and run the other one about half way open.

help ! does anyone have any suggestions to help me get a better burn from this stove?


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## mustangwagz (Jan 3, 2013)

Vector6 said:


> First post here, and i need some advice
> 
> just installed an Englander 28-3500 on xmas eve... i am having a hard time figuring the proper way to burn it. (used to the a fireplace)
> 
> ...



Ok, first suggestion, Get a stove pipe thermometer vector, that'll help ya greately. Place it about 18" from top of the stove. Be sure it isnt placed anywher that your stove pipes overlap. this way you get a good accurate reading. Second, Open the spin draft door about the thickness of a dime. by this i mean, open enough that you can slide a dime the WHOLE way around the spin draft and it wont touch or get caught. (As in, If you were to place a dime between the ash pan door, and the spin draft and then close the draft it would hold the dime there...then just slighly spin it open a little bit more) Also, as for the top slide draft, this keeps your door clean, and your air flowing in that area. I find this slide good for FINE tuning the stove. I typically open mine up on the bottom as stated, then run my top slide No more than half ways open. The top slide is open fully when slid to the left and closed fully when slid to the right. A tip that you can use, and has helped me neighbors with theirs, take a paint pen and mark the FULLY OPEN position, and the FULLY CLOSED postion. This way you can glance at it and see whats going on. The paint pen also works good on the spin draft. What i did was Make a mark in the "12-O-clock" position on the ash pan door, AND on the spin draft. Then i counted how many FULL revolutions open. This also helps for a quick glance at how far open yoru drafts are. 

I had same problem man, but once you get used to it, you'll be sleeping with window fans on and doors open. lol Another THing that you may notice. Once your stove is seasoned, the "BOLT" in the ash pan door may start coming into contact with the ash pan handle. IF IT DOES, just smack the hendle with a hammer, and crease the center of it IN towards the pan. This helped me. Mine would line up perfectly somtiems and make the ashpan door hard to close? but not anymore! 

Go over the stove once a year and tightne up the bolts/screws. They like to vibrate. Also, my thermostat is noisy as hell man, so i elminated it and switched to an adjustable snap disc. 

I also added a filter box to mine, but i had to build it. 


Hope this helps, keep us posted!


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## Vector6 (Jan 8, 2013)

Mustangwagz,
Thanks so much for the reply, the info you provided me has helped me to get a better grip on this unit... Sunday evening it was 22deg outside and i was in my skivies in the living room :msp_w00t: it was 84 in the house.. the wife is loving not having to bundle up to watch TV. 

again, thank you for your help!


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## winsormcbeth (Jan 10, 2013)

*How far is too far to link stove to main trunk of central furnace duct work?*

I am thinking about getting an Englander model 28-3500 wood furnace to put in my unfinished, uninsulated basement. The Furnace is on one end of the basement and the chimney is at the other end so they are at least 50-60 feet apart. It is my understanding that you want the hot air outlet duct work to connect to the main central furnace right above the actual furnace, right? Is the fan that comes with the Englander going to be powerful enough to push air trough 50-60 ft of duct work to get to my main furnace and then let my main furnace fan do the rest of the work? Or maybe i can run duct work from the stove to the middle of the main furnace duct work so everything "down stream" kitchen/dining room, and bedrooms are heated? Just looking for some advice. Thanks!


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## arrow (Apr 3, 2013)

Anyone here go from an Englander to epa type furnace to compare wood usage for the year?


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## mopar969 (Jun 7, 2013)

I apologize to renew this thread, however I think might question is worth posting.

I am going to install the englander and I want to know if you can take of the side panel air jackets are they riveted or what type of screws. I would like to take them off during a power outage when the gen is not on to heat the house like the daka furnaces do. Also, will the top cover come off? Also, This should then expose the hot stove part of the furnace does it have a flat surface at the top to where I can cook on it like a wood stove just to heat up water etc in an emergency. If anyone has any pics of the jacket off please post. Thank you.


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## mustangwagz (Jun 9, 2013)

mopar969 said:


> I apologize to renew this thread, however I think might question is worth posting.
> 
> I am going to install the englander and I want to know if you can take of the side panel air jackets are they riveted or what type of screws. I would like to take them off during a power outage when the gen is not on to heat the house like the daka furnaces do. Also, will the top cover come off? Also, This should then expose the hot stove part of the furnace does it have a flat surface at the top to where I can cook on it like a wood stove just to heat up water etc in an emergency. If anyone has any pics of the jacket off please post. Thank you.



i dont got no pics of mine tore apart, but ive had the screws out n stuff. i tighten them atleast once a season as they come loose. When the chimney pipe is on, its not possible to remove top piece cuz the flu pipe base (part of firebox) actually rises through the top of tin work. You could install a "trap door" kinda thingy if ya wanted? I run mine with a generator IF i have to...i just usally turn it way down according to chimney thermometer and then leave it radiate the heat. still works pretty well.


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## mopar969 (Jun 10, 2013)

Can you turn the top plate around that way I can have access to the top front of the stove part of the furnace?


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## mustangwagz (Jun 10, 2013)

mopar969 said:


> Can you turn the top plate around that way I can have access to the top front of the stove part of the furnace?



if ya unhook dcut work, yah that'd work i think!


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## mopar969 (Jun 10, 2013)

Thanks, my plan is to use it like a typical wood stove to cook on like you can with a traditional wood stove. This will be useful especially if the power is out long so I can have some hot water.


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## Overmann55 (Jan 10, 2014)

Vector6 said:


> *28-3500 burn issues*
> 
> First post here, and i need some advice
> 
> ...


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## Overmann55 (Jan 10, 2014)

DocDryden said:


> Since we all have the same wood furnace, I would like to share my experience with you, , although this is the way I operating the RE: stove I am open to any suggestions that would improve my operations of the stove.
> 
> I added secondary tubes... I have a how-to posted on Youtube.
> Longer burns 8-10 hours - cleaner burns and WAY EASIER to run...
> ...


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## Overmann55 (Jan 10, 2014)

RE:
I also added a filter box to mine, but i had to build it. 

Can you post pics of the custom filter box? I need one and I am not sure how big to build it etc. I don't want to stress the blower and I don't want to clog up the works etc etc
Is the filter still working well?
What type of filters do you use? Super fine or std?

Also, if you are interested.. I added burn tubes and it works great.!
Longer burns - cleaner and WAY EASY to run...
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCC1ip37bke8MviPj6_JM1KA
It is like like a different stove... I can't say enough about it... it makes a HUGE difference.
Thanks!


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## mustangwagz (Jan 14, 2014)

PM me with any detailed pics ya got of how ya routed the pipes inside. Id like to do mine as well. Ive seen a few pics and videos now of this mod.


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