Any Drolet Heat Commander users out there?

[fields_mj]

My current wood furnace is an add-on style that was built in 1980. Its similar to the old Clayton units. The house is a 2200 sq ft brick ranch built in 1959. I've upgraded the insulation some, and replaced some of the windows, but it still leaks a lot of air in the winter. The current wood furnace is VERY long in the tooth and I need to start looking really hard at replacements. I've been looking at the Kumma and Drolet units for the past few years. I really appreciate what goes into the VF100 units, but just can't justify the cost for the kinds of winters we normally have here in central Indiana. I'm thinking really hard about getting a Drolet Heat Commander at the end of this season. Folks who have them seem to like them. The only issues I've seen from it are that it can produce too much heat on warmer days where the temps are in the upper 30s. I already have that issue with my current furnace. I don't have any shade until late in the evening, so on a clear day, if the outside temp is in the low 40s, the house won't get below about 68 degrees with NO fire burning. If the over night low isn't down well into the 20s, I'm prone to not even have a fire and just let the NG furnace do the work. If I do have a fire, I do a top down fire at night and let it go out in the morning. Anyway, I'm thinking about replacing my unit with a Drolet Heat Commander, but it would be nice to get some feedback from others who have the system and see what they have to say.

Thanks,
Mark

 

[moresnow]

You should consider checking another site with active HC, Lamppa users.
Drop me a dm and I'll fill you in. If I post the link here it will likely get kicked out by admin.

 

[fields_mj]

I'm on that site also. Just thought there may be some folks here who aren't who could also give their feedback.

 

[Jules083]

I have one. It's wonderful, if it melted down today I'd order the exact same one.

The thermostat does a good job maintain the temperature but of course if it's warm outside the house warms up if you have a fire going. I usually light a good fire in the evening, throw a log or 2 on in the morning, then let it go out in the afternoon.

Let me know if you have any specific questions or concerns, I'm leaving for work now but I'll log back in later today.

Wood has to be dry. Stacked neatly all year outside for the sun and wind to do their job.

 

[fields_mj]

Good to hear. My main concern about them at this point is the max burn time on colder days when its around zero outside. With my old unit, I can actually get 16 hrs out of it, even on a cold day. By that point, there's still a small pile of coals in the bottom that I can work with to easily get a good fire going again. I've even gone as long as 20 and still had enough coals buried in the ashes to get the fire going again with some kindling and not having to actually re-light it from scratch. With a stated run time of 10 hrs, I'm concerned that's going to end up causing me some issues.

I shouldn't have any problems with moisture. I'm normally a year or two ahead on my firewood. I WILL have to change the way I do things though. Normally I keep it in log form until I'm ready to burn it, and that doesn't season NEARLY as well. I'll need to go back to cutting and stacking it in the spring so it can season all summer which is no big deal. I just need to figure out where to buy some of the metal cages from the IBC totes so that I can stack them and move them with my loader

Did you install your own unit? I would plan on installing mine. My flue doesn't currently have a draft on it, which I think causes me some issues during warmer weather (house gets too hot). I understand that having a barometric draft control is critical to the high efficiency systems functioning correctly. Ar those hard to set up and adjust correctly?

Thanks!
Mark