iowa
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I was really contemplating whether to get a wood furnace or not this fall of 08'. I looked for a lot of used furnaces on CL and new ones at the hardware stores around here. I really wasn't wanting to spend another $2000 in propane for this winter as it would just be like piling $2000 on the ground and lighting it on fire! So I called several people that had some Longwood dual fuel furnaces. Thinking that might be the way to go with the propane backup and ease of lighting the wood for my wifes sake. However, most Longwoods were going for $800-$1400 used around here and they sold very fast. I ended up finding a wood furnace that an old lady aquired from buying an estate. It was unhooked from heating the house for several yrs and she just wanted it gone.
I decided to give her the $400 she wanted for it and hauled it home the next weekend. It is designed almost like a Longwood, however, this was a homeaid job by the Menanites around here. They took longwoods idea and probably made it better. They added 2- 6" heat exchangers that run the distance of the main firing chamber. The main firing chamber is 2'dia x 5' long. So there is a rectangle box in the back of the stove that has a divider in the center and the smoke travels up out of the firing chamber, into the half the rectangle box and travels forward to a single rectangular box. The smoke then kicks over into the other 6" heat exchanger and travels back to the first rectangle box and then up and out to my chimney. This also has a fuel-burner on the front, but I haven't used it.
However when I bought this she said it has some rusting issues with the outside of the furnace. Mainly the galv. sheeting that covers the unit. But after getting home I noticed really fast that it was just not the covering. They must have had water run down the flue pipe and into the back heat exchanger box. I had to cut out and replace part of the 6" tube and make half the back rectangle box. The water also dripped over the main firing chamber (which is solid PHEW) and landed on the galv. box that goes over the squirrel cage fan. The fan was old and rusted out. I replaced the galvanized L piece that secludes the fan from the rest of the furnace. And my dad gave me a free fan from his boss who owns a HVAC company.
I put the thing back together and fired it up after rolling it out on my front drive-way. Making sure my repairs didn't leak smoke! Sure enough everything was working fine. I put the fan in and the covers back on. Down to the basement it went. I purchased 6" double wall chimney pipe from Lowes which was dirt cheap (long story here:LOWES: don't hire dumb chicks that don't know how to count) LOL. I spent $400 on chimney pipe. Out the wall kit and brace + 5 sections of 3' pipe. Should have been around $800!!!!
I hooked the furnace up to my main ductwork in the basement after I had used it for a while. I just let the furnace dump the hot air in the basement and let the heat rise at first. My dad also wired the furnace up and put a light right above it so I can see what I'm doing while loading it. I'm a retard at electricity.
SOOOO. As of NOV. 15th I've burned 0oz of PROPAIN and a few cord of wood so far. All of it has cost me around $1200 by the time I bought the furnace, pipe, welder, supplies, gas, and I did buy a couple cord of wood. I can say that all the work and effort put into it is PRICELESS. I love the heat. Usually we keep the house at 70 in the winter. I'm tall and thin with no insulation and I'm liking it 75 in the house now!!!! It's great. Plus I've bought a nice chainsaw Dolmar 7900 and have CAD!!! DOH...
I decided to give her the $400 she wanted for it and hauled it home the next weekend. It is designed almost like a Longwood, however, this was a homeaid job by the Menanites around here. They took longwoods idea and probably made it better. They added 2- 6" heat exchangers that run the distance of the main firing chamber. The main firing chamber is 2'dia x 5' long. So there is a rectangle box in the back of the stove that has a divider in the center and the smoke travels up out of the firing chamber, into the half the rectangle box and travels forward to a single rectangular box. The smoke then kicks over into the other 6" heat exchanger and travels back to the first rectangle box and then up and out to my chimney. This also has a fuel-burner on the front, but I haven't used it.
However when I bought this she said it has some rusting issues with the outside of the furnace. Mainly the galv. sheeting that covers the unit. But after getting home I noticed really fast that it was just not the covering. They must have had water run down the flue pipe and into the back heat exchanger box. I had to cut out and replace part of the 6" tube and make half the back rectangle box. The water also dripped over the main firing chamber (which is solid PHEW) and landed on the galv. box that goes over the squirrel cage fan. The fan was old and rusted out. I replaced the galvanized L piece that secludes the fan from the rest of the furnace. And my dad gave me a free fan from his boss who owns a HVAC company.
I put the thing back together and fired it up after rolling it out on my front drive-way. Making sure my repairs didn't leak smoke! Sure enough everything was working fine. I put the fan in and the covers back on. Down to the basement it went. I purchased 6" double wall chimney pipe from Lowes which was dirt cheap (long story here:LOWES: don't hire dumb chicks that don't know how to count) LOL. I spent $400 on chimney pipe. Out the wall kit and brace + 5 sections of 3' pipe. Should have been around $800!!!!
I hooked the furnace up to my main ductwork in the basement after I had used it for a while. I just let the furnace dump the hot air in the basement and let the heat rise at first. My dad also wired the furnace up and put a light right above it so I can see what I'm doing while loading it. I'm a retard at electricity.
SOOOO. As of NOV. 15th I've burned 0oz of PROPAIN and a few cord of wood so far. All of it has cost me around $1200 by the time I bought the furnace, pipe, welder, supplies, gas, and I did buy a couple cord of wood. I can say that all the work and effort put into it is PRICELESS. I love the heat. Usually we keep the house at 70 in the winter. I'm tall and thin with no insulation and I'm liking it 75 in the house now!!!! It's great. Plus I've bought a nice chainsaw Dolmar 7900 and have CAD!!! DOH...
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