Help and suggestions needed for wood burning furnace

[wdchuck]

Jeff, regarding the louvre, it's 2 blade, sorry, the pics I have are bad, I'd have to remove it to get some good ones. Just imagine a set of shutters, with only two blades, and lay it horizontal, it's counter balanced with a stack of fender washers to make it adjustable, the air blows up from the main fan and opens the louvres, when the fan stops, they close on gravity.

Cost...$189.00, out of a catalog from an HVAC supply house, so do some hunting around in your area, have accurate measurements of your plenum, and be able to go see an example of what they can order for you. By the way, it only took 3days from the time I ordered to it showing up, but there's no return on this kind of stuff.

 

[AngelofDarkness]

By simple laws of physics, airflow will follow the path of least resistance. If your supply and return air ducts are sized correctly you should not need any type of damper for a paralell installation. The resistance of the heat exchanger and blower housing should be adequate to prevent intermixing.

Anybody know how to add a humidifier to a woodburning furnace?

 

[wdchuck]

They install on the regular furnace hot air plenum and cold air return line, that is a standard setup, they are sold in big box stores, check out the installation pamphlet. OR

Just have the HVAC guy come over and put in an Aprilaire system, probably the best for the money, and even professionally installed are still a pretty good deal.

JMHO

 

[JeffHK454]

That's the one thing nice about having some lost air through the gas furnace , when my wood burner blower kicks on it moves enough air to turn on the electrostatic filter and humidifier.

 

[coppermouse]

The caddy is sweet, a nice looking unit. But US Stove must have gotten rights to it because when you look at the instruction manual for both of them, they are exactly the same (and I do mean exactly down to the pics and everything).

The thing that I notice in the US Stove manual is that there is a steel plate covering the grate where the ashes fall through that has to be removed each time you want to take out the ashes (seems a little inconvenient).

can anyone tell me about the Woodchuck 2900 stove? It also has the ability to preheat water, anybody use this feature?

Also when I look at the BTU ratings of different stoves, there seems to be some inconsistency in how many square feet each one claims to heat. I have 2500 square feet plus a basement. The house is 10 years old, well insulated with good double pane windows. I live near Columbus Ohio, so it does get cold in the winter. How many BTU do I need (I will run it around the clock of course)

Another question: The manual for the Caddy and USSC 1950 say to put a barometric damper on them. Is this necessary?

 

[laynes69]

I run a barometric damper on my wood furnace now. It helps keep the heat in the furnace longer and burn hotter due to a constant draft. I was getting too much heat up the chimney. I have a woodfurnace like tscs, it a 1500 hotblast wood/coal furnace. I have 2400 square feet plus a full basement. Our house is 150+ years old with 10 foot ceilings and I can keep our heat on average 76 all winter long. Last year I burned roughly 5.5 cords of wood. About the water loop, it would be nice, but it can and will cool the firebox temps. If you forget to open the valves for winter use, then you have a potential for a steam bomb. Good luck with your desions and keep us posted.