Introducing Brand New Wood Furnace to Market - The Drolet Tundra!

[spadjen]

Try setting your blower speed to it's highest setting.

I did try that and it resulted in the higher reading I got.

 

[brenndatomu]

Throttle some of your closer registers a lil. You have to "balance" the air flow so you get the heat in the places you want it but it still has the enough left to push to the farthest room. Do you have a filter in the system? A filter that is too restrictive will cause low pressure! Can you describe your duct system? Size, length, quantity...etc
It is possible that this blower is a bit small for your system. If that's the case then I'd get it so it's doing the job for you and not worry about the numbers.

 

[Cloud IT]

I did try that and it resulted in the higher reading I got.

I know exactly what your issues are. I have the same issues and have discovered the problems. The manufacturer is working on a solution as we speak. The blower has a higher CFM rating than the one on the PSG Caddy and should be adequate for my home but it is not capable of providing the pressure needed for longer runs. If you have smaller runs of ducting you won't have any issues. I'll be sure to send you a PM and post here as soon as there is a confirmed fix.

 

[spadjen]

I know exactly what your issues are. I have the same issues and have discovered the problems. The manufacturer is working on a solution as we speak. The blower has a higher CFM rating than the one on the PSG Caddy and should be adequate for my home but it is not capable of providing the pressure needed for longer runs. If you have smaller runs of ducting you won't have any issues. I'll be sure to send you a PM and post here as soon as there is a confirmed fix.

nice. thanks for the heads up. thought i was going crazy. which could also be possible.

 

[spadjen]

Throttle some of your closer registers a lil. You have to "balance" the air flow so you get the heat in the places you want it but it still has the enough left to push to the farthest room. Do you have a filter in the system? A filter that is too restrictive will cause low pressure! Can you describe your duct system? Size, length, quantity...etc
It is possible that this blower is a bit small for your system. If that's the case then I'd get it so it's doing the job for you and not worry about the numbers.

i do have a filter but i tried my reading with out a filter also. I will try shutting down all the registers but one and see what happens. I have the 2 8" rounds feeding into an air plenum that is 12 feet away. off that plenum is a 20' of 16x8 trunk that has 3 6" runs no more then 10' feeding floor vents. Also off the plenum is a 8" that t's off to a 6" round about 6' feet down. the 8" is supplying 2 floor registers. also off the plenum is 2 more 6" not more then 10' feeding 2 more floor vents. if your still with me your doing good. In total i have 7 floor vents all on the 1st floor grouped / spread out over a 25x45 area. all sheet mettle with no flex duck other then 3' of flex connecting the cold air plenum.

another question. i know what too high of a static pressure can do. what is the negative affect that too low of a static pressure can have. Which brings to mind another unrelated question. is it effect or affect?

 

[Cloud IT]

Too much static pressure could slow down the flow of air and overheat your firebox. Too little static pressure won't do anything but not distribute the heat from your ducts properly. You will simply need to run the furnace more and consume more wood to get the same effective heat output. As for effect vs affect, http://grammar.yourdictionary.com/style-and-usage/affect-effect-grammar.html

 

[Mlaw22]

Ok. So i am getting .05-.07 static pressure and the manual calls for .20. Any ideas?

I'm getting -0.5 out of the stove and 2.0 coming in from the cold air. Taking the reading in the duct work that my two 8" are connected to. Am I reading something wrong?

 

[flotek]

For some Too high of a fan speed will cool of the unit resulting in the thermo switch shutting blower off prematurely which at that point is useless. . Also if the unit shuts off at 120 which is more like 130. ..and just cycles instead of consistently it's going to have the intake damper open far more often this way because the thermo wants more heat upstairs but blower isn't accomplishing the heat required to keep the set temperature and there goes yourefficiency . When the fan kicks off has little to do with secondary's and how long they are sustained from what I seen on mine yes higher secondary intake air temperature is favorable but there's not a dramatic difference I know others with this furnace who experience what I'm saying as well

 

[spadjen]

Too much static pressure could slow down the flow of air and overheat your firebox. Too little static pressure won't do anything but not distribute the heat from your ducts properly. You will simply need to run the furnace more and consume more wood to get the same effective heat output. As for effect vs affect, http://grammar.yourdictionary.com/style-and-usage/affect-effect-grammar.html

That may be why it seems i am using more wood then i think i should. Also not getting as long of a burn time as i would like. 6-8 hours is bout what i average on a good night. When do you think they are going to get back to you? Any info you can pm me. Maybe i can squawk in there ear.

Good grammar insight too. Things you can learn from buying a new wood stove.

 

[laynes69]

I know exactly what your issues are. I have the same issues and have discovered the problems. The manufacturer is working on a solution as we speak. The blower has a higher CFM rating than the one on the PSG Caddy and should be adequate for my home but it is not capable of providing the pressure needed for longer runs. If you have smaller runs of ducting you won't have any issues. I'll be sure to send you a PM and post here as soon as there is a confirmed fix.

The blower for the Caddy is the same blower as the Tundra. Technically, the Caddy will get a higher cfm due to little restriction in the plenum compared to the 2-8" outlets, which also results in the higher btu rating. That firebox not only has lightweight firebrick, but also a 1/4 ceramic blanket. The trick is getting the furnace up to operating temps, once that happens and secondary combustion occurs, it will cruise with good seasoned wood. Larger wood vs. smaller, as long as it's seasoned, the larger splits will cruise longer than multiple smaller splits. They take longer to offgas, so they produce a longer burn. We are currently burning wood that's been split and covered for 3 years.

As far as burn times are concerned, this all has to do with the home and the demand for heat. Last year we had a very drafty home, and when it was in the mid teens, we would load at 10pm and at 5:00am we would reload again, house at 70 overnight. Now that we have done some major improvements, I load at 9-9:30 pm and at 7:30 am the house is 69-70 with a nice coal bed. Nothing different, same types of wood, same draft, same setting on the wall thermostat.
A tighter home just uses less fuel, whether it's oil, propane or wood.

Having 2-8" outlets on top of the furnace, and feeding 7 ducts with this, there's not going to be a good flow, especially with a 12' run before the plenum. I still don't understand why the company only allows 2 of the 4 openings to be used. We have the same firebox, same blower, and I couldn't imagine reducing our plenum down to that size.

 

[flotek]

I think there reasoning is probably do it so it retrofits in the same duct space and floor layout pattern as a a hotblast / Jensen / Norseman
Furnace and they had that goal when laying it all out for an easy swap . Maybe by covering off two of the ducts they felt it would retain heat . Who knows for sure . We are probably over analyzing it on how they developed the changes considering it is just a cheap affordable caddy inspired copy to boost sales for sbi for the masses who are tired of feeding their smoke dragons 7 cubic feet of firewood every 5 hours last month the rep for sbi said they had sold over 1,300 tundras so it must be working

 

[Cloud IT]

Blowers are different according to posted online specs. The heatmax/tundra gets a 1/4 hp 1400 cfm max blower and the PSG caddy gets a 1/3 hp 1300 cfm blower. ref http://www.psg-distribution.com/product.aspx?CategoId=16&Id=577&Page=spec and http://www.drolet.ca/upload/documents/manuels/45690A_28-06-2013.pdf

"Larger wood" and "seasoned wood" are both relative terms. The key is to get the moisture content down. Unfortunately it's hard to get all the moisture out of what I would call "larger" wood. I've split 3 year old seasoned wood before and tested the inside. It was a big piece of wood that my dad uses for "overnight wood". He swore up and down it was going to be completely dried out and it wasn't. You might want to test some of your wood the same way. If it's not above 18% in the middle you are good.

I almost wish my house wasn't insulated so well so the damper would open up more often. Last night I loaded up at 10pm and forgot to check it this morning. At 11:30 I realized it was starting to get cooler in the house and sure enough it dropped to 71 deg (wife likes to keep it at 73!) I went down expecting a cold stove and was able to get enough coals under the ashes to instantly light wood when I reloaded. The time of burn I get varies on the damper. It's not great when the damper is open full 24/7. I would say 6 hours tops but you are going to have one heck of a pile of coals for many hours after that.

Even tho the blower doesn't kick on I still get a ton of heat via convection. If it's installed properly everyone will. I'm glad it doesn't kick on until it gets to 120 because it allows me to control the heat better and not have wild temperature swings. I've been a cozy 73 all winter and i'm closing in on burning my first cord. I'm going to be able to keep it 73-74 in the house all winter on 3 cords. I'm for sure a fan and will be even more stoked when they correct a few design issues and come out with a revision.

 

[Cloud IT]

I think there reasoning is probably do it so it retrofits in the same duct space and floor layout pattern as a a hotblast / Jensen / Norseman
Furnace and they had that goal when laying it all out for an easy swap . Maybe by covering off two of the ducts they felt it would retain heat . Who knows for sure . We are probably over analyzing it on how they developed the changes considering it is just a cheap affordable caddy inspired copy to boost sales for sbi for the masses who are tired of feeding their smoke dragons 7 cubic feet of firewood every 5 hours last month the rep for sbi said they had sold over 1,300 tundras so it must be working

They need to focus on educating the customer more and their sales will be even better. It's a different way of thinking and I've actually had multiple dealers in my local area tell me face to face that outdoor EPA gasifiers were nothing but a bs extra charge that the EPA gets. Said there was zero difference between a EPA certified furnace and a regular one. No dealer is going to say that to their rep but they are saying it to the customer base. There is a massive internet movement in the US right now and burning wood for heat has been proven to be green and sustainable. We have estimated aprox. 350,000 Americans are currently using only electric heat and have an older style wood furnace that is not being used. As energy cost rise the appeal becomes greater once they understand they can get an EPA furnace and literally burn half the wood as a normal furnace.

This isn't even the most efficient furnace to get either. The Kumma is more efficient. There are two main differences why. First is the computer that doesn't connect to a thermostat but instead monitors the temperature of the burn to maintain maximum efficiency. There are different settings for various heat outputs and the output is constant. The heatmax has a thermostat and I would rather not risk overheating my house. The second big difference is that the Kumma has a well insulated front door and the heatmax/tundra has a glass door. I know it's not as efficient, but I love it. It gets so freaking hot you can't get a few feed in front of it sometimes. It gets so hot it is hard to film a video with my iphone 5s where the screen is filled with nothing but the window. I have to back up further, it's just too hot. A solid door would be way more efficient but I'll take my glass door any day.

Kudos to Kumma and what they are doing. I was so close to pulling the trigger on a vapor fire all summer long. I instead stuck to waiting on the heatmax/tundra simply due to the price difference. I can't help but think in the back of my mind that the Kumma is a better furnace tho. Without ever seeing one in person I get the feeling it's just a better made product and the cost is probably justified.

 

[djkost]

Well ordered my tundra today. Can't wait to install it. Sure I will have a question or two during set up.

 

[spadjen]

ok. so this may be information known by some but being new to an indoor wood furnace i was unaware of this and never gave it 2nd thought. c/o detectors going off in house and could not get them to reset. called the Fire Department out to check with there meter. thought i was getting combustion air thorough open damper or that my co detectors were getting old. They found fluctuating c/o coming directly out of the floor registers. readings of 200-30. thinking there was a crack in the firebox or heat ex-changer they condemned my wood furnace and shut it down. When emptying the firebox we pulled the ash box and saw that they were still hot from the day before. And i meen hot. They left and i got to calling but go nowhere since it was after hours. so sitting in a cold house thinking out what the f*** was going on i thought of the basic stupid design of a ash box in the air plenum. Then i had the though....what if they did not seal the ash box from the air plenum. no....dont think they would do that. well i checked and sure enough they are connected. pull your ash box and look up underneath and you will see a gap all the way around. put a light where the blower is in the back and you will see it in your ash box. when your blower turns on pull your ash box and see all your ashes blowing everywhere. I dont have any idea why they would do this. This would also explain why the ashes were still hot....they are being forced combustion air. This may be common knowledge to some but i say it is still the stupidest thing i have seen in awhile. the directions say to regularly empty ash pan and it should read dont operate with ashes in pan. Easy fix to c/o is to empty your ashes right away. but then there is still the problem of ash dust now being circulated around your duct work and into your house. WTF

 

[laynes69]

Huh? If there was a gap, ash would be pulled from the ashpan into the home. All furnaces have ash pans that are surrounded by the air jackets. When you rake ashes into the pan, they can stay hot for days. We have multiple CO detectors and never had any issues. Have you checked draft, does the chimney have any buildup? If it was the ashpan, you would have had this problem from the start. Can you get any pictures?

 

[brenndatomu]

Wow, circulating CO gas = dangerous, circulating ash dust = serious PITA, sounds like a major oopsy in the design dept if this is true!

 

[laynes69]

I would pull the blower and look inside the unit. Get a mirror and flashlight if needed. Our furnace shares the same firebox, and I know 100% those pans are fully welded to the furnace, or should be.

 

[spadjen]

Huh? If there was a gap, ash would be pulled from the ash pan into the home. All furnaces have ash pans that are surrounded by the air jackets. When you rake ashes into the pan, they can stay hot for days. We have multiple CO detectors and never had any issues. Have you checked draft, does the chimney have any buildup? If it was the ash pan, you would have had this problem from the start. Can you get any pictures?

that is what i am saying. ash can and prob is being pulled into the house. but i guess pushed is more like it. the blower is basically pushing air into the ash pan that then could and dose find its way into the air jacket. i cant take pics now since i have a blazing fire going trying to reheat the house. but just pull your pan get down and look up with a flash light. you will see a gap all the way around the top of the ash draw. if you have a fire going now and the blower is on. just open the draw and you will see and feel the air being pushed out. this should tell you right there that there is a connection between the air jacket and the ash box.

 

[spadjen]

I would pull the blower and look inside the unit. Get a mirror and flashlight if needed. Our furnace shares the same firebox, and I know 100% those pans are fully welded to the furnace, or should be.

if it was welded it would not pass light. but yes....a more in depth look to see where the deficiency is would be a good idea. any want to do a tare down of there new furnace?