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

[spadjen]

My burns around .08 to .05 . My burn times kinda suck. Book says maximum -.06 and min -.04. I think I need to get a baro and keep it consistent. Plus it gets windy here. Just sick of buyin crap for this thing. Well, at least the boss is! Double wall is a kicker.

check your wood with a moisture meter. I have had bad burn times too. When i checked it with the meter it registered 0%. my meter wont register under 5% so i know i am between 0-5%. I am pretty sure my wood was just burning up too fast being so dry. now i am on the opposite side of the scale since i ran out of wood. needed to get a load of fresh cut ash. First time burning ash but i do notice i am getting longer burn times. It measures about 30- 37% which is a little high but like i said....longer burn time. I am sure if it was somewhere in the 15% i would be getting both more heat and longer burn. picky picky.

 

[stihly dan]

37% is not remotely close to a LITTLE high. That is wet. Kiln dried lumber is more than 5%. Need To get a better meter, or learn how to tell dry wood from wet from sight and sound.

 

[brenndatomu]

my meter wont register under 5% so i know i am between 0-5%.

Impossible, kiln dried lumber is not even that low. It is REALLY hard to get air dried firewood much under 15%, YMMV a bit one way or the other by location.

First time burning ash but i do notice i am getting longer burn times. It measures about 30- 37% which is a little high

Anything over 30% is just plain soppin wet! I'm surprised you are getting any heat at all off that. If you like wet Ash, you will LOVE dry Ash!

Oops, just realized I'm starting to look like Stihlys parrot! Note to self...read all the new replys before posting

 

[flotek]

I put one good sized oak log in mine on a coal bed before I went at 5:30 to work ..7 hrs later it's still going and the blower is running. In all fairness it is a little warmer today though . I had some home construction scraps left over and tossed some Osb board and cut up 2x4 s in their wow did those secondaries throw out the heat for a long time . The drolet really excels with low moisture wood. If I burn half seasoned wood secondaries don't do much and it basically burns like any average non EPA furnace but if your stuff is well seasoned you'll see great results . I heard of a certain crazy guy who sometimes using Eco bricks in this and mixing several of them with not fully prime seasoned wood who has seen great results and long hot burns. . At 3 bucks for a six pack of Eco bricks(rated at 8% moisture) a person could use them exclusively as fuel never cut one stick of wood and it would still be cheaper than propane or fuel oil

 

[brenndatomu]

My brother sells Eco bricks, he has customers that do heat solely with them.
I will throw 1 or 2 bricks on the top of a load of firewood that is marginally dry, once the bricks fire they will keep the secondarys going until the rest of the wood is charred (dry)
it works pretty well, I figure they ultra dry bricks help to bring down the "average" moisture content of the load too

 

[Wisneaky]

I picked up my tundra this morning. I must say it is heavier than hell to move. Me and my nephew just barely were able to get it into the house and down stairs. Seems to be built good. I removed the fire brick first before we moved it in and there is 4 broken ones that were in it. I will have to see if they will replace them.

 

[spadjen]

Impossible, kiln dried lumber is not even that low. It is REALLY hard to get air dried firewood much under 15%, YMMV a bit one way or the other by location.
Anything over 30% is just plain soppin wet! I'm surprised you are getting any heat at all off that. If you like wet Ash, you will LOVE dry Ash!

Oops, just realized I'm starting to look like Stihlys parrot! Note to self...read all the new replys before posting

it is possible......i am living proof....lol. i did season that for 4 years and then put in the basement next to the wood stove for 3 months so it was ready to spontaneous combust

and yes...that is wet. it was sold to me as "dry ash" . It is hard to get wood in our area right now. took me 2 weeks to find any and that was 55 min away. cost me an xtra $100 for delivery. all i can say is...........never again am i running out of wood. this is the first year and the last year that will ever ever happen. I went through hell so as long as i am not burning wet pine floating in the swimming pool i will live with that.

 

[spadjen]

37% is not remotely close to a LITTLE high. That is wet. Kiln dried lumber is more than 5%. Need To get a better meter, or learn how to tell dry wood from wet from sight and sound.

some of us have no choice in the matter.

and........ i know how to read a meter. what me to post a video of it???

kiln dried is usually 10-15%. what do you think would happen if they never took it outta the cooker for another 2 weeks? its not like wood gets to 10% and stops.

 

[stihly dan]

I'm sure you know how to read the meter, I was not implying that. I was implying that the meter was not working correctly or lost calibration. Rendering it no good and having to know other ways to tell if the wood was dry. It would be impossible to air dry wood that low in moisture content, BUT by the stove for 3 months that's different.
I understand we do what we have to, for heat. Again, I was saying 37% was not slightly wet. So there was no confusion for someone that did not know better.

 

[spadjen]

I'm sure you know how to read the meter, I was not implying that. I was implying that the meter was not working correctly or lost calibration. Rendering it no good and having to know other ways to tell if the wood was dry. It would be impossible to air dry wood that low in moisture content, BUT by the stove for 3 months that's different.
I understand we do what we have to, for heat. Again, I was saying 37% was not slightly wet. So there was no confusion for someone that did not know better.

yeah i know the thud and clink sound, the smell and the back saving weight of seasoned. but i guess some clarification was in order for those reading the forum. I was being somewhat sarcastic . 35% is not too high for fresh cut ash...but is " alittle high" (aka....higher then cheech and chong) to be considered a good idea to burn. unless your screwed like me.

 

[Wisneaky]

does anyone have the AC01392 air return kit? What is the point of the thermodisc that comes with it?

 

[Wisneaky]

anyone who has the tundra, what are your flue temp running at?

 

[trx250r87]

300-400°F, 2' up from outlet, inside double wall black. I don't think I ever went over 450° yet.

 

[flotek]

My flue temp externally run around 200 ..a high number. May indicate a high draft speed that's pulling heat up the flue

 

[Wisneaky]

Got my my tundra installed today. Did a test burn with no problems. Didn't burn too much because I don't have the new flue liner installed yet. I bet there is going to be some crazy burn times. I put three pieces of oak slab wood in and they burned for 6 hours. Can't wait to get the liner installed so I can see what this thing can do. So far I'm impressed.

 

[newyorker]

Looks good I hope it works out good for you

 

[wise8706]

I have a situation to ask u guys about the heatmax... I have a 1000sq ft house that I purchased a couple years about. Garage is insulated very well so is the house. The garage is attached to house. Previous owner had Woodstove with blower and and he blew air into the house through duct work in the attic of garage. 8 inch duct work with insulation wrapped all the way around it. The distance from where I would like to position Woodstove to the house is about 40ft. My question is if I purchased a heatmax would I have to run more than one heat duct blowing straight into the house in order to be more efficient. I would like to keep Woodstove in garage to keep mess out of house. Le me know what u guys think. Thanks in advance.


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[brenndatomu]

Got my my tundra installed today.

Any idea if the blower-to-cabinet issue or the ash drawer flaw has been taken care of already? If so, is the ash drawer any different than what was sent to early purchasers as a retrofit?

 

[Wisneaky]

Any idea if the blower-to-cabinet issue or the ash drawer flaw has been taken care of already? If so, is the ash drawer any different than what was sent to early purchasers as a retrofit?

I just had mine installed yesterday and I don't see how the ash drawer could be any sort of problem. I had a fire going and I didn't see anything blowing around.

 

[82mkiiltype]

Well my Heatmax is currently sitting on a skid at my basement door. Going to be bringing it in tonight. I called SBI before purchasing and was assured all inventory in the plant was retrofitted and any furnace shipping direct from the factory would have the upgrades. I guess I'll see for myself tonight. Still don't think I'll bother to use the ash pan.

Wisneaky
New Member
Joined:Feb 17, 2014
Messages:15
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does anyone have the AC01392 air return kit? What is the point of the thermodisc that comes with it?

I ordered the cold air return kit, but haven't opened it yet. I'm interested in this question. Any answers yet?