Introducing Brand New Wood Furnace to Market - The Drolet Tundra!
- Thread starter Fyrebug
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brenndatomu
Hey you woodchucks, quit chucking my wood!
+1 on that ^^^
If your wood is not dry and well seasoned and you try burning it in a tundra/ heatmax your going to be disappointed . The design of the heat exchanger in the unit makes for a sticky crusty mess . You won't achieve good secondary combustion , you'll get poor heat output and short burns due to damper flap having to remain open to compensate . Burning sub par wood will negate any technology and benefit of the EPA design . If you are getting a coating of black tarry crud on the window then the only explanation is poorly seasoned fuel
I've been running a woodstock fireview since 2007 and a progress hybrid since they first came out with the same wood (or seasoning routine) that I'm now running in the tundra. No performance issues in the woodstock stoves due to wood seasoning. That said I'll break out one my moisture meters and check some fresh surfaces on the splits. As far as build up on the window it's stayed pretty clean, there will be a light brown coating on the lower edges/ 25% of the glass after an overnight closed down air inlet burn that cleans up quickly on its own on a reload/char the wood session. It just seems that the stove requires a really hot firebox, extended wood charring session to get it to maintain secondary action with out loosing active secondarys and flue temps dropping too low after closing down the air inlet. One good thing, with the size of this house (3400ft2) there's not much need for low output burns / small load burns....
laynes69
Addicted to ArboristSite
Just like some epa stoves, sometimes having the air completely shut down may not be enough. In the manual on our Caddy, there's provisions to adjust the air intake to match the type of fuel. Is the Tundra adjustible, if not then try a paper clip on the primary damper so it remains open a little. If I'm burning pine or softer woods, I can shut my furnace down 100%, otherwise a large load of dense wood requires a little extra air. When you factor in heating demand, wood type, chimney setup, etc. there's so many variables from one user to the next.
I've been burning nothing but white oak, black and honey locust with a touch of ash and hackberry mixed in. I have experimented with holding the air damper slighty open and do get good results but I am not around the furnace enough to continously monitor temps in this situation (still in the process of moving into this new place). I suspect you are correct- dense hardwoods are going to require a touch more air.
brenndatomu
Hey you woodchucks, quit chucking my wood!
I think it has been discussed in this thread before, but I don't feel like digging through all of this so I'll just mention this and maybe someone that actually owns a Tundra/Heatmax and has done this can fill in the details. Someone here, maybe several someones, wired a bathroom fan timer switch to the damper so the damper could be held open irregardless of what the thermostat was calling for, allowing the firebox to build heat after reloading without having to be right there babysitting it or forgetting about the widget that you wedged in the damper. This also allows the high temp limit switch to operate if you had a load that really took off quickly on you.
brenndatomu
Hey you woodchucks, quit chucking my wood!
Good idea. I guess you could do that with most any programmable thermostat, no? Of course that mean loading at the same time every day...on second thought, maybe this is not a good idea with just any 'stat. Hows that work exactly with the Nest?
newyorker
ArboristSite Operative
the nest is slick you just turn the dial and select schedule and then the temp and how many minutes till u want it to go down to that temp i work 4-12 (working as we speak) im whipped when i get home i turn the nest to 72 set that stat for 68 in 20 minutes, go in basement damper is open load firebox up go to bed i leave work at 12 and box is loaded and im in bed at 12:09
Grey Ghost
ArboristSite Lurker
What is the part number on that adjustable snap disc? I was getting great burn times last year with my Heatmax but after the first month this year, it seems like the fire is raging for a LONG time before the blower kicks on. I'm using better seasoned wood than last year and this same wood did fine earlier this year. Now I'll often have to light a new fire in the morning because there aren't even coals to work with (and the house is chilly). Winter hasn't even really hit hard yet so I'm thinking something isn't working quite right.
How has the unit performed with the new snap disc? What do you guys have it set for?
How has the unit performed with the new snap disc? What do you guys have it set for?
82mkiiltype
ArboristSite Lurker
Well I'm the nut with the bathroom fan timer. It still works awesome by the way...
You should never wedge something to hold the draft open. It's dangerous as you are overriding the furnaces ability to shut down in case it gets too hot. Unlike old school furnaces these new Secondary burn furnaces run much closer to the temperature limits of the materials they are built with and you can warp/crack and even melt things if it gets too hot. I know, I know you just wedge it open a little .... still not a great idea as you are also hurting it's efficiency.
These furnaces have two settings "Call for Heat" and "Charcoal". They are designed to be hooked to a thermostat that will "call for heat" 1 x 2 times an hour depending on heat loss of the building. If you are filling it with good dry solid hardwood, revving it up to get the secondarys going and switching it to "Charcoal" for the next 8 hours, you will get a huge pile of coals, and not much heat for the last 4 hours.
I normally burn dry almost punky ash and elm and I can get away with "charcoal" mode for 8 hours because the wood leaves no coals and is so eager to burn the firebox temp stays up anyway. It's like filling the firebox with nothing but kindling wood. When I've filled it with the odd hardwood maple/oak logs I end up with 6"-8" of coals and a colder house than when I burn lower quality wood. When I'm home on the weekends I'll go into the basement and set my timer for 30 min every 2 hours of so. Makes way more heat, burns up the coals, and keeps the furnace burning the way it was designed to. Super hot and clean, or holding coals for the next call for heat. Running it in between those two temperatures risks the secondarys working properly.
A thermostat really should be installed with these units. I've finally got a duct work plan in the works ... and a thermostat will go in at the same time.
But I'm still keeping my bathroom timer!
You should never wedge something to hold the draft open. It's dangerous as you are overriding the furnaces ability to shut down in case it gets too hot. Unlike old school furnaces these new Secondary burn furnaces run much closer to the temperature limits of the materials they are built with and you can warp/crack and even melt things if it gets too hot. I know, I know you just wedge it open a little .... still not a great idea as you are also hurting it's efficiency.
These furnaces have two settings "Call for Heat" and "Charcoal". They are designed to be hooked to a thermostat that will "call for heat" 1 x 2 times an hour depending on heat loss of the building. If you are filling it with good dry solid hardwood, revving it up to get the secondarys going and switching it to "Charcoal" for the next 8 hours, you will get a huge pile of coals, and not much heat for the last 4 hours.
I normally burn dry almost punky ash and elm and I can get away with "charcoal" mode for 8 hours because the wood leaves no coals and is so eager to burn the firebox temp stays up anyway. It's like filling the firebox with nothing but kindling wood. When I've filled it with the odd hardwood maple/oak logs I end up with 6"-8" of coals and a colder house than when I burn lower quality wood. When I'm home on the weekends I'll go into the basement and set my timer for 30 min every 2 hours of so. Makes way more heat, burns up the coals, and keeps the furnace burning the way it was designed to. Super hot and clean, or holding coals for the next call for heat. Running it in between those two temperatures risks the secondarys working properly.
A thermostat really should be installed with these units. I've finally got a duct work plan in the works ... and a thermostat will go in at the same time.
But I'm still keeping my bathroom timer!
I like the bathroom timer idea ! When I get up it's super early like 3:45 in the morning I'm dead to the world so I don't rush downstairs and fill the firebox instead I walk over to the thermostat and crank the setting up to 75 or so and then I go get dressed make coffee take out the dog etc. this gives the furnace a good 20 minutes of incoming fresh air to burn off the heavy coal bed down and really heats up the firebox to prepare the new charge of fuel I load in . I toss wood in it and close the door and it takes right off over those glowing red hot embers . Then before I walk out the door I set the to stat for 70 or 71 and leave ...Works good for me
I run mind on a thermostat and it works well. When it calls for heat the stat opens up the air intake and the fire blazes. The problem I have is if the room doesn't need heat the wood just smolgers. I think I will drill and tap a hole in the air intake door so I can adjust it a bit to keep it open. Could someone list the part number for the snap disk that is better then the one that comes with the furnace.
Grey Ghost
ArboristSite Lurker
Thanks Flotek. If that's set that low, it doesn't cool the heat exchanger too quickly huh? Do the stock ones have problems or are they just set too high? Just curious. I'm just wondering if that's my problem because it just started not heating as well (or long) out of the blue. Very happy with the furnace till it started chewing through the wood all the sudden.
