Looking at add-on wood furnaces

[blsnelling]

I should add that we sell Simpson's Duravent flues and we give you 30% off of what list pricing is.As a manufacturer we negotiated a great pricing structure then we pass along a good share of the discount we get.

What would a through the wall kit cost me, and would it connect to my SuperPro pipe?

I thought the Caddy used your existing blower from the furnace?

Can you shed some light on this, Keith? I've got a AC and gas heat central air conditioning system. I thought I would need a blower on the Caddy to get the heat to my existing duct work, then the blower in it would carry it to the rest of the house.

 

[OhioGregg]

I've got one that I think might be able to handle it. I've got an old piece of junk Poulan 4000
__________________
Brad

LOL Thats a good one! It will handle it. Just ask MoparMike

At least you won't have to go out and buy one of those High dollar orange & white ones. Specially after the money its gonna cost to get set up for burnnin wood.


Gregg,

 

[CrappieKeith]

What would a through the wall kit cost me, and would it connect to my SuperPro pipe?


Can you shed some light on this, Keith? I've got a AC and gas heat central air conditioning system. I thought I would need a blower on the Caddy to get the heat to my existing duct work, then the blower in it would carry it to the rest of the house.

Your gonna want to go get Selkirk metalbest's kit as not all pipes are interchangeable.Herein lies the issue with buying piecemeal .

There are 2 ways to add a wood furnace to your current ducting.
There is what's called series which involves using the exsisting blower to move the heat.
With an A coil in your hot air plenum the room needed for a splitter damper is not there so in this case a parallell install is the way to go.In this instance you'll need an additional blower with a back flow damper mounted in the heat run to avoid heats backing up into the liquid fuel furnace and causing damage or fire.
All of your ducting including a condensate pan is to be made of metal.
If your ducting makes a downward turn a heat dump should be installed into your plenum.Look to page 7 on this link.
Diagram #2 is wrong...our gal added a damper in the hot air coming out of the Jack.That is supposed to be open.
http://www.yukon-eagle.com/pdfs/jack.pdf

Maybe I could get Caddy to buck up for my tech services.LOL

 

[blsnelling]

Sorry Keith. I keep forgetting which stove you sell. Tell me about setting up a Super Jack and what I would need. How much is that through the wall kit you mentioned, if I buy your furnace? Were you saying that it would, or would not connect to the SuperPro pipe I bought.

 

[CrappieKeith]

Sorry Keith. I keep forgetting which stove you sell. Tell me about setting up a Super Jack and what I would need. How much is that through the wall kit you mentioned, if I buy your furnace? Were you saying that it would, or would not connect to the SuperPro pipe I bought.

I do not know if it would connect is what I'm saying.A through the wall kit(thimbal) is a 2 piece product which you'd then run your pipe through. I do not know the thickness of the wall?????
I do not know how far off of the wall your going to hold the pipe ...maybe 2" if you have a double wall insulated.

You are also going to need a connector to join your single wall or double wall non insulated from the furnace to this pipe and on the outside of the home you will need every 8 foot a mounting starp that is adjustable.
Then are you going through a soffit? There's a heat shield that will be needed as well as a roof flashing with storm collar.If this is the way then what is the pitch of your roof line?Now how far in the air are you going?
Code wants that flue 2 foot above the peak of your roof if the flue pipe is within 10 feet of the peak of your roof or the flue has to be at least 3 feet above the roof line if you are further than 10 feet from the peak of your roof.
If the pipe is 5 foot taller than your roofline you'll need a guide on support.

I am willing to earn your business I am also willing to tell you everything you need to know so you can go buy the other guys product ,but I'll need more info.
If there is nobody from Caddy to do this what does it tell you about their support?

 

[watchamakalit]

I've got one that I think might be able to handle it. I've got an old piece of junk Poulan 4000

Brad, Don't worry I made a cry for help for you on the chainsaw board. Maybe we can find you a good saw.....

 

[blsnelling]

Thanks Keith. I wasn't looking for exact piece length and all that, just generally what I need.

The height needed above the roof info is good to know. I'll be far more than 10' fromt he ridge, so will only need to be 3' above the roof.

I have not seen the heat shields for going through the soffit. That sounds like what I was thinking about.

What about ducting it into my central air? Will I need the expensive fan and blower cabinet options? If so, that really drives the price of the SJ up. If I need all of the options, that drives the price up to $3148.

 

[blsnelling]

Brad, Don't worry I made a cry for help for you on the chainsaw board. Maybe we can find you a good saw.....

Hehehe

 

[CrappieKeith]

Your going to need a blower if your going to a parellel install.
If you can buy one locally on the cheap go for it as long as it's class b insulated for high heat and maybe you can build your own sheet metal return box.

I can't help you on the Selkirk pipe.My product knowledge is not there with them.

The SJ125 is $2249 plus some freight to get it to you.It falls into the tax credit of 30% off.
That furnace should be almost 5000$ sold through a retailer.
Everyone seems to be looking at the money not at what's really in what I'm buying? Strange
We should market them that way....then everyone would be saying I got a 5 thousand dollar furnace for half price.

 

[blsnelling]

Your gonna want to go get Selkirk metalbest's kit as not all pipes are interchangeable.Herein lies the issue with buying piecemeal .

There are 2 ways to add a wood furnace to your current ducting.
There is what's called series which involves using the exsisting blower to move the heat.
With an A coil in your hot air plenum the room needed for a splitter damper is not there so in this case a parallell install is the way to go.In this instance you'll need an additional blower with a back flow damper mounted in the heat run to avoid heats backing up into the liquid fuel furnace and causing damage or fire.
All of your ducting including a condensate pan is to be made of metal.
If your ducting makes a downward turn a heat dump should be installed into your plenum.

So, if I understand you correctly, I cannot use my existing furnace fan to help push the air to the rest of my house? Is this simply because I have an A coil in there? So I've got to install a damper between the A coil and hot air input, and the fan on the wood furnace will have to push the air to all of the house? If so, then is the optional fan and housing large enough to feed a 2000 sq ft home?

Here's my central air unit. I assume the hot air would have to be plumbed into the same section where the humidifier is.

 

[blsnelling]

OK. I've been studying the series vs parralel installation diagrams some more. I don't see why I can't do a series installation by removing the humidifier, put a damper in the middle of it, take return from the bottom, and supply to the top. Any reason that wouldn't work?

 

[CrappieKeith]

I'd stay away from pumping 500-600 degree air into your plenum because of your april air.
Instead tie it into your main heat run with a back flow damper between your exsisting hot air plenum and where you'd connect a hot air run from the wood furnace.
I say 500-600 degrees because without power that's how hot it will be withing 6 feet of the wood plenum.

There's no room for a splitter damper in your plenum so series instal is out of the question.
Our 1460 cfm blower is plenty big for your home.

 

[blsnelling]

I don't see any other way to do it besides plumbing into that plenum right where the humidifier is. My supply air splits in four different directions right there.

 

[laynes69]

If you have a budget, the 1500 series furnaces by usstove would heat your house just fine. Alot of people say their cheap, but there made out of 7 gauge steel, firebrick lined and they do the job. We heated with one for 25 years. Some furnaces are made out of 10 gauge steel, so I would watch for that. Also like said the englander would also do the job. As far as the Caddy, we heat a 2400 square foot victorian with 10' ceilings and our basement stays warm from the radiant heat, which is 1200 square feet. We averaged 70-72 this winter with ours, and our house isn't too tight. We have some high heat loss areas that need to be addressed, so it would do the job. You can get them shipped for 2900 with the blower. They are setup just like a furnace. You can also add electric heat or an oil-burner for a multi fuel furnace if you wanted to. As far as the tax credit goes I believe it only applies if you are replacing a furnace with a new one. I would check into that, you may not be eligible. Shop around, and compare. Buying a lower line furnace will heat just fine, but it will use more wood than a furnace with secondary combustion. There are alot of choices out there.

 

[ericjeeper]

Brad. How many btus is your current gas furnace? This will give you an idea of how many pounds of wood you will need to get a 12 hour burn. Figured on 65-70% efficiency. At zero degrees outside temp.

 

[blsnelling]

Brad. How many btus is your current gas furnace? This will give you an idea of how many pounds of wood you will need to get a 12 hour burn. Figured on 65-70% efficiency. At zero degrees outside temp.

It's a Trane XE90. 80,000 Input BTU, 74,000 Capacity BTU. Whatever that means

 

[jburner]

Efficiency then is 92.5%

 

[laynes69]

Gas furnaces and wood furnaces are completely different when it comes to heating. A woodfurnace spreads those btus out over a long period of time with a constant heat, unlike a gas furnace that runs full bore then shuts down to repeat. A woodfurnace won't shut down like a gas furnace. So the need for btus is lowered. If you ran a woodfurnace at its full rated capacity, your house would be 100 degrees with short burntimes. With a 74,000 btu furnace your home doesn't have a high heat load. You go too big and you can create a bad environment for the flue with creasote.

 

[ericjeeper]

Ok assuming your current furnace would keep up without the pellet stove. You are going to need to consume roughly 14-15 pounds of wood per hour. When the outside temps are near zero. So you want to get a good eight hours of sleep.You are going a furnace with a firebox that will hold roughly 120 pounds of wood to achieve an all night burn.
If I am wrong someone will correct me hopefully.

 

[blsnelling]

I imagine the furnace is only intended to heat the main floor, which is 1950 sq ft. I need to heat the full basement as well.