Looking for advice on Indoor Wood Furnaces

[802climber]

Well that works for me. Didn't know one could still buy a non-EPA unit. I am happy with an old school burner, and about ready to pull the trigger on this one....... 34 degrees last night. Not ready.

 

[802climber]

What about a chimney for this unit? Any tips? 6 inch metalbestos should do the trick?

 

[UpOnTheHill]

What about a chimney for this unit? Any tips? 6 inch metalbestos should do the trick?

Download and read the manual. It should tell you what chimney pipe it requires along with clearances, maintenance, etc.

 

[CWME]

Another vote for the Drolet heatmax. I Have both the Englander and the Drolet. Englander is in my shop now. Great for tons of heat quick but it chews through wood quickly too. Just installed the heatmax and so far it has been great. I like that I can set the thermostat on the wall and it will keep a relatively even heat coming out. Got mine for $1800 and change shipped from a place in MO. Well worth the extra $300 over the Englander.

 

[RickCarrigan]

I would have recommended the Drolet Heatmax last week, but now I am concerned. I went to light a fire this weekend only to find two cracks in the front of my Heatmax furnace. One located on the top hinge side of the door, starting from the corner working to the left side of the stove approx. 4 inches long, and the other on the lower handle side of the door, starting from the corner working its way to the right side approx. 3 - 4 inches long. It was very concerning. We will be contact Drolet today to discuss this. We only burn wood in the stove and have thought it was the best thing we've ever bought. We've been promoting the company and furnace to all our friends and family. My father-in-law just purchased their Tundra model. Now I don't want to tell him what just happened to us, but I have to. Has anyone else had this happen???????

 

[brenndatomu]

First that I've heard that one...how long have you had it?
I'm saying Drolet will make things right with you on this

 

[RickCarrigan]

First that I've heard that one...how long have you had it?
I'm saying Drolet will make things right with you on this

We bought it Sept 21 2013. We've used it one winter. I have to say we couldn't get over how good it worked all winter, we were really disappointed. We've contact Drolet today, I will post their response, but I will say the initial contact was positive.

 

[laynes69]

I have the same firebox in our Caddy, and I couldn't imagine anything like that happening with the furnace. From what I've seen, it would take some major heat to do damage like that. Out of curiosity did you have your draft speeds checked, and if necessary, running a barometric damper? How big is your home?

 

[RickCarrigan]

I have the same firebox in our Caddy, and I couldn't imagine anything like that happening with the furnace. From what I've seen, it would take some major heat to do damage like that. Out of curiosity did you have your draft speeds checked, and if necessary, running a barometric damper? How big is your home?

I have a baro damper and it is working fine. I never had my draft speed ckeck, but it seems to be working fine. I thought the same thing, it had to have a lot of heat, I just can't see how or when it did. Burning some dry wood to start the fire, mostly building maters, scrap 2x4, 2x6 etc. no pressure treated stuff, and logs, seasoned and some green. Nothing that I would figure would do that.

 

[brenndatomu]

That kiln dried building lumber will overheat a stove/furnace faster than almost anything else. The proof is in your pictures, see how the paint has a grey/white look to it around the door in the firebox area? When stove paint goes white...that means this thing was hotter than hades!
Also, if your draft speed was never checked (with a manometer) to set the baro properly...there is no way to know if it was working properly. I have a manometer permanently hooked up to my chimney to make sure the baro is working at all times, a small change can make a huge difference!
How tall is your chimney?
I'm sure Drolet will want pics, they would have a perfect reason to tell you to pound sand on this one, but I bet they won't... they seem to be a stand up company.

 

[RickCarrigan]

That kiln dried building lumber will overheat a stove/furnace faster than almost anything else. The proof is in your pictures, see how the paint has a grey/white look to it around the door in the firebox area? When stove paint goes white...that means this thing was hotter than hades!
Also, if your draft speed was never checked (with a manometer) to set the baro properly...there is no way to know if it was working properly. I have a manometer permanently hooked up to my chimney to make sure the baro is working at all times, a small change can make a huge difference!
How tall is your chimney?
I'm sure Drolet will want pics, they would have a perfect reason to tell you to pound sand on this one, but I bet they won't... they seem to be a stand up company.

Your quick to judge, I have been using wood heat since I was a boy. There was never any large amount of dry wood used, I know the difference. Only enought to have the fire catch. I have a stove pipe thermometer that I use to monitor the themp. and our stove has never over heat that I have ever seen. We've used it a few time since it has cracked, it wasn't always white like that, I am only guessing but I think it has gotten to that stag cause while the fire is in now it draws oxygen in throw the crack and creats more heat in that area? Our stove pipe is still has good colour after a year and the rest of the stove doesn't show much in the way of overheating. Why do people jump to conclusions with the whole story.

 

[laynes69]

We have a jacket over the front of our firebox, not where the face is exposed. Dimensional lumber can cause high heat, but not if used sparingly. How large is your home, and how often was the damper opened?

 

[NSMaple1]

Those cracks are very weird looking. I don't think I could say it was overheat, I'm thinking if it was the cracks would be uneven from warping on both sides of them. And my eyes aren't seeing discoloration. But hard to tell sometimes from a net pic.

Keep us posted on how that turns out - there's been a lot of posts about Tundras but I think the first one I've seen about cracks. Good luck.

EDIT: But I would get a manometer. I have one, and a barometric damper, for my boiler. It's cheap & permanently mounted, and the only way to know for sure if your appliance is seeing the specified draft.

 

[RickCarrigan]

That kiln dried building lumber will overheat a stove/furnace faster than almost anything else. The proof is in your pictures, see how the paint has a grey/white look to it around the door in the firebox area? When stove paint goes white...that means this thing was hotter than hades!
Also, if your draft speed was never checked (with a manometer) to set the baro properly...there is no way to know if it was working properly. I have a manometer permanently hooked up to my chimney to make sure the baro is working at all times, a small change can make a huge difference!
How tall is your chimney?
I'm sure Drolet will want pics, they would have a perfect reason to tell you to pound sand on this one, but I bet they won't... they seem to be a stand up company.

Lol, after that long winded reply, I just went down to look at the furnace and it is still a nice dark colour, it was the flash on the camera that is giving it that whitish colour.

We have a jacket over the front of our firebox, not where the face is exposed. Dimensional lumber can cause high heat, but not if used sparingly. How large is your home, and how often was the damper opened?

2500sqft. That depends on the outside temp. It is hooked up to a thermostat, usually set at 24 degrees

 

[RickCarrigan]

T

Those cracks are very weird looking. I don't think I could say it was overheat, I'm thinking if it was the cracks would be uneven from warping on both sides of them. And my eyes aren't seeing discoloration. But hard to tell sometimes from a net pic.

Keep us posted on how that turns out - there's been a lot of posts about Tundras but I think the first one I've seen about cracks. Good luck.

EDIT: But I would get a manometer. I have one, and a barometric damper, for my boiler. It's cheap & permanently mounted, and the only way to know for sure if your appliance is seeing the specified draft.

Thank you, I have the barometric damper, but a will pick up a manometer for sure now.

 

[CWME]

I would be interested in Drolet's findings on this. Maybe best to start a new thread to keep track of the issue though.

 

[iowa]

I love my Kuuma Vaporfire 100 for my 3000 sq foot home. Keeps us warm and uses very little wood. It's built heavy and will last long time!

 

[RickCarrigan]

Drolet has replied and they are replacing/exchanging our furnace. I am pleased to hear this and it proves they stand behind their product. I am sure they will study it, to find out what caused it.
I will also be interested in what caused this to happen.
Thank you all for your comments and interest, I have found it very helpful

 

[802climber]

Burned the Englander out today in the driveway... So far so good!

 

[802climber]

I bought this England 28 - 3500 last year ................. I ran it 99% of the time last year with the blower fan shut off.

Was this with full loads, or half loads? I've been running my blower all the time. My power was out yesterday evening for hours and the sheet metal cabinet seemed to get very hot. Also, I have no ductwork just a 90* elbow dumping heat into the basement.


During the power outage I closed the bottom air knob (usually keep it cracked a quarter turn) and set the upper air control to keep the flue temps around 300 degrees (stack temp). Usually burn @ 300-600 degrees stack temp.