Maintain those temps, boys

[Whitespider]

I haven't run ours in the 7yrs we've been here and don't plan on giving the propane guy any money.

I turn the gas on to our propane furnace and run it for a few minutes every fall... just to make sure it still works.
Then I turn the gas back off and cut the power, other than that, we ain't used it in 5 years now... however, I do use propane to heat water.
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[chipper1]

Here's how a properly installed furnace looks if you "heat with wood" lol.
Maybe I should hook it up where it is and put one piece of duct to my bench. Or I could get a small stove to set on top of my bech made from an old 20lb propane tank that would be ironic.

 

[chipper1]

I turn the gas on to our propane furnace and run it for a few minutes every fall... just to make sure it still works.
Then I turn the gas back off and cut the power, other than that, we ain't used it in 5 years now... however, I do use propane to heat water.
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Thats awesome.
I've never started the funace here.
We only use our propane for water. I use one 100lb tank every other month. I don't even want the propane truck on my property. It's bad enough he comes down our driveway(shared) to fill the neighbors tank.

 

[Marshy]

So when the combustion fan isnt running, how does the air enter the firebox?

 

[Ironworker]

One fat red oak crotch on top of a red oak split and some coals with the air all the way down.

It'll burn nice and hot like this for about 3-4 hours, you ain't t doing that with an old smoke dragon.

 

[Whitespider]

So when the combustion fan isnt running, how does the air enter the firebox?

It free-flows through the draft blower.
There's a swinging door on the blower to limit how much air can free-flow through it, but I just leave it full open and use the key damper in the flue pipe to control flow.
Here's a picture of the draft blower with the swinging door (or gate) full open (best pic I could find).

 

[Whitespider]

Here's a better pic @Marshy

 

[chipper1]

Here's a better pic...

View attachment 465412

You got that off quick. Could you get a picture of the key damper from inside the flue pipe real quick.

 

[Whitespider]

It'll burn nice and hot like this for about 3-4 hours, you ain't t doing that with an old smoke dragon.

Really??
Maybe you should come visit and get an education.
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[Ironworker]

Really??
Maybe you should come visit and get an education.
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I would love to hang out with you, when can we do this.

 

[chipper1]

It free-flows through the draft blower.
There's a swinging door on the blower to limit how much air can free-flow through it, but I just leave it full open and use the key damper in the flue pipe to control flow.
Here's a picture of the draft blower with the swinging door (or gate) full open (best pic I could find).

Not sure what happened to my other post.
I had asked if you could have a situation where the key damper was closed to much and the combustion fan came on that would be to much positive pressure in the stove and have some come back out the fan vent or is there a one way valve of sorts on the front of the fan.
Also about how many cords do you use a yr.

 

[Marshy]

Really??
Maybe you should come visit and get an education.
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How many cubic feet is the firebox?

 

[Whitespider]

I would love to hang out with you, when can we do this.

Whenever your coming this way
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[Whitespider]

I had asked if you could have a situation where the key damper was closed to much and the combustion fan came on that would be to much positive pressure in the stove and have some come back out the fan vent or is there a one way valve of sorts on the front of the fan.

No one-way valve... I've never had a problem.
I do have a standard way of setting the flue damper... with the fire going good (and blower off) I leave the door open and slowly close the damper until I see a bit of smoke or flame exit, then I open it just enough so nothing is exiting the door. After that I usually don't touch it until temperatures change considerably... so like when I first fire-up in the fall, then again in mid-December, and again in March. Ya' kind'a get a feel for it... I know right off when I open the door if an adjustment is in order. Sometimes if the wind is blowing hard from the right direction I'll close it just a bit more for that day.
As far as how many cord I burn each year... this is only the third season for this set-up... and I'm goin' off guess 'n' b'gosh. It also depends a lot on the type of wood. Last year I burned something between 5 and 5½ cord, but about 3 of that was given to me, a mix of everything ... quite a bit of it Box Elder, Silver Maple and such. The year before that was longer and colder, and I burned quite a bit of Walnut (which is lousy for heat)... around 6 cord. This year I've got around 5½ cord of Oak and Elm in the basement... and as warm as it's been so far, I'm not sure I'll burn all of that. If we don't get much sub-zero weather I might get by easily on 4 cord or so.
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[chipper1]

I would love to hang out with you, when can we do this.

That would be a long ride

 

[Whitespider]

How many cubic feet is the firebox?

Heck, I don't know... DAKA doesn't give that specification.
It just says the firebox size is 16 wide by 23 deep... but then it says maximum log length is 25 inches(?), and only fill it to the top of the brick which is 9 inches(?). So what is it?? In a furnace the firebox size ain't fuel load capacity... it's more about the area of steel available to transfer heat to the forced air outside the box. Heck, the firebox extends well above the top of the door, but there ain't no way to put firewood up there.
It don't matter anyway, I only use about half of it... I cut my firewood to 16 inches. So thinkin' about it, 16 inches long, in a box 16 inches wide (which it ain't because of the brick), and loaded maybe 12-14 inches deep is as much as I've ever put in there... something less than 2 cubic feet of wood when I load it heavy.
Here I found a picture of it...

 

[BoBDoG2o02]

Definately no smoke dragon but not an EPA stove either. UL listed and EPA exempt...... Moisture meter or not, really makes no diference when you have a combustion blower, just saying.

 

[Whitespider]

Here's a picture from the modification build... it should give some idea of the "firebox" size (the open area in which the fire burns).
It like a 55 gallon barrel... but it's a furnace, not a stove.
Firebox "size" has nothing to do with fuel capacity... it's about heat transfer surface area.

 

[Whitespider]

UL listed and EPA exempt...

Not anymore... the EPA changed the rules.
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[Marshy]

My firebox is similar to yours in size, mines a little shorter but a tad wider. You definetly have a lot nicer and larger grate. Do you have a baffle in the top of the firebox beforeb it enters the flue? I wish my stove had more room inside so I could fab a baffle.