# Which Wood Furnace



## Lawson111 (Sep 2, 2015)

Hi all,

I'm looking at installing a wood furnace to heat my home this winter. I need to heat 2500sq.ft. so I will choose a model that can handle that but  I was looking at a couple brands. United states stove company 1602m, DAKA 622FBT, Shelter sf2631 and Drolet tundra. They are all within the same price, has anyone had any experience with any of these stoves? Do all have a secondary burn? Which one is better than the other and why? Looking to purchase one ASAP.

Thank you,


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## brenndatomu (Sep 2, 2015)

Howdy! The Tundra is the only one with true secondary burn. The Tundra has had a few hiccups since coming out a couple years back but Drolet has taken care of things as far as I've heard, and the ones that are available now should be issue free.
I would rate them in reverse order that you listed them in
1. Tundra-Pretty good entry level secondary burn furnace
2. Shelter-Quality built old school wood furnace
3. Daka-Basic old school wood furnace
4. USSC-Chicom built smoke dragon junk

Use the search feature, there should be lots of threads on all of them. And FYI, there are a couple new secondary burn furnaces coming out any time now. Drolet was supposed to release a larger version of the Tundra Sept 1, but I haven't heard anything about it being out as of now.
USSC is jumping in the EPA furnace ring for the first time with at least 3 new models but I'd be wary of them at this point for 2 reasons...
1. USSC has a reputation for low quality/poor customer service chicom copycat junk
2. First year models...


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## Lawson111 (Sep 2, 2015)

Thanks for the info! I read a lot about the Drolet and it seems a lot of people like it. I just couldn't find a good comparison between the models I was looking at. My father owns a smaller ussc 1557m so I'm familiar with them stoves. The reason I listed them models is because that's what I can get at tractor supply and mernards. I'm leaning more towards the Drolet DAKA or Shelter but I'm not very familiar with the secondary burn stoves or stoves that have the blower that is controlled with the thermostat on the front of them. There all on sale at mernards and are cheaper that the USSC which is sold at tractor supply and after reading how many people don't like them i think I'll stay away from that brand. 

I need a stove that will heat a 2200 sq.ft single story ranch with a full basement. Wood stove will be in basement and hooked up to existing oil furnace duck work. Will the Drolet heat that with the smaller fire box compared to the shelter, daka and USSC 1602m?


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## Lawson111 (Sep 2, 2015)

Also I should add it will be going to a                7 1/2x12in clay lined brick chimney.


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## Wisneaky (Sep 2, 2015)

I have actually owned both the Tundra and now have the Shelter furnace. The Tundra is a good entry level furnace, but does or did have some issues. Tons of info on here about it. I bought the Shelter to replace it and I absolutely love it so far. Holds a lot of wood, can burn coal, has shaker grates, built really good, and burns a long time.


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## Lawson111 (Sep 2, 2015)

Thank you wisneaky. Can anyone explain to me how the a thermostat controlled induction blower works? And are these stoves easy to operate. I know the USSC wood stove I grew up with was simple. Reason I ask about ease of operation is because I have a baby sitter that watches my kids all day that will need to learn how to load and operate the stove.


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## Lawson111 (Sep 2, 2015)

Also what size stove should I get to heat 2200 sq. ft? Should I get a model that heats 2500-3500 or one that will heat up to 2500? I just want to make sure I make the right choice. These things aren't cheap!


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## brenndatomu (Sep 2, 2015)

Lawson111 said:


> Can anyone explain to me how the a thermostat controlled induction blower works?


When the tstat calls for heat, that kicks the blower on which stokes the fire up, once the air around the furnace gets hot enough, there is a temp switch that kicks on the duct blower. The only issue is (in my experience) furnaces that use an induction blower really chew through the wood. I quit using the blower on mine, just ran it like a wood stove, kinda 



Lawson111 said:


> Also I should add it will be going to a 7 1/2x12in clay lined brick chimney


Probably gonna need to drop a 6" liner in that to get it to draft very well, especially since most ranch chimneys are not very tall


Lawson111 said:


> Also what size stove should I get to heat 2200 sq. ft?


What's your heat load like? Annual fuel usage...gallons of oil or propain, MCF gas?


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## Lawson111 (Sep 2, 2015)

Thank you for explaining that @brenndatomu. And as far as fuel usage this is the first winter I will be in this home. Just purchased in May 2015. But the previous owners said they burned 8tons of pellets! Yikes that's why I'm not burning pellets when they are $280 a ton in my area when I can get a load of 20 face cord for $600 and run it threw my fathers wood processor and be done with my wood in one day .


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## brenndatomu (Sep 2, 2015)

Lawson111 said:


> I can get a load of 20 face cord for $600 and run it threw my fathers wood processor and be done with my wood in one day


Gotta love having access to a processor. Hopefully you have dry wood already? Like actually dry, not the "seasoned" stuff that most firewood sellers have...most was split this year. If you have wood that is more than 20% moisture content (by meter) you will not like how a EPA furnace runs for you, get below 20%, they work great, under 18%, they will _really_ start to "walk and talk"


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## Lawson111 (Sep 2, 2015)

Hmmm that might take the Drolet out of the running because most of the wood we get is cut in the winter and burned the next winter. Also I have to keep my wood stacked outside just with the top covered. I won't have a wood shed this year.


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## brenndatomu (Sep 2, 2015)

Dunno what to think about your heat load...sounds like it may be a bit high for that size house, but I really don't know how 8 tons of pellets correlates to firewood quantity/furnace size...what's your feeling about your insulation level/air infiltration, etc?
Did the PO heat 100% with pellets? Hopefully so if they used that much. If they had to subsidize with fossil fuel too...wow! Of course there could have been a problem with their setup too...


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## brenndatomu (Sep 2, 2015)

Lawson111 said:


> most of the wood we get is cut in the winter and burned the next winter. Also I have to keep my wood stacked outside just with the top covered. I won't have a wood shed this year.


Just do two years (or even better, three ) worth to get ahead. Wood that has been cut/split/stacked for three years runs sooo sweet in the EPA fireboxes!   EDIT: and like JR says below, old school furnaces really like it too!
Wood stacked outside is fine. I wouldn't worry about top cover until the fall of the year, just cover the wood you are gonna use that year. I'd hate to see you miss out on the awesomeness of a secondary burn furnace just because of what _could_ be a temporary wood situation. FYI, there are ways to get through that first winter when you have "too wet" wood...


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## JRHAWK9 (Sep 2, 2015)

Lawson111 said:


> Hmmm that might take the Drolet out of the running because most of the wood we get is cut in the winter and burned the next winter. Also I have to keep my wood stacked outside just with the top covered. I won't have a wood shed this year.



You need to change that....regardless of what you are using to burn it in.  Complete waste of BTU's.  Bust  a s s  and get a few years ahead.


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## Lawson111 (Sep 2, 2015)

Yea I will be ahead next winter. I decided a little late that I was going to burn wood this year to be able to get ahead. Insulation seems to be good. House was built in 65. But they used two free standing pellet stoves to heat the house and no other source of heat. What are ways to get around burning higher moisture content wood in the secondary burn stoves. I'm leaning more towards the Drolet or shelter both look really good. Just don't want a problem burning the wood. I would rather burn more wood than not be able to burn the wood I have. 

I'm glad I joined this forum before purchasing a stove a was about two days away from going and purchasing a USSC 1557m or 1602m at my local tractor supply.


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## brenndatomu (Sep 2, 2015)

Lawson111 said:


> What are ways to get around burning higher moisture content wood in the secondary burn stoves


Mix your too wet wood with "ECO" bricks or kiln dried lumber (cut up a pile of free scrounged pallets) Others may have more suggestions too



Lawson111 said:


> I'm glad I joined this forum before purchasing a stove a was about two days away from going and purchasing a USSC 1557m or 1602m at my local tractor supply


Glad we could stage a intervention!   Lots of 1 year old TSC (and the like) wood furnaces for sale on CL every winter/spring, people that didn't check in here first!


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## Lawson111 (Sep 2, 2015)

I'll check my wood buy I'm pretty sure it's going to be wetter than 20%. If I go with a non secondary burn stove is shelter the better brand? is it easy enough to un hook the induction blower if I don't like it. Shelter doesn't make a stove big enough for my needs without it. Daka does but shelter seems to be the better brand between those two. I'm trying to stay in a 2k budget or else I would look at other options.


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## Wisneaky (Sep 3, 2015)

Lawson111 said:


> I'll check my wood buy I'm pretty sure it's going to be wetter than 20%. If I go with a non secondary burn stove is shelter the better brand? is it easy enough to un hook the induction blower if I don't like it. Shelter doesn't make a stove big enough for my needs without it. Daka does but shelter seems to be the better brand between those two. I'm trying to stay in a 2k budget or else I would look at other options.


you don't have to run the induction blower and honestly mine doesn't turn on that often. I have the Shelter 2631 and that is probably the one you'd want for your size house. Another thing you can actually limit how much air is pushed in through the blower, there is a slide on it to adjust it.


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## Lawson111 (Sep 3, 2015)

think im going to go with the shelter 2631. Seems like the best unit for me and they are $200 off at menards right now. Still cant get the price of the 1557m USSC for sale at tractor supply $1299 (im cheap) and reason im thinking about it is because my father and good friend have had theirs for 10 years and haven't had any issues. But I don't know if it will be big enough to heat my house? I see DAKA makes a comparable model to the 1557m, but doesn't have as much BTU's as the USSC.


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## brenndatomu (Sep 3, 2015)

FYI, Menards has a big heating sale the first or second week of Oct, usually some unbeatable wood heater prices...I've seen stuff over 40% off. I don't remember what the Shelter prices are like during that sale though...unless you are in a hurry I'd wait. Even if they don't put that model on sale, they have their "11% off everything" sale pretty frequently (every 4-6 weeks?) and that would put the price about where it is now so not really much risk in "losing out" on the current price. 
I agree with Wisneaky, the sf2631 should be a fine size for you. Even if it doesn't quite keep up on the _coldest days_, it will still cut 90% or better of your oil bill...


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## Lawson111 (Sep 3, 2015)

Ok thanks for the info on the menards sale. Only reason I was looking now is because I scheduled to have my HVAC guy here to hook the stove up but if it's that big of a sale I'll rescheduled .


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## Lawson111 (Sep 3, 2015)

Has anyone ever seen the prices of the shelter furnaces durning the menards heating sale?


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## Wisneaky (Sep 3, 2015)

I think the Shelter 2631 was $1499 during the sale. So they go for about $200 off. Just hopefully they continue to have the sales.


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## Lawson111 (Sep 3, 2015)

Right now that model shelter is $1699. Says its originally $1899. Did the price go up maybe?


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## Wisneaky (Sep 3, 2015)

they must have went up in price because I'm pretty sure I paid $1499 I see they are $200 off right now. I don't think they will go any lower than that. Usually the sales are $200 off.
II


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## Lawson111 (Sep 3, 2015)

Ok thank you @Wisneaky. Maybe I'll grab one now then. Just wish I lived closer to a menards. I need to have it shipped that's an extra $250


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## Wisneaky (Sep 3, 2015)

Lawson111 said:


> Ok thank you @Wisneaky. Maybe I'll grab one now then. Just wish I lived closer to a menards. I need to have it shipped that's an extra $250


Sorry for all the late replys. I'm out of town right now and I don't get the emails for when there is new posts. I have a hard time using menards website on my cell phone. I was wrong I just checked and I paid $1899 I remember the sale was the week prior and it was $1699, but I missed it. So $1699 is a good deal. The smaller model I believe was $1499 at the time, but I opted for the bigger one.


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## Wisneaky (Sep 3, 2015)

Here is a post I did about the shelter furnace last spring. https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/shelter-sf2631-wood-coal-furnace.143153/


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## Lawson111 (Sep 3, 2015)

Awesome! Thanks @Wisneaky and no problem. I'm up all night anyways and that settles it I'll be ordering mine tomorrow from menards. Only thing that sucks is I gotta wait about a week to arrive. Did you get yours delivered? Just curious if I will need something to unload it, if i do I will just have it shipped to my work where we have a loading dock. 

Thanks you guys for all your help and knowledge. I'm really glad I joined this forum before making this purchase.


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## Wisneaky (Sep 3, 2015)

Lawson111 said:


> Awesome! Thanks @Wisneaky and no problem. I'm up all night anyways and that settles it I'll be ordering mine tomorrow from menards. Only thing that sucks is I gotta wait about a week to arrive. Did you get yours delivered? Just curious if I will need something to unload it, if i do I will just have it shipped to my work where we have a loading dock.
> 
> Thanks you guys for all your help and knowledge. I'm really glad I joined this forum before making this purchase.


I picked it up at the closest store. Any questions at all let us know. Another thing menards is really helpful, if you give them a call they should be able to tell you if they have something to unload it with.


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## Lawson111 (Sep 4, 2015)

shelter does come with the filter box correct, just no filter?


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## Wisneaky (Sep 4, 2015)

Lawson111 said:


> shelter does come with the filter box correct, just no filter?


Yes that is correct.


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## STIHLY DAN (Sep 4, 2015)

Shipping will be cheaper to a business with a dock.


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## Lawson111 (Sep 5, 2015)

There isn't an option on the website for shipping to a business. I figured it would be cheaper with a doc. ABF is the shipping company, but I'm sure menards pays them after I pay $255 for shipping lol.


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## Lawson111 (Sep 24, 2015)

Hey guys I ended up purchasing the shelter  furnace model 2631 and I'm glad I did the build quality is 10x better than my fathers USSC stove. Also the blower motor on this thing is huge! I'm going to hook it up this weekend and I want to clean the chimney first I went up and measured the ID of my flue and it's like 10 1/2in x 10 3/4 almost 11in. So I'm just curious on what size brush to buy? I'm assuming you want to get one that is a little bigger so it will scrape off all the creosote but maybe I'm wrong? So do I go with an 11x11 or 10x10. I'm sure they probably don't make a 10 1/2x11.


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## brenndatomu (Sep 24, 2015)

Lawson111 said:


> measured the ID of my flue and it's like 10 1/2in x 10 3/4 almost 11in.


Just an FYI, you may have problems with that large of a chimney, low draft. I guess you can try it but at 4 times the size of what Shelter calls for, I'm betting it won't work well. May need to think about a 6" liner....the good part is a 6" insulated liner should be a real easy install in that large of a chimney


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## Lawson111 (Sep 24, 2015)

Yea I was thinking about that. I was going to line it but how do you hook up the liner to the sleeve that goes into the flue threw the chimney wall? I can't reach up that far where the sleeve goes into the flue.


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## brenndatomu (Sep 24, 2015)

Typical basement chimney arrangement, with a cleanout at the bottom?
Those liner kits have a neat setup for attaching the snout (the part that the stove pipe hooks to) to the body of the tee back inside the chimney. You attach the tee body to the liner and put it in. The tee body has a lip around the hole that the snout fits over and the snout comes with a long SS "hose clamp" attached to it on one side. You feed the clamp around the tee body and then into the screw gear and tighten it up. Don't hafta have access to the inside of the chimney, all done through the breach and snout, pretty slick


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## Lawson111 (Sep 24, 2015)

This is basically what I'm talking about how would I attach the liner to the sleeve that goes threw and ties into the existing masonry chimney


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## brenndatomu (Sep 24, 2015)

Lawson111 said:


> This is basically what I'm talking about how would I attach the liner to the sleeve that goes threw and ties into the existing masonry chimney


Hmm, never seen that setup before


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## brenndatomu (Sep 24, 2015)

Here's a vid that shows it


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## Lawson111 (Sep 24, 2015)

This is what I'm talking about. This is what's in my basement


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## Lawson111 (Sep 24, 2015)

Picture should be rotated 90 degrees to the right


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## Lawson111 (Sep 24, 2015)

Pipe comes from an old furnace I'm removing


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## brenndatomu (Sep 24, 2015)

Lawson111 said:


> This is what I'm talking about. This is what's in my basement


Yup, pretty standard. You'll need to address the clearance to combustibles there though, I assume there is framing right above that insulation


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## Lawson111 (Sep 24, 2015)

Yea there is. Idk what I'm going to do about that I know you can buy heat heat shields but that might be to close. I was going to put a 45 right out of that sleeve and run the pipe at an angle to the stove. So them liners will work with what I have? How do you take the cap off the bottom of them tees when you go to clean the chimney?


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## brenndatomu (Sep 24, 2015)

Well, you have options here. 
1. Class A chimney pipe has a 2" CTC rating, so you could knock that existing thimble out of there and install a piece of 8" class A long enough to get you in past the problem area, then run the liner snout through that.
2. It looks like that chimney thimble and cement block in that area has been redone recently...I think what I would do would be to go down a block and punch a new thimble through, and it would be easy to install a metal cleanout door below that then. Pretty easy to drill/cut block and mortar in a new pipe or thimble. You can rent a masonry hammer drill and bit pretty cheap if you don't have access to one, that and a 4" grinder with a diamond blade, you can do whatever you want with that wall/chimney
My cleanout door was clear down by the floor so I had the liner supply place make the tee so that I could install a leg, or liner extension onto the bottom of the tee, then the cap that would normally be on the tee is now on the bottom of the extension, right inside my cleanout door

You have lots of options to git-er-dun here!


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## Lawson111 (Sep 24, 2015)

Might be easier to put a new chimney up :/ by the time I buy the liner and put a new thimble in it would be the same amount of money to put a class A chimney up threw the wall. Worst part is I was already at the hardware store and purchased everything needed to put up a class A chimney, 15ft of pipe, threw the wall kit all the brackets and I took it back because I was going to try and save $800 by using the existing chimney.


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## brenndatomu (Sep 24, 2015)

Lawson111 said:


> Might be easier to put a new chimney up :/ by the time I buy the liner and put a new thimble in it would be the same amount of money to put a class A chimney up threw the wall. Worst part is I was already at the hardware store and purchased everything needed to put up a class A chimney, 15ft of pipe, threw the wall kit all the brackets and I took it back because I was going to try and save $800 by using the existing chimney.


I'd say you would still be cheaper lining this one, depending on how tall it is. Not really _that_ much work IMO.
It will draft better than a Class A external chimney too, especially if the liner is insulated. (flue will stay warmer)
I guess it depends if you want to keep this chimney available for another appliance or not...
You would need to pop a hole in the wall for the class A chimney too


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## Lawson111 (Nov 30, 2015)

Ok guys so I have been burning my wood furnace for about two week now and I love it! Keeps my house nice in warm, to warm actually so I have a few questions. How and where is everyone running the fan limit controls at? From factory shelter had the set at 100off 150on 200off. I ended up turning the 100 down to 85 because I noticed its about 15 degrees off ( it was actually shutting blower off at 115-20 instead of 100). I ran it like this for a while and the blower was on all the time and the temp would hold around 120. I don't know if it was a coincidence but I noticed ALOT of creosote build up in my firebox so much that it was actually dripping. The house was around 76-77 degrees with them settings (im shooting for 70-72). So I talked to my father who owns a wood furnace and he told me to set the fan limit to 130off 180on and 220off. Once I did this I noticed the creosote build up was gone but the house is still way to hot. Even with me only burning two pieces of wood and just keeping hot coals in the firebox I can get it to cool off in house. So this is what im asking because a friend of mine told me to set up my fan limit switch so im constantly blowing warm air all the time his limit switch is set at 80off 100on and whatever the highest his t stat goes for the high off. Im worried if I do this my electric bill will be through the roof and ill get that bad creosote in the fire box from running it so cold. Any help would be greatly appreciate for this first timer. I have a damper on my stove pipe so I can control the fire temp better.

Next question is my furnace is directly in the middle of my house right underneath the living room. My living room is always the hot room and my end rooms and chilly. How can I get more air to my end rooms especially my bedroom because the wife is complaining. I have the registers almost closed in the living room and the kitchen which are the shortest runs off the plenum trying to push has much air to the end rooms as I can. the only other thing I can do is shut them all the way. Right now my blower motor is set to medium I can try low but afraid it wont have enough to make it to the end rooms.

I guess what it all boils down to is do I set this furnace up to run like my forced hot air oil furnace which blows hot air once in a while or do I set it up so it blows warm air all the time like radiant heaters?

Thanks for the help guys, sorry for the long post I just really want to get this thing figured out.


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## brenndatomu (Nov 30, 2015)

Sounds like the fan/limit switch was set about right from the factory. If the firebox and heat exchanger are getting gunked up then you either need to set the fan temp back up or you have wet wood, or maybe some of both. If it was actually dripping then I'd lean toward wet wood and maybe you have the air cut back too far also. If it is too hot then load less wood. Less quantity per load and then less often if it is still too hot. You may have to let your house temp fluctuate a bit so that you can get the furnace hot on each load, can't run 'em on "low" all the time. It has been pretty warm, it can be hard to run a wood furnace properly in this kind of weather.

I wouldn't want the blower running _all_ the time, but it will run _much more_ than a fossil fuel furnace.

As far as getting heat to the far rooms, you will have to damper the close rooms back until you get the balance that you want. It may require bumping the blower speed up, but then that means you will have to screw with all your settings again (temp switch and duct dampers)


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## Lawson111 (Nov 30, 2015)

brenndatomu said:


> Sounds like the fan/limit switch was set about right from the factory. If the firebox and heat exchanger are getting gunked up then you either need to set the fan temp back up or you have wet wood, or maybe some of both. If it was actually dripping then I'd lean toward wet wood and maybe you have the air cut back too far also. If it is too hot then load less wood. Less quantity per load and then less often if it is still too hot. You may have to let your house temp fluctuate a bit so that you can get the furnace hot on each load, can't run 'em on "low" all the time. It has been pretty warm, it can be hard to run a wood furnace properly in this kind of weather.
> 
> I wouldn't want the blower running _all_ the time, but it will run _much more_ than a fossil fuel furnace.
> 
> As far as getting heat to the far rooms, you will have to damper the close rooms back until you get the balance that you want. It may require bumping the blower speed up, but then that means you will have to screw with all your settings again (temp switch and duct dampers)



Ok thank you for the help ill try setting them back to factory and see what happens. If I get that bad creosote buildup I will try turning it up 10 degrees at a time because I know my wood is dry ( it has been checked with a meter). Should I always try and keep a 50 degree difference between on and off? I bought one of them temp gauges for the flue and I use the damper on the stove pipe to try and keep it around 250-300. I'm trying to find the happy medium where the stove runs good but doesn't burn out to fast, I'm only getting about a 5 hour burn out of a full firebox. Not sure what the heat exchanger is either, maybe I do I might just call it something different?

I was going to go that route with the duct dampers but didn't know if there was any other suggestions before I tried that.


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## sloeffle (Nov 30, 2015)

Lawson111 said:


> I bought one of them temp gauges for the flue and I use the damper on the stove pipe to try and keep it around 250-300. I'm trying to find the happy medium where the stove runs good but doesn't burn out to fast, I'm only getting about a 5 hour burn out of a full firebox.


Are you using a manual damper ? If you are, I would recommend a barometric damper setup per the manual.


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## brenndatomu (Nov 30, 2015)

Lawson111 said:


> Not sure what the heat exchanger is


The channel above the firebox that the smoke/flue gasses (heat) have to go through on the way out when the bypass is closed. It picks up heat in the exhaust stream and transfers it to the air, hence the term heat exchanger.

You can set the fan switch for less temp differential but the fan will cycle on/off more often


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## Lawson111 (Nov 30, 2015)

@sloeffle yes I do have one but at the moment I am not using it. It just stays open and I'm trying to get the flue temp set by adjusting the vent on the ash door.

@brenndatomu ok that's what I thought it was but wasn't sure. And right now as we speak I have limit switch set to 150on and its in between 90-100 for off, the fan is on low and it  runs for about 10-15 mins. Is it better to have it run long periods of time like the or short ones more often? I can move the off up 100-110 if it's better to have it run short periods of time. Or even maybe go 160on 110 off. Just trying to get it dialed in now that I got some experienced help. 

Thanks guys I really appreciate it.


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## brenndatomu (Nov 30, 2015)

Lawson111 said:


> And right now as we speak I have limit switch set to 150on and its in between 90-100 for off, the fan is on low and it runs for about 10-15 mins. Is it better to have it run long periods of time like the or short ones more often? I can move the off up 100-110 if it's better to have it run short periods of time. Or even maybe go 160on 110 off. Just trying to get it dialed in now that I got some experienced help.


You have to find a balance that works for you. The problem is, that as the wood burns down the "on" time gets shorter and the "off" time gets longer...seems to waste a lot of heat up the chimney to me. You really notice this during extreme cold weather. Off time doesn't matter near as much if you have a duct system that flows gravity heat well (good rise on your runs)


Lawson111 said:


> @sloeffle yes I do have one but at the moment I am not using it. It just stays open and I'm trying to get the flue temp set by adjusting the vent on the ash door.


Did you set it with a gauge? To me there is no way to set draft based solely on temp. Proper draft settings can make a huge difference. I'd set that baro up properly, get used to a "normal" baseline before making changes...


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## Lawson111 (Nov 30, 2015)

I've never used a barometric damper before I have one on my oil furnace but no idea how it works. So if you don't mind could you explain how to use one and put it in? Or lead me in right direction. The only thing I know about them and this could be totally wrong is the allow air to be pulled from outside of flue so you can get draft. Now I just have manual damper installed in flue so I can choke fire down if it gets to hot or I have a runway and need to shut it down. Wouldn't putting a barometric damper in basically get rid of the need for a manual damper and what would you do incase of a runway or chimney fire? This is what I'm referring to as manual damper. Your saying I need to use a barometric damper with this or ditch this and just use barometric damper?


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## brenndatomu (Nov 30, 2015)

You could leave the manual damper in for emergency use, just leave it open most of the time. You could just set the draft with the manual damper (and a manometer) but draft can change a lot with wind and whatnot, that's why most wood furnace manufacturers recommend a baro.
A baro doesn't create the draft, only control it. The draft comes from the heat of the fire, a column of warm air rising in the chimney, the hotter the air in the chimney or the cooler the air outside...more draft. It is nice to have the _automatic_ draft control that a baro offers. They _can_ cause more buildup in the chimney for some though...
Basically the baro is just a weighted flap that is adjust with a manometer to open at a specific draft setting. It will open just enough to keep the draft that the wood burner "sees" at your desired setting.
You install it by putting a tee into the stove pipe ahead of the chimney, once the baro is in the tee you need to get it plumb and level, then it can be set with a relatively inexpensive manometer (PM me if you need/want one)


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## Lawson111 (Dec 1, 2015)

I don't have much room for a T I might be able to make it work without changing my current setup. I chose to set it up this way way I didn't have much of a horizontal run I wanted to avoid as much creosote buildup as possible


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## brenndatomu (Dec 1, 2015)

You have TONS of room for a tee! It can go anywhere on that diagonal run. It doesn't have to be flat, the baro has to be level, but the tee does not have to be flat to do that


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## Lawson111 (Dec 1, 2015)

Ok I thought it had to be flat when you said it has to be good and level


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## maple1 (Dec 1, 2015)

Lawson111 said:


> @sloeffle
> 
> yes I do have one but at the moment I am not using it. It just stays open and I'm trying to get the flue temp set by adjusting the vent on the ash door.


 
Not sure what this means, the 'it just stays open' part. Does this mean there is a baro installed but it is open all the time? Or there is no barometric damper installed at all? I don't see one in your pic, but can't see all the pipe either. But the staying open all the time part is a bit of an alarm bell - having it open all the time would mean that your furnace is getting no draft, more or less.


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## Lawson111 (Dec 1, 2015)

I don't have a barometric damper installed just the damper in the flue and yes that's what I leave open. I was using it to regulate flue temps before when I would leave the knob on the bottom of my  ash door open all the way. Now I'm using the knob to control the flue temps and leaving the flue damper open. I called shelter and they didn't even recommend having a flue damper installed unless it was absolutely necessary.


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## Highbeam (Dec 1, 2015)

Lawson111 said:


> just the damper



Key damper. "Open" means it is reducing draft only minimally.


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## Lawson111 (Dec 1, 2015)

Highbeam said:


> Key damper. "Open" means it is reducing draft only minimally.



Yea I know I put it in just to cut the draft back so I can get longer burns and not such a hot fire when I load the stove up with wood (what it's meant to do) or if I have a chimney fire I can shut it almost completely.


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## brenndatomu (Dec 1, 2015)

Lawson111 said:


> Ok I thought it had to be flat when you said it has to be good and level


I said plumb and level but I guess I should have specified the baro not the tee.


Lawson111 said:


> Yea I know I put it in just to cut the draft back so I can get longer burns and not such a hot fire when I load the stove up with wood (what it's meant to do) or if I have a chimney fire I can shut it almost completely.


The thing about a key damper is people sat they put them in in case of a chimney fire but chances are you won't be there to shut it at that time anyways. The other thing is, and this is a biggy, those dampers only block 80% of the pipe (by design) and a major chimney fire will EASILY be able to feed off of a 20% opening, because at those temps, draft readings go off the charts.

As I said before though, you can use a key damper to control draft, but you still need a manometer to set it. A baro will be much more constant with the draft though...but then they cool the chimney...so both damper types have their pitfalls

Might be a good time to ping @Wisneaky , he has one of these furnaces, might have some good advise for ya


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## Lawson111 (Jan 11, 2016)

Has anyone ever hooked up there draft blower to the Honeywell thermostat fire the firebox? I never use mine right now because the temperature in the house is never low enough to have the blower kick on. To me is seems kind of foolish having the blower hooked up to a thermostat that goes off the temp. of the room, when the room gets cold enough for the blower to kick on this usually means the fire is out or very low, so what is it actually doing? If it is hooked up to the firebox thermostat you could have it turn on and off based on what ever temp. you set it to via the firebox, this wayit actually doing something before the fire goes out. You will lose 15-20 degrees a lot faster in the firebox than you will 5 degrees in your house. Maybe my idea is crazy and doesn't make sense I just wanted to see if anyone that owns a furnace with a draft blower kit has done or tried this.


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## brenndatomu (Jan 11, 2016)

T-stats wouldn't have the range to do this, 99* is usually as high as they go. You could use a temp controller with a thermocouple or RTD probe to accomplish what you are suggesting though. I think this could work out pretty well actually. The house t-stat could be tied into the circuit too...the idea would be to keep the firebox in its "happy place" without blowing too much heat up the flue. You can read about the temp controller setup that 3fordasho and myself have setup over in the "Everything Drolet Tundra - Heatmax" thread...temp controller comes in around page 15 IIRC...


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## Lawson111 (Jan 11, 2016)

brenndatomu said:


> T-stats wouldn't have the range to do this, 99* is usually as high as they go. You could use a temp controller with a thermocouple or RTD probe to accomplish what you are suggesting though. I think this could work out pretty well actually. The house t-stat could be tied into the circuit too...the idea would be to keep the firebox in its "happy place" without blowing too much heat up the flue. You can read about the temp controller setup that 3fordasho and myself have setup over in the "Everything Drolet Tundra - Heatmax" thread...temp controller comes in around page 15 IIRC...




Yea because like I said mine is never on because the house never gets below the temp I have the thermostat set to. If I could somehow hook it up to the Honeywell fan limit control switch that would be awesome. You could dial it in like you said to keep the firebox in its "happy place"


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## brenndatomu (Jan 11, 2016)

...'course, if the house never falls below the tstat setpoint...what's the point?


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## Lawson111 (Jan 11, 2016)

brenndatomu said:


> ...'course, if the house never falls below the tstat setpoint...what's the point?



72, house is never below 75 unless I let fire go out. We had a couple days with a high of 5f and the house was never below 75-76 and this is only putting wood on at 5am, 4pm and 11pm.


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