# drolet tundra install



## barryh (Oct 11, 2015)

Hello folks..1100 square foot bungalow with basement..was wondering if you can put a tee on the the two 8 inch outlets after running the 8 inch duct work for a few feet the putting in the tees and have 4 floor registers that way or is it better to run each 8inch outlet straight to their own floor registers (kitchen and living room). I plan on running 8inch Duct work for about 6-8feet then reducing it to 6inch.   Thanks


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## brenndatomu (Oct 11, 2015)

Howdy barry! So you are going up with the (2) 8" ducts, then tee them off into (4) runs at the ceiling? That sounds OK but I would run the 8" as far as you can and then reduce to 6" toward the end of the run, closer to the registers. You'd be surprised how much air the blower still moves even on low, don't wanna restrict things too much. Plus it is always good to have "oversized" ducts in the event of a power failure, they'll carry more heat by gravity.
Post up some pics when you get done


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## barryh (Oct 11, 2015)

Thanks for the advice....I plan on having 4 registers- kitchen, living room, bathroom and hallway.....you think this setup will work good doing it the way you suggested running the 8inch duct as far as possible before reducing it down to 6inch?


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## brenndatomu (Oct 11, 2015)

Yeah, it should work good, that is basically how I did my sisters ductwork on their Tundra, only I used (4) runs of 7" pipe, mainly because that's what was there from before. 2 runs upstairs, 1 to a basement bedroom and 1 dumps to the basement rec room...seems fine


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## barryh (Oct 11, 2015)

Thanks for your advice....greatly appreciated. ...have any other doos or don't when I runs the ductwork?


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## barryh (Oct 11, 2015)

Which way do you think would be the best way to run the duck work.?


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## brenndatomu (Oct 11, 2015)

The top one. Go 8" for the main run and then 6" for the take offs. Put dampers in too so you can balance the airflow and set your static pressure...


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## barryh (Oct 11, 2015)

OK thanks....this forum is excellent for advice


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## brenndatomu (Oct 11, 2015)

Oh, and get the better dampers with a pivot point on each side, they are only like $.50 more than the single sided ones, and much more sturdy


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## DoubleB (Oct 11, 2015)

barryh said:


> Which way do you think would be the best way to run the duck work.?



@brenndatomu is the bomb in my book, although to the extent that your sketch is accurate, I'd vote for the bottom sketch.  My thinking is:

-blowing the air straight into the tee in the bottom sketch balances pressure between the two take-offs, whereas blowing the air sideways through the tee in the top sketch puts more pressure/flow on the left take-off and less pressure/flow into the lower take-off.  Of course you could crank the damper shut more on the left take-off, but in general it promotes better airflow through the whole system if the take-offs can be as balanced as possible by design alone, leaving less compensating for the dampers, and better airflow in a power outage.

-The top one has a 90 elbow that the full air flow blows through.  That's more flow resistance than the bottom drawing where 1/2 the airflow blows through the 90's (assuming it's all 8" pipe for the 90's).

I'm sure there's much more involved in your house than a stick-figure sketch, but those are just some things that came to my mind.


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## STIHLY DAN (Oct 11, 2015)

Both are the same except the top is cheaper and easier. The dampers are the key.


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## Bobthe (Oct 12, 2015)

I'll be picking up my new Tundra this Friday.  Instead of two 8" pipes transporting heat into the house from the basement, I have 12' of 8"x16" rectangular duct running horizontal, then the same size runs vertical into the middle of the house where it has four 6" round ducts going straight to registers.    

Will I have any issues connecting the two 8" round ducts from the furnace to the rectangular duct?  Will I need to add or modify anything?


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## brenndatomu (Oct 13, 2015)

Shouldn't be an issue, I ran the (2) 8" round ducts straight up into the existing rectangular ducts myself


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## barryh (Oct 14, 2015)

Would it be any problem if I reduces down to 6" after only a couple horizontal feet of 8 inch duct?


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## barryh (Oct 14, 2015)

And can I have the double wall stove pipe coming straight out of the back of furnace threw the concrete wall....with no 45s   just straight threw the tee in the concrete wall? Thanks


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## barryh (Oct 14, 2015)

This is a pic I found online.....or will doing this do anything negative to the heating ability?


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## brenndatomu (Oct 14, 2015)

barryh said:


> Would it be any problem if I reduces down to 6" after only a couple horizontal feet of 8 inch duct?


It's definitely not ideal but you can always try it and see. I personally would worry about the blower having too much static pressure and not being able to cool the firebox when she's cranked up good. The further you can run 8" the better, and if you have to go down to 6", it takes (4) 6" pipes to flow the same (roughly) as (2) 8"


barryh said:


> And can I have the double wall stove pipe coming straight out of the back of furnace threw the concrete wall....with no 45s   just straight threw the tee in the concrete wall? Thanks


How far is it to the wall? IIRC, you can run a max of 10' horizontally if the pipe runs uphill and is supported every 3'
You need at least 1/4" of rise per foot of run on that pipe (that's an absolute minimum, more is better)


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## barryh (Oct 14, 2015)

OK I was just wondering because I got little over 6 feet to my roof trusses and didn't really want to have big 8 inch duct in the way...and I plan on just having the back of the furnace a few inches from the concert wall...so I guess maybe 18 inches of stove pipe coming from back of furnace straight to the tee......or is it better to use two 45 degree elbows and move the tee up a bit from the flue outlet on back of furnace?


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## brenndatomu (Oct 14, 2015)

I guess I'd tend to use (2) 45s and move the chimney up, so that if you ever wanted to install a taller furnace you can without too much trouble


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## barryh (Oct 14, 2015)

OK   thanks....but if I decide to go straight into the tee.....it will be alright that way will it?


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## brenndatomu (Oct 14, 2015)

barryh said:


> OK   thanks....but if I decide to go straight into the tee.....it will be alright that way will it?


As long as everything connects up properly and the CTC (clearance to combustibles) are met, should be OK for that short run. I am assuming you are connecting into a new class A chimney?


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## barryh (Oct 14, 2015)

OK thanks for the advice....greatly appriciated


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## Bobthe (Oct 14, 2015)

Hey barryh,  

Are you installing a barometric damper on your flue? 
I was reading the online version of the manual for this unit, and will definitely be installing one on mine when I pick it up this Friday.  I also picked up a manometer to determine the air flow up the flue. 

I need to get a thermostat, but haven't decided what would be best.  The area being heated is a 70 year old, 900 sqft. cabin with no insulation in the walls and only about 4" of fiberglass in the attic.  Any advice is welcome.

I've found this forum to be the best resource on the net selecting and getting a good install on a new wood furnace.  Super-glad I found it. I was initially going to get a Hotblast unit from TSC, but as soon as I read some of the posts that mentioned the Drolet Tundra, I immediately changed my mind. I had never heard of the company until now.  Elated that I joined this site.

I've heated with wood my whole life, but have been doing it the low-tech, poorly sealed wood stoves and a flue damper.  I've been telling my hillbilly older brother and some friends about installing a barometric damper and manometer on the new woodstove/furnace, and I get the usual deer in the headlights look and all I hear are the crickets chirping in the background.


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## STIHLY DAN (Oct 14, 2015)

brenndatomu said:


> As long as everything connects up properly and the CTC (clearance to combustibles) are met, should be OK for that short run. I am assuming you are connecting into a new class A chimney?


 But 2 45's will work better. Personally I think short cuts on wood heat tend to not be worth it.


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## brenndatomu (Oct 14, 2015)

barryh said:


> maybe 18 inches of stove pipe coming from back of furnace straight to the tee


Don't forget to leave enough room to get the filter out if you are gonna use one, (highly recommended) they come out the back if you put it on the side...


Bobthe said:


> I need to get a thermostat, but haven't decided what would be best


The Honeywell FocusPro 5000 is cheap enough and works well with wood furnaces. You can pick 'em up for ~$20 on fleabay...


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## barryh (Oct 14, 2015)

OK thanks for the heads up on the thermostat.......and I was just checking for info on the best way to hook furnace up to the chimney tee with the black stovepipe.....not wanting to take shortcuts. ...


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## STIHLY DAN (Oct 14, 2015)

barryh said:


> OK thanks for the heads up on the thermostat.......and I was just checking for info on the best way to hook furnace up to the chimney tee with the black stovepipe.....not wanting to take shortcuts. ...



Good, are you putting in a baro?


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## barryh (Oct 14, 2015)

I don't think I am. ...not really sure if I should or not


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## brenndatomu (Oct 14, 2015)

STIHLY DAN said:


> Good, are you putting in a baro?





barryh said:


> I don't think I am. ...not really sure if I should or not


Describe your chimney. You may not need a baro...you will need to check the draft though, if it's too high then it will need to be controlled. Drolet recommends a baro, it's either that or a key damper, which they do not recommend...


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## Bobthe (Oct 14, 2015)

brenndatomu said:


> The Honeywell FocusPro 5000 is cheap enough and works well with wood furnaces. You can pick 'em up for ~$20 on fleabay...



The FocusPro 5000 seems pretty high-tech. Does the furnace actually respond to any of the advanced functions of this thermostat, or does the furnace only respond to ON/OFF like what you'd get from an old mercury thermostat?


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## DoubleB (Oct 15, 2015)

Bobthe said:


> does the furnace only respond to ON/OFF like what you'd get from an old mercury thermostat?



^^That's right, it's no more complicated than that. 

I think I paid $4.99 on sale for a bare-bones basic thermostat at Menards.  It still has a bunch of modes and settings and programmings that I don't use, but all you need is on/off at the temperature setpoint.


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## brenndatomu (Oct 15, 2015)

A thermostat is just a temperature controlled switch, when the switch closes it activates the damper motor on the Tundra. The way the FP5000 comes out of the box has always worked fine for me. There are some more advanced things in the menu that could be messed with though...
I don't like the old tech tstats for wood furnaces, too much swing in the temp from on to off. The FP 5000 will hold the temp within 1*, most older tstats were 2*, in others words, set it at 70...69 kicks it on, 71 kicks it off


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## barryh (Oct 15, 2015)

My chimney will be running up about 3 feet to the left of the peak in the roof...factory made 2 inch think insulated pre  fab chimney....


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## barryh (Oct 22, 2015)

Can someone post a pic here if the filter on the back of the blower housing.....the attachment that u have to buy separate?   Thanks


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## DoubleB (Oct 23, 2015)

No one posted yet so you're stuck with my not-too-detailed picture for now.  This is before I rearranged my ductwork and added a return plenum, so I can't get a picture now without the return plenum blocking it.






The filter holder thingy is a C-shaped piece that bolts to the 3 black screws at the top of the blower box and the additional 3 black screws at the bottom of the blower box.  In the picture above, the piece is a reversed C, as follows:

_
_|

The filter holder thingy can be mounted on the blower box to the left facing backward, right facing backward, rear facing left, and rear facing right.  The three sides of the filter holder have flanges that contain the filter against the blower box.  You can kind of make out the metal flanges overlapping the white cardboard that makes the perimeter of the filter.

Is that enough detail?


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## brenndatomu (Oct 23, 2015)

DoubleB said:


> No one posted yet


The site has not been reliably sending me alerts since the "upgrade" Pahtooey! 
I dont have any pics as of right now, but I think the filter holder would be very easy to make. It is just thin sheet metal (like duct work) it would be easy to DIY a holder if you have or have access to a few tinknocker tools...all you hafta do is hold the filter in place over the hole, heck, I 'spose you could "redneck it"...duct tape it in place


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## barryh (Nov 17, 2015)

Hey folks...quick update....got er hooked up...very happy so far......however I didn't hook up thermostat yet.......but my damper don't close all the way when I got a real good fire going in the furnace, any ideas why?


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## brenndatomu (Nov 17, 2015)

Take the little square box off the front where it covers the damper linkage. Also take off the cover of the metal controls box in the back. Check out the linkage front and rear, make sure everything is in place and seated, and not hanging up or binding on anything when it cycles. Does the damper door work freely by hand? (when cold!)
Some people have reported that the linkage rod bounced out of place during shipping/handling and or installation


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## barryh (Nov 17, 2015)

It works perfect when fire is not in....seems like when the fire gets going real good it only closes halfway...


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## brenndatomu (Nov 17, 2015)

OK, I'd put some heavy leather gloves on and see how the damper works by hand when it is hot. When the damper control motor is not pulling open on the door, you should be able to move the damper by hand, very freely. Gravity is the only thing that makes it close


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## brenndatomu (Nov 17, 2015)

FYI, if you want to, you can easily remove the damper door once the linkage cover is off, just back the two pivot screws out. The screws thread into the cover, not the front of the furnace, so they only need to be backed out far enough to release the door from the furnace


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## DoubleB (Nov 17, 2015)

barryh said:


> It works perfect when fire is not in....seems like when the fire gets going real good it only closes halfway...



Mine did the same thing.  @brenndatomu is right, just take the covers off front and rear and you should see where the hang-up is.  Mine was on the front, the end of the rod is bent into a hook that connects to the damper lever, the hook was bent a little too tight and would bind on the lever.  A few seconds with the needle nose pliers and it was obvious the problem was solved.

FWIW, I busted off one of the screws holding the front box, the end of the screw is still stuck in the 3/16" plate steel.  Maybe work your magic or penetrating oil if you're concerned about it.  Mine is working just fine with the single screw holding it in, but I know it's not right.


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## brenndatomu (Nov 17, 2015)

Those screws sometimes will come right loose if the stove is hot, sometimes if it is stone cold, have to check it both ways. My lil stove in the upstairs fireplace can only be worked on stone cold, if it is warm or hot the screws/bolts won't budge. Cold, no problem


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## barryh (Nov 17, 2015)

Another quick question.....do u only put a filter on one side? If so what do u cover the other side and back up with?


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## brenndatomu (Nov 17, 2015)

barryh said:


> Another quick question.....do u only put a filter on one side? If so what do u cover the other side and back up with?


Well, the filter kit comes with one filter...and covers for the other two sides


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