# Does anyone here have a Firechief furnace?



## Ozark Woodburner (Aug 15, 2010)

I am trying to find the right inside furnace before fall and I've about decided on a Fire Chief FC500.  Does anyone have any experience with these furnaces?  I'd like to keep cost around or below $2000 and the Fire Chief seems to be possibly one of the best in my price range.  It has secondary combustion and a roller grate that I like plus its made in America.  And it has an optional setup to preheat water for the water heater.  It seems most inside furnaces with a secondary combustion chamber are $2500 and up.  

I am looking for any feedback I can get with this.  I'm assuming with a 5 cubic foot firebox, overnight burns won't be a problem.  Is this a furnace I can expect to last a long time you think?

Thanks for any info.

Here is a link the furnace-

http://www.firechiefwoodfurnace.com/fc500.aspx


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## Stihl_WoodBandit (Aug 15, 2010)

Ozark,

One of my college roommates was from Southern Ohio and their Firechief is one of the coolest things i remember from their house.  They bought the furnace when they built the house 20 years before.  I'm not sure what size or model they had, but i know it heated the one story and finished basement ranch style house very well.  His dad always bragged about how much money it has saved their family.

When I have the money, I too will be buying a Firechief.  If you can, post up some pictures on the install of  whatever you decide on buying.

Good Luck.


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## laynes69 (Aug 15, 2010)

The firecheifs look like they are well built, but they won't be the cleanest burning furnace. They will also consume more wood. In order to have a true secondary combustion, you need preheated secondary air to the fire. Before you look just at price, consider the tax credits. There are alot of woodfurnaces out there that are cleaner burning and will use less wood for the same amount of heat. Plus i'm not a fan of forced draft. When we had it on our old furnace, it would eat wood quickly when it was being used. Some of the better built models are the PSG Caddy, Blaze King Apex, the Energy King 385EK. We heat with a Caddy and its a nice unit. We cut wood consumption by at least 2 cords. It burns cleanly and we get a nice view of the fire. How big is your house and the insulation?


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## Ozark Woodburner (Aug 15, 2010)

The thing with the tax credit is I have bought enough tax credit home stuff this year to take the full $1500 credit.  Buying an EPA furnace won't save me a cent come tax season.  I have however been looking at the PSG Caddy too, I think its around $2500 plus the blower.  

Home is 1750 sq. ft total including the basement where the furnace will be. 15" of insulation in attic.  The drywall has insulation board (what I call it) between the brick and inside walls. The single pane windows and sliding glass doors are whats hurting us the most.  Those are being replaced a few per year until where done.

Honestly I hate to get into furnaces over $3000, If I was gonna spend that much I'd be tempted to get a OWB.  
I do not want a "wood hog" furnace that I have to wake up every night at 2 a.m. to dump another load of wood in so it won't be out in the morning.  We have a propane central furnace that we use very, very little.

It looks like the Caddy will wind up being $500-$700 more.  If it only burned say 10% less wood than the firechief or Yukon then I doubt I'd pay the difference.  But if it burned like 25% less wood, that would make it a bargain for me.  

I don't like the fact the Caddy doesn't have a water heater tube optional, but I do understand why.


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## Ozark Woodburner (Aug 15, 2010)

Laynes, you said you use at least 2 less cords of wood per year?  How many did you burn previously and what kind of wood heat did you have previously?  

Also, what size home and insulation?

I also notice you live in a colder winter climate than me too.

Thanks.


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## laynes69 (Aug 15, 2010)

I have burned as much as 8+ cords in the past. Last year we installed a Caddy and we burned around 6.5 cords. Our house is a 2400 sq ft victorian with 10'ceilings on both floors decent insulation. Plus the radiant heat heated our basement which is 1200 sq ft. We had the 1500 hotblast before the caddy.


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## Ozark Woodburner (Aug 15, 2010)

Cool.  

My house should be fairly easy to heat with about any of these furnaces, considering the size, and climate I live in.   I think the Blaze King and Energy King are both out of my price range.


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## laynes69 (Aug 15, 2010)

If you have a good furnace now, you can tie into the central furnace in series with a woodfurnace. That would eliminate the blower, saving you money. Otherwise you can get a model with the blower and tie it in parallel with the central furnace. Either way if done right it will work well.


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## Ozark Woodburner (Aug 17, 2010)

So, will I have any trouble with 10 or 12 hour burn you think?

Also, with these furnaces, what do you do if you have an extended power outage?  

Can you use any of these furnaces like a stove without ruining them?


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## laynes69 (Aug 18, 2010)

With our Caddy depending on the call for heat with a full load we can go 8-12 hours. Wood species also has much to do with it. When it gets colder those burns drop when the call for heat is greater and the damper is open more. With a standard furnace you probably could get 8-10 hours, but it would have to be closed down pretty good to get the long burn. With that, you really lower the heat output of the furnace and you create creosote. Thats where having the secondary burn really shines. Depending on the layout of the ducting and the furnace you can operate a woodfurnace on low with smaller fires when there is a power outage. Don't expect to operate the unit at full capacity. You need that blower to get the heat away from the furnace. A woodfurnace produces too much heat to use it as a stove, you need electricity. Otherwise you take the chance of burning off paint, and overheating things in a hurry. There are heat dumps that can be placed in the ductwork in case they hit high temps to relieve the unit.


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## Ozark Woodburner (Aug 18, 2010)

I see.  I'm new to inside furnaces, so excuse me for all the questions.  What makes the secondary burn on the Caddy more efficient than the Firechief or other older design furnaces?

Thanks.


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## laynes69 (Aug 18, 2010)

What sets the Caddy apart from other furnaces is its advanced secondary combustion. There are 4 tubes in the firebox below the baffle that introduce preheated secondary air. This burns up the smoke and gasses. The firebox and baffle are fully insulated to hold the heat for a good complete combustion. On a firecheif you have a simple baffle with a sliding plate. Its more of a extra path to collect heat, but by no means a secondary combustion chamber. With a EPA unit like the Caddy, because of the design of the furnace, they can burn up to 1/3 less wood than a standard furnace and get the same amount of heat. Theres a huge difference in the designs. But one thing is for sure, burning less than seasoned wood will kill your heat output and your wood consumtion will go up.


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## Ozark Woodburner (Aug 19, 2010)

Ok, I see.  The small firebox on the caddy really bothers me.  Do you have any trouble at all with overnight/long burns?  As in not enough capacity?

Thanks.


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## laynes69 (Aug 19, 2010)

Not at all. I was worried about the same thing when I bought the furnace last year. The old furnace had a 6 cu. ft firebox. The new one is a 3.5. In mild weather I can put in a 3 meduim splits and wake up in the morning to a coal bed. I don't have to fill it until it gets cold out. Something I never would have got with the old furnace. The way they burn is 100% different than a standard furnace.


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## Ozark Woodburner (Aug 19, 2010)

I see.

Well thanks for the info.  I might just try it out.


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## Ozark Woodburner (Aug 19, 2010)

One more question, they list this as an add-on furnace.  Is there a reason I can't use it as my only central heat source I wonder?


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## laynes69 (Aug 19, 2010)

There are 2 basic furnace types. An add-on which uses your blower from your LP furnace, or a stand alone with a blower. You can add on a unit with a blower using a Parallel installation. You need to utilize your return ducting and supply ducting. By placing dampers in the ductwork both should be able to operate independently. The Caddy without a blower is made to be installed in series. Your air that would normally go through your LP furnace into the ductwork would go into the base of the Caddy. From there the heated air goes through the ductwork. The Caddy uses a limit switch that will trigger the fan only on the LP furnace. That will push the heated air through the ductwork. I installed our unit which contains a blower and filter housing built it. It has a damper above the woodfurnace to open and close depending on its operation. Here is a link to my installation. 

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/38440/P15/

There are 2 things that are very important not only for a modern furnace but also a modern stove. They need wood that is seasoned properly. Cut and split and stacked for a year or better to operate to full potential. Also having the proper sized chimney is important. The flue gasses run cooler than the old furnaces of the day so its critical to have the chimney the proper size.


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## Ozark Woodburner (Aug 23, 2010)

The problem is price on that darn Caddy, talk about ridiculous.  SO much for $2500, more like $3300.


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## laynes69 (Aug 23, 2010)

Thats a bummer. Sounds high to me. I was lucky and bought the second to last one from a local store. After the tax credits, I paid around 1200 for mine.


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## Ozark Woodburner (Aug 24, 2010)

Yeah,  I can get the firechief delivered to my home for less than $1800.  As much as I'd like the Caddy, the $1500 difference would be hard to justify the wood difference, especially no more than we burn down here.


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## BMCDK (Aug 26, 2010)

I bought a Firechief 500 a year ago. I love it1 I bought it from obediahs. I had it shipped curb side. I paid $1200 with shipping. I had a really old wood furnace that was not up to par anymore so i searched and searched and found the firechief at the best price. I have a 1200 sq foot two story 100 yr old farmhouse with little too no insulation. Last year we had quite a few days in to the 0's and below and it kept the main living quarters between 75 and 80 and the upstairs which has no vents at about 65. I burned from October to April about 4 cords of wood and a half ton of soft coal. I turned mine into primary with oil back up. I had to have a return box built for it. I drew up the plans and had a tin shop fabricate it for $100. I burn mostly oak and cherry and some locust for good measure. I can load seven to eight splits tamp it down at 10 pm and have a nice coal bed up to about 8 am. I can find plenty of wood and coal pretty cheaply so epa crap does nothing for me, plus i enjoy cutting and splitting. I would not mind to have the caddy, but they were out of our price range! I sure do love the firchief. Also Obediah's is fantastic they were really nice and i had no issues with them, answered every question i had. Hope this helps!


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## laynes69 (Aug 26, 2010)

That "Epa Crap" has given me more heat pound for pound of wood, less emissions, a reduction in wood consumption and a cleaner chimney. None of that would happen with the old furnace. I can get wood for "free", or buy it cheap also. I enjoy cutting wood, but its a hell of alot easier getting ahead when you burn less wood, plus my time is worth something. Theres some people on here that have cut their wood consumption in half because of the "Epa Crap". I could have easily kept our old furnace in use, but I decided with better options and technology on the market I was going to take advantage of it. I will never go back to a old unit again.


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## Ozark Woodburner (Aug 26, 2010)

Yes that help alot.  The $1800 quote I got was from Obediahs too, I can't believe it went up 50% in one year!   That can't be right, are you positive you only paid $1200?  

It is hard for me to justify the price difference on the EPA furnaces.  Were talking enough money difference to buy 50 face cord of wood in my area or 150 face cord of block hardwood from mills (it $10)
Keep in mind, in my area a typical home burns 8 face cord per year total.  Besides, its very hard to believe cutting wood usage in half soley because of the furnace.  Surely these people replaced old leaky ductwork, or started burning seasoned wood instead of green wood, or something.

I dunno.


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## laynes69 (Aug 26, 2010)

I'm not talking about cutting wood consumption in half with a wood furnace. I'm saying there are some on here in the hearth room that changed the way they process their wood (Let it season longer) and upgraded to a EPA unit which in return with good habits cut their consumption in half. It is true that a standard stove compared to a EPA model will burn more wood for the same amount of heat. Buying something to heat is a big decision, which there are lots out there. I didn't buy what I wanted till I saved my pennies and purchased it. Have you ever thought about a good wood stove instead of a furnace? Just to give you some different options check over in the hearth room and see what they say. You could possibly get an efficient stove for much less and burn less wood in the process. There also are other furnaces out there that are lower in price that would heat just fine. You can burn pretty clean in a regular furnace, but you need to burn good dry wood and have a hot fire. Have you seen the Englander furnaces?


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## smokinj (Aug 26, 2010)

Far as wood furance goes I have a us stove 1557m I think. It can go through 12 cords running 24/7 from oct-may and that was all softwood. This year will be all seasoned oak hickory beech and ash. Should bring me into the 8 cord range. Fill that is pretty darn good with the natural gas budget 29.00 a month cheep wood furnace and smokes very little. This is a lot of work so keep that in mind when chosing a furnace, It takes good eqiment and supply to make it all happen!


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## BMCDK (Aug 26, 2010)

My wife actually reminded me that  we have had it since 08. The price was actually about 1289. 989 for the stove and 300 to ship. The price of stoves and furnaces have sky rocketed! I have no use for the forced draft I only use the manual. The forced draft is nice to get the fire to ignite and burn hotter to take the chill off quicker, but like i said i rarely use it! I could care less about viewing the fire it is in the basement. I have a fireplace for that. The shaker grates are pretty heavy duty and function very well The three speed blower is sweet! I have had no issues with it so far!


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## Ozark Woodburner (Aug 26, 2010)

A wood stove is out of the question,  it just won't work as well in my home.  Yes I've looked at the englander, but again they are out of my price range.


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## mhambi (Sep 10, 2010)

Ozark Woodburner said:
			
		

> A wood stove is out of the question,  it just won't work as well in my home.  Yes I've looked at the englander, but again they are out of my price range.





Woohoo!  Long time lurker, first time poster.  I just picked up a Englander (well, Timber Ridge... same thing) for my place.  The big box store price was a little out of my budget as well, but after a lot of looking around I found a good online deal.  I paid 1,115, shipped for that price (to a local freight hub), and it was here in less than a week.  In fact, just last night my 12 year old and I moved out the old Lopi that we had as a 'placeholder' and put the new furnace in it's place.  I'll be hooking up the ductwork this weekend.

If you're still considering the Englander, but want a better price check out overstockstoves dot com (the 50-TRW35 model)  I'd post a link, but I don't want to look like a spammer on my first post.  lol


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## freeburn (Sep 10, 2010)

If you are close to a Farm and FLeet they have the Englander too. I think the sale is off now, they used to be $999. They'll probably go on sale one more time before Winter hits. Otherwise, you may be able to get it at that price if you ask the store manager. It's got the window in the door always a plus for seeing what's going on and making adjustments.

Edit:  Sorry, forgot to look at where you were from. Not much help. . .Sorry.


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