# Wood Furnace issues (Energy Mate)



## j7art2 (Oct 22, 2014)

I'll briefly explain what I've got here and the issue I'm having. I have included a ton of pictures to help show the system I have, etc. Sorry I can't get further away from it, there's a wall in the way.

I decided to resurrect my Energy Mate wood furnace this year. It pipes into my normal furnace, and the furnace blower is supposed to blow the hot air through the house. It hasn't been used in 10 years or more according to the previous owners of the house. I cleaned the chimney, repiped the system, and cut all new firebrick for it, re-gasketed it (twice) then decided to start using it since my dad has offered to give me 2 face cords of seasoned ash. I grew up using a wood stove my whole life, but never a complicated system like this.  The system was obviously used, as it took me nearly 4 hours to clean the creosote from the system.

Drafts pretty well for a 25 foot chimney (some back draft sometimes -- I've set my smoke detector off a few times, but I didn't have a window in the basement cracked) and has its own separate thermostat, ran by a limit switch.

Long story short, the whole system seems to work pretty well I think, but I'm having a few issues that I cannot seem to resolve no matter what I do. I stupidly messed with the limit switch before taking a picture of where the previous owner who obviously used it had the settings. The furnace blower kicks on to blow the hot air through the house, but even with a raging fire going and the damper completely closed (I guess mine can be totally closed and still vent fine, it's more of a bypass) I'm only getting lukewarm air through the house, even with the manual thermostat cranked up and the front blower raging and acting like a bellows. Can anyone explain why? I can't afford to spend $3000 on propane again this winter with my first baby on the way.


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## j7art2 (Oct 22, 2014)

Since the pictures were taken, I've since upped my limit switch settings to see if that helps (it didn't). 

Also, I have a toggle switch on my front bellows blower of my wood furnace that goes up to the limit switch. Not sure if that switch is an on/off switch (it does turn the fan on and off, but it may do more) or something else like a bypass to get the fire going manually if you need some draft.


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## laynes69 (Oct 23, 2014)

Maybe series from what I can see? Your limit settings should be around 90-100 off and 140 or 150 on. A larger fire equals warmer air. Make sure the bypass lever is pushed in when burning. This is a time of year where you shouldn't need a full firebox. Once it gets colder, things should improve.


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## JustWood (Oct 23, 2014)

laynes69 said:


> Maybe series from what I can see? Your limit settings should be around 90-100 off and 140 or 150 on. A larger fire equals warmer air. Make sure the bypass lever is pushed in when burning. This is a time of year where you shouldn't need a full firebox. Once it gets colder, things should improve.


Agreed.
I played with mine from factory settings and ended up a little higher to get a clean burn. Chimney was creosoting up fast. I think I ended up 10-15 degrees hotter than factory for "on". IIRC I'm at 105 and 170


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## j7art2 (Oct 23, 2014)

Bypass lever on the limit switch? As in, having it on manual instead of automatic? 

The blower in the front has a switch, but I don't know if it actually does anything other than turn the blower on and off.


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## j7art2 (Oct 23, 2014)

Also, I'll make sure I set the limits to those settings. I've tried it in every position almost, and I'm still getting lukewarm air in my vents. Last night the furnace was NICE and hot, and I had about 4-5 pieces of oak and ash going with the front blower going, furnace fan going, and the fresh air intake wide open and the thermostat set at 80 (for testing purposes). It didn't climb past 69 in the house. 

How would I know if my limit switch is bad? I don't know if this is the issue, and it does turn, but they obviously sell replacements for a reason.


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## laynes69 (Oct 23, 2014)

The lever on the front of the furnace is the bypass lever, make sure it's in when burning. As long as the furnace is kicking on and off while burning, the fan control is working. If your burning that much wood and that's the highest you got the home, either something isn't right with the ducting or furnace or it's your home. My register temps average around 90-100 degrees on a normal fire and it's more than enough to heat our home.


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## j7art2 (Oct 23, 2014)

Okay, so the switch you're referring to is the switch on the fresh air intake fan in the circled picture, correct? It doesn't go in and out, just left or right for me. One seems to be on, the other direction seems to be off. There may be more to it than that, since it is also controlled by the thermostat upstairs. Even with the switch on, if the thermostat is not set at the right temperature, it won't kick on. 

There is a button on the limit switch that can be pushed in and pulled out, which is a manual and automatic modes for the limit switch.


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## laynes69 (Oct 23, 2014)

No, your limit/control controls the main blower, the thing your circled in the pic is the forced draft which should operate off a thermostat. The bypass lever is the lever or handle above the loading door. Pulling it out sends all heat up the chimney, pushing it in allows for more heat into the home. You do not want that forced draft operating continuously unless you want a steel forge in your basement.


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## j7art2 (Oct 23, 2014)

Yep, damper (at least, on a wood stove, that's its equivalent i guess, even though I also have a damper on the metal flue pipe going into the brick chimney) is all the way in when firing and still not getting lots of heat for some reason. It still allows for smoke to go through when fully closed, but I think it's designed that way on purpose. 

There is however a sort of metal flap when I open the loading door below it though that's about 2-3 inches long that seems to be on hinges. I don't have a picture of it, but could take one if needed when I get home. No idea what this thing is, but it's inside the furnace itself, right in front of the door. I have no idea of it's relevance, if any in this case.

Last night, the furnace was pretty dang hot, and I still wasn't getting heat pumping through the house with the furnace fan blowing. I had the slider above the door fully closed, but the pipe damper fully open. I tried closing that some too, but if I close it too much, it snuffs the fire and didn't seem to make a difference either way. I'm not sure if the second damper in the pipe is even necessary.


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## maple1 (Oct 23, 2014)

The metal flap thing just sounds like a smoke door - stops smoke from rolling out when you open the door. Or that's the idea.

Are you measuring stack temps?

Are you sure the main blower is coming on? Any changes at the registers if you turn up the other furnace stat?

Might help to get a IR thermometer gun & trace your duct temps. How dry is your wood? The fire might not be as hot as you are thinking it is.


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## j7art2 (Oct 23, 2014)

Ash is seasoned 2 years. Oak is thin amish hardwood slab, seasoned about 6 months. 

I got a new magnetic thermometer for my pipe today; the previous one I had in the picture there didn't work out of the box. It was registering 100 degrees and was hot enough to leave me a burn blister. We'll see exactly where I'm at. 

I discussed this issue with the local guy at Family Farm and Home (equivalent to Tractor Supply or Rural King in my area) and he mentioned that there should be a blower that blows the hot air from the wood furnace into the normal furnace. I was under the impression that the normal furnace fan simply sucked the air out of the wood furnace and into the house. If this is the case, I bet that fan isn't working if this model has such a thing. The question is, where the nine hells is it located? I don't see any place for a fan anywhere on this other than the fresh air intake fan in the front.


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## maple1 (Oct 23, 2014)

As laynes69 said above, this looks like a series install. I.e., the heating air will all go through both furnaces one after the other, no matter which one is doing the heating - which I would tend to think would only involve one fan, which would come on if either furnace was heating.

I have no experience with hot air furnaces, so don't know how common that type of setup is - and I think that's about the limit of my input into this one. But 100 degrees isn't very hot for a flue temp - I'd likely get an IR gun too so you could double check that along with your duct & furnace surface temps. Maybe also a moisture meter to double check your wood.


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## j7art2 (Oct 23, 2014)

That's what the magnet thermometer said. It was hot enough to leave me a blister burn, so I know it was significantly hotter. 100 is enough to touch and still be comfortable. The old thermometer wasn't working right. I got a new one today.

The MM is on the list to get. The ash sounds like a baseball bat when tapped (I've heated with wood my whole life, but it was a simple wood stove, not a complex beast in the new house) is nice and grey, with split ends. It's not the wood for sure.

I'll report back with my findings when I get home and get a fire lit. I appreciate the help thus far.


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## brenndatomu (Oct 23, 2014)

Hi J! That type of furnace is known for chewin through some wood, but also making some real heat in the process! Something is up here. We'll get ya going. Not trying to be a smart Alec, but just so we are all on the same page here...gonna cover the basics.
1.Your bypass baffle (correct term) is attached to that knob on a rod right above the loading door, it should be out for loading and maybe a bit longer on a cold start just to warm the chimney. It's normal operating position is fully in. When pushed in it makes the smoke/gasses/fire contact more of the firebox for a longer time. When it is out it just helps keep smoke out of your face when loading, well, that and that swinging flap you mentioned.
2.That key (or flue) damper (correct term(s) on the chimney pipe should be left fully open until yo get this thing hot, and then only partially closed. Best case scenario would be to set it using a manometer, but one thing at a time. We can address draft issues later. Along that line though, what size is the chimney liner?
3.The toggle switch on top of your draft blower (correct term) is just a manual switch for building the fire up after loading. The pivoting tear drop shaped door on the side of the draft blower should be wide open when building a fire, you can cut it back once things are rolling, I'm not sure if the is another draft control on this furnace or not?
4.The limit switch (correct term) is the third picture in your original post, it should be set somewheres in the range of 100-120 off, 140-160 on, and the high limit left alone, they are usually pinned at 200 or so. This is what controls when the furnace blower runs, sending hot air throughout the house. It may or may not have a button that can be pushed in to make the blower run constant. The furnace blower is coming on correct?

Just FYI, when on "high fire" (draft blower running) the chimney pipe thermometer will probably read 3-500* (you may regret the silicone on the pipe, most high temp silicone is only good for 600* or so and it really stinks the house up much beyond that temp) the pipe shouldn't need to be sealed if everything is working/installed correctly. It is hard to tell in the pic, do you have the chimney pipe installed with the male ends toward the furnace? They should be, that keeps creosote from running on the outside of the pipe making a fire hazard.
Alright, enough for now...


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## j7art2 (Oct 23, 2014)

By all means, you aren't bring a smart Alec. You guys are the experts here, not me, which is why I'm here. The wood stove I grew up with was simple. Start wood on fire, flip room blower on, adjust damper, walk away and enjoy warmth. If too hot, crack a window. Lol

Your post was very informative and helpful. I can also turn my fan on manually upstairs via the thermostat.

I've gone through almost half a face tinkering with it, and I'm going to set everything to the suggested settings and set my thermostat to 85 to test it and see if I get more than just lukewarm air.

I have been keeping the draft blower running most of the time. It seems the thermostat controls when that kicks on. I imagine its always running because its trying to get the house to whatever I set it at and can't.

I don't know what direction the pipe is going, but its all sealed. I'll check when I need to tear it apart. The RTV was a peace of mind for me, and is easy to remove and reapply in a cleaning. If it becomes bothersome, there's always plan B. 

The furnace blower is coming on, yeah. I can feel air coming through the vents, it just isn't hot. Warm at best, just room temp with a small hot fire.

Not sure of chimney liner size. Its clay and 25 feet up, and my buddy who cleaned my chimney (hes a small guy and I'm not) broke my extension ladder in the process of coming down. Even if I wanted to look, I couldn't right now. That's a story for a different day though.

I hope that answers your questions.


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## laynes69 (Oct 23, 2014)

Is the heat from your woodfurnace sucked into the return of the central furnace, or is the air from the plenum of the central furnace ducted to push thru the woodfurnace?


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## j7art2 (Oct 23, 2014)

I have no idea. The thing on top of the wood furnace is the main ductwork that goes throughout the house it looks like. I think that's what you're asking.


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## j7art2 (Oct 23, 2014)

I think this is what you're looking for.


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## brenndatomu (Oct 23, 2014)

Yeah, from the pics I'd say the wood furnace is the last point of contact before the hot air hits the supply ducts. The duct coming into the Aprilaire box of the fossil fuel furnace is the cold air return.

You may wanna try shutting the draft blower off and just run the draft "door" on the blower wide open, see what happens. A lot of furnaces are "natural" draft anyways. I know the last wood furnace that I had with a draft blower would EAT wood! 'Course it should still make some heat!




j7art2 said:


> Not sure of chimney liner size. Its clay


OK, I bet the flue is pretty good size, it may not draft real strong, prolly don't need the key damper, but it doesn't hurt to have it though. Like I said earlier, once we get this thing going, it would be interesting to get a draft reading on that chimney. A Stainless flex liner may be a good future investment...?


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## j7art2 (Oct 23, 2014)

Wow... well, i just discovered the problem I think.

I've been under firing all this time. I finally got the temps in the right range (and lo and behold, the house was getting warm! HOLY COW THIS THING PUTS OFF SOME MONSTEROUS HEAT DOWNSTAIRS!!)

The bad news is, is that I ran into another slew of problems in the process and flooded my entire basement with smoke.

First, my door gasket will NOT seal properly. This is the SECOND time I've replaced the gasket. Once it got to proper temperature, it just started flooding with smoke. I took out a half inch gasket, and the first time put in a half inch and that didn't resolve the issue. The next time I put in a 5/8 (biggest I can get) thinking that would resolve it. 

Secondly, my first elbow from the wood furnace to the steel flue was just bellowing smoke too as if the RTV wasn't even there.I have no idea why this is (and you're right, it stinks like nasty rotten popcorn) and I'm going to need to seal it with something else. Any recommendations? I'd prefer something non-permanent if possible so I can pull the piping apart to clean it.


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## brenndatomu (Oct 23, 2014)

The pipe smoke may have just been the paint curing, it will smoke and stink each time you hit a new temperature threshold. If it was combustion smoke coming out then you have crappy draft! Was the key damper clear open? You shouldn't need to seal the pipe joints but if you still wanna, I have used high temp aluminum "duct tape", or get a tube of furnace cement at the local hardware/stove shop/farm store wherever.


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## j7art2 (Oct 23, 2014)

Key damper was at a 45. I can try it wide open and see if it makes a difference.


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## spirilis (Oct 23, 2014)

Chimney exterior to the house?


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## j7art2 (Oct 23, 2014)

Yep.

And with the key open, the smoke is drafting properly. Bren, you are a lifesaver there. I would have been chasing my own tail. The smoke has to go SOMEWHERE. If it can't go out, it's going to find the next best thing. My basement.


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## brenndatomu (Oct 23, 2014)

Yeah, you'll probably need to leave the key damper open this time of the year (temps too high outside) You may be able to close it a bit more in cold weather, but I'm not sure you really need it with your over-sized (likely) exterior chimney. The best thing to do would be to get a Dwyer Mark II manometer, hook it up to the pipe permanently, then you'll always know exactly what you draft is. You can find a used Dwyer Mark IIs on fleabay for $20 or so if ya watch for a bit, I have bought two like that. 
EDIT (there are at least two candidates on there right now, just make sure you get one with the red gauge oil and the hoses included, unless it is really cheap, then you could get the hoses locally. Could just use any ole tubing, but FYI the oil is kinda pricey to buy by itself though.)


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## j7art2 (Oct 23, 2014)

Are they removable? As if when I need to replace the pipe?

I'm looking at their website. I don't even know what a manometer is. Obviously it measures draft, but since it's plastic, i don't see how it wouldn't melt. Lol


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## brenndatomu (Oct 23, 2014)

You hook it to the pipe via the tubing. Get some small copper tubing that will slide snugly into the supplied Dwyer tubing, drill a hole into the flue pipe about halfway to the chimney (furnace side of the key damper) insert fore mentioned copper in the hole with a bend in it so that it "hangs" from the pipe, mount the gauge on a flat and level spot on the wall, BAM, you gots a draft reading!


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## spirilis (Oct 24, 2014)

My own experience with woodstoves and exterior masonry chimneys... you can never damper it down "too far" since you have to feed heat to all that masonry in order to maintain draft, all while it's happily giving it up to the elements 

I can imagine wood furnaces have the same issue in your situation.


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## maple1 (Oct 24, 2014)

Keep a real close eye on your chimney & creosote situation, until you get a handle on how to run it. Furnaces usually aren't as bad as boilers for that - but if your key damper moves on you & you don't notice (wind gusts can do that sometimes if it's loose in it's movement) you might get some buildup.


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## maple1 (Oct 24, 2014)

spirilis said:


> you can never damper it down "too far" since you have to feed heat to all that masonry in order to maintain draft, all while it's happily giving it up to the elements


 
Yes you can - then you get smoke in your house, as the OP has now found out.

But I might have misread what you were saying....


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## j7art2 (Oct 24, 2014)

maple1 said:


> Yes you can - then you get smoke in your house, as the OP has now found out.
> 
> But I might have misread what you were saying....




LOL very true. :D

That key damper is WIDE open after that incident. 

My next question though, is there any way to make this thing more efficient? Like mentioned before, it does eat buckets and buckets of wood. It heats well (Got the house to 77 last night!! lol) but man, it mows through wood like a monster.

Can I use coal on these? just curious. Would be good for evenings.


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## spirilis (Oct 24, 2014)

maple1 said:


> Yes you can - then you get smoke in your house, as the OP has now found out.
> 
> But I might have misread what you were saying....


Yes that was a misread, I meant you cannot (i.e. you shouldn't) damper it down too far -- or else you have problems (like smoke in the house)
Insulated liner in that chimney will be a massive breath of fresh air (just experienced that this fall, thank goodness!)


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## maple1 (Oct 24, 2014)

j7art2 said:


> LOL very true. :D
> 
> That key damper is WIDE open after that incident.
> 
> ...


 

Not sure on the coal - but I juggled a key damper on my old unit (a boiler) the whole time I had it (17 years). With that rig, it was a very fine line between keeping it open enough for good draft on the fire & a good burn, and closed enough so all the heat didn't go right up the stack. Throw in varying draft conditions from changing winds, and you could get to pulling your hair out. I also had a barometric damper, downstream of the key, that helped with the varying thing, and had a pretty good read on where to set it for my chimney after a lot of burning (which was right around the half-closed mark) - but there was still the odd occasion where I would get smoke in my basement because it was closed just a bit too much.

Do you have a barometric damper?


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## j7art2 (Oct 24, 2014)

Nope. Just the slider damper on the top of the loading door and the key damper in the pipe. I think my buddy has one of those barometric ones though on his high efficiency unit. Are those the ones that kind of 'blow in the wind'?


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## j7art2 (Oct 27, 2014)

I have another question guys. Does the limit switch control the draft blower at all on the front of the furnace?

It seems the toggle switch (circled in one picture with a yellow circle) is just an on/off. How do I control when it comes on? Either it's always on and I'm constantly having to adjust the tear drop for air intake, and I mow through wood like it's no one's business, or I turn it off. Isn't it supposed to turn off once the house reaches the temperature the thermostat is set at? I don't think it's doing it if so.


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## brenndatomu (Oct 27, 2014)

j7art2 said:


> Isn't it supposed to turn off once the house reaches the temperature the thermostat is set at? I don't think it's doing it if so


Yes, should be controlled by thermostat. The limit switch controls the duct blower only (well, it _can_ shut the draft blower OFF if you hit the high limit temp)
That toggle switch should just be a manual ON, basically you can turn it ON regardless of what the thermostat is calling for.


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## j7art2 (Oct 27, 2014)

Hm.. okay. I just realized the thermostat was set to 74, not 70 like I thought. I'm going to raise it a few degrees and see if it shuts off. 

I think one direction is simply off (i can't get it to turn on at all in one direction) and the other is on, but dependent on thermostat position. Like, if I flip the switch and the thermostat is set at 50, it won't turn on, but if the wife kicks it up (i tell her to cause I always forget when I go down to start a fire), it kicks on. I guess I answered my own question there in a way, but I've never seen it turn off from being too hot.


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## brenndatomu (Oct 27, 2014)

j7art2 said:


> I'm going to raise it a few degrees and see if it shuts off.


You mean lower it a few degrees?



j7art2 said:


> but I've never seen it turn off from being too hot.


Something is not right if the thermostat never shuts the draft blower off even after being satisfied. I bet that thing will EAT some wood running like that! A lot of people quit using the draft blowers just because of high wood use. I did on my old furnace, just run it like a wood stove.


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## j7art2 (Oct 27, 2014)

I dont know that I can get it hot enough not to create tons of creosote if it's not blowing. The flue thermometer seems to only get hot enough to optimal burning range with the fan blowing.

Any suggestions? I mean, I guess I could just let it blow all the time and could just crack the teardrop to like 25% and just leave it there and hope for the best.


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## brenndatomu (Oct 27, 2014)

Yeah, it is a balancing act with a forced draft furnace. I believe the design thinking is basically the creosote that was created during low fire will be burnt off when on high fire, therefore never building up enough to matter.



j7art2 said:


> I mean, I guess I could just let it blow all the time and could just crack the teardrop to like 25% and just leave it there and hope for the best.


You wouldn't have any thermostat control that way....


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## j7art2 (Oct 27, 2014)

Good point. I still have yet to work out all of these little bugs yet between cutting wood for the season. (DNR firewood permit, I can get 5 full cords of seasoned wood dead and fallen in state land!) 

Just traded my Mossberg 500 tactical shotgun for a Husqvarna 455 Rancher yesterday. That thing is a wood cutting beast. I wonder why it isn't shutting off. Or maybe the reverse, not turning on in 'off' mode.


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## j7art2 (Oct 27, 2014)

Oh! It did shut off. I guess the thermostats are just a few degrees off. The house is 75 (gag.. time to open a window) but the manual thermostat is only set to 70. Good to know I guess.


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## brenndatomu (Oct 27, 2014)

j7art2 said:


> I guess the thermostats are just a few degrees off.


Yup, that'll do it. My wood side thermostat reads about 1/2 degree cooler than the fuel oil side. 
Just curious, what kind of thermostat do you have controlling this beast? Dial type? Digital programmable? My Yukon runs a Honeywell FocusPro 5000 'stat on the wood side, I really like it, very sensitive, great control. I think I gave $20 for it new on fleabay


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## j7art2 (Oct 27, 2014)

Yeah, old school dial. The other one is a digital Honeywell. Maybe I'll look at getting a digital. Just a simple digital one is $20. Didn't realize I could upgrade that one that easy, but I guess it makes sense.


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## brenndatomu (Oct 28, 2014)

I think the normal retail price on the Focuspro 5000 is higher than $20 ($50?) I just found a new one somebody had leftover or something, wanted it out of the way. I really like it for a wood furnace though because it is so sensitive. It will maintain your setting without any variance in the displayed temp (unless you run outta wood ) I like it because it will run your draft blower for just short bursts to maintain temp instead of running the blower for longer trying to recover the lost 1 or two degrees span that your current thermostat likely has. 
Example, on yours, set it at 70, 'stat starts blower at 69, shuts off at 71. Mine will do something like set it at 70, starts blower at 70, shuts off at 70.5, something like that, I dunno, like I said, the displayed temp just never moves if you have fuel in the fire. That keeps your fire hot but doesn't let the blower blast all the heat up the chimney by running too much.


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## j7art2 (Oct 29, 2014)

That actually sounds awesome and a lot more efficient. The one thing I don't like about my furnace is that it eats logs. Even with a well insulated house, I have a feeling that going through 3+ full cords a year is a real possibility. 

If it allows for longer wood burns and less fuel on the fire (and thus less splitting, stacking and harvesting for me) then it's ultimately worth its weight in gold.


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## maple1 (Oct 29, 2014)

*Even with a well insulated house, I have a feeling that going through 3+ full cords a year is a real possibility. *

Hope you weren't expecting to burn less than that - that's isn't very much really doing central heating with wood. I think you'd find most in this thread over 5 and maybe more in the 7 range.


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## brenndatomu (Oct 29, 2014)

Yup, 5 cords would be a minimum in MI. 5-7 would be reasonable. I burn about 5 myself (heating a average insulated 2000 ft house)


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## j7art2 (Oct 30, 2014)

I'm sure. I've got just over a full cord now, but have until Dec. 31 before my DNR firewood/fuelwood permit expires, so I need to get cracking. I think I'm going to invest in that thermostat though too, i was battling all morning with it. I have a feeling I'm going to just be supplementing with wood this year, but we'll see. Once hunting season is over, I'll have more free reign of where I can collect wood without issue, and it should be easier and quicker.


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## brenndatomu (Oct 30, 2014)

Yup, get all the wood you can as fast as you can, get ahead 2-3 years if at all possible. Get it cut/split/stacked right away so it is good n dry, much more heat available in really dry wood, easier to build fires too! 
Supplementing is good too, no sense killing yourself trying to burn wet wood, just get ahead for next year, pay the man this year.


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## Reggie (Nov 26, 2014)

Hello! I have a used Energy Mate add-on wood furnace. The rear blower is unattached and I'm not sure how it was wired to the furnace. The front blower is wired to the little box (thermostat?) on the left side. Can someone post a pic or tell me how its supposed to be wired? I can't find any manuals online. Thanks in advance!

Reggie


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## kc90 (Feb 5, 2015)

I have recently installed a energy mate wood furnace that was given to me by a relative. The stove had been sitting idle for 10 years. Anyway the house I live in now is approx 1500sq feet. I have added a room 9ftx9ft ro accommodate the stove. I have 12ft of double wall flue that is 15ft from peak and a couple inches taller. The only place I had to put the New wood room is 20-25ft from existing gas furnace duct work. After installing furnace she worked great. Good draft and lots of heat. Like a idiot I had adjusted the fan limit switch and now its not heating properly. Right now around 15* outside and this may play a part in my heating issue. I have reset the limits switch to 90 off 150 on and high limit at factory setting 200. I have not changed wood type. I have been burning white oak that has been stacked for a little over a year. During the day the house temp is usually around 73-74 but at night with the stat set at 72* the house is 67*. Even the room the furnace is in the temp has dropped. I would think this furnace should keep the house at 100* if I wanted it to. Both blowers are working. Any ideas. Energy mate 7800 series.


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## j7art2 (Feb 5, 2015)

It sounds like your unit is an upgraded unit to mine, as mine only has a singular blower, not multiple ones like yours. My guess is at night it gets colder, which means you're going to need a hotter fire to keep the house going. My Energy Mate works well, but it EATS logs. I've gone through probably close to 8 cord this year since October. Sometimes I have to build a MASSIVE fire to keep up, and my flue thermometer is riding the fine line between high optimal and overburning.

If you haven't yet, get yourself a magnetic flue thermometer. I was having issue after issue with mine until I realized I wasn't burning nearly hot enough. With double walled piping though, you may have to get creative where you stick it. Hopefully some others will be able to better direct that, or you may want to getting some sort of probe thermometer to insert directly into the pipe.


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## kc90 (Feb 5, 2015)

How can I get the fire any hotter though. I don't want to leave the draft fan door open to much or it will eat logs. But I agree that I think it's the colder weather. I will take reading with it gun on flue and ductwork tonight. Just curious does it sound like I have the limit switches in the correct spot?


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## brenndatomu (Feb 5, 2015)

kc90 said:


> I have been burning white oak that has been stacked for a little over a year


White Oak is gonna be a lil wet yet at one year. I have had 3 year CSS white Oak that wasn't dry enough yet. Wet wood kills the heat output of the furnace.


kc90 said:


> I have reset the limits switch to 90 off 150 on and high limit at factory setting 200


 90* is too low, bump it back to 110* or so. The 150 and 200 should be fine


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## kc90 (Feb 5, 2015)

Thanks guys I have removed the first 3ft section of pipe and checked flue. Seems like it's clean. Readjusted fan limit and see what happens.


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## j7art2 (Feb 6, 2015)

kc90 said:


> I don't want to leave the draft fan door open to much or it will eat logs. But I agree that I think it's the colder weather. I will take reading with it gun on flue and ductwork tonight. Just curious does it sound like I have the limit switches in the correct spot?



Limit switch settings sound right to me. As for leaving the draft door open and eating logs, like I said, that's the nature of the beast. These Energy Mates make some serious heat, but also eat some serious wood. Like I said, I've gone through 8 cords this year already. My draft door has been fully open all winter, and has not shut off for more than a few hours at a time since December. 

Do you have an in-line key damper?


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## kc90 (Feb 6, 2015)

No in-line key damper. Last night was still pretty cold I think around 10* and I adjusted the switches like brenndatomu  said and it kept the house at 72* last night! Not for sure if I was the high pressure system causing the issue or what but it seemed to do pretty good last night.


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## j7art2 (Feb 6, 2015)

I have good nights and bad nights with my furnace too honestly. Last night, I ended up loading up my unit to almost the top of the baffle before bed. On average, I use 3 medium sized logs (6-8" or so) per burn, but at night, I pack in about 5 and depending on how my fresh air intake is flowing, may close my fresh air intake a bit.

I have a key damper, but whenever I attempt to close it, I end up having problems with maintaining ignition. I'm hoping next tax season will mean a new wood furnace. Mine is showing its age, and only has fire brick in the bottom, not along the sides or top like new units (and has no place to put them unless I mortared them in) and has no secondary burn chambers or tubes. The unit is good for the dinosaur it is, but I really have no intention on cutting 10 cords (30 face) a year if I can help it. I honestly love doing wood, but I also love other things in life too.


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## kc90 (Feb 6, 2015)

Sounds like i was just having a couple of bad nights. I usually load mine 4-5 logs during the night but I leave at 6 am for work and won't get back home until 5:30-6 in the evening so I load her to the gills with chunks that will just fit in the Dorr for longer burn time. Thanks for the input guys this is the first furnace I have owned. I have a old stove in my shed but wasn't used to the blowers and limit switch.


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## j7art2 (Feb 6, 2015)

No problem, hopefully it works well for you. I grew up using a radiant wood stove insert with small blower that kicked out serious heat my whole life, and I've found that wood furnaces are a  different animal completely, with the only comparison being that they both burn wood. I'm still learning tips and tricks with my wood furnace and I've been burning since October. Everything I learned about fire building and tending with my wood stove is moot. It's a strange learning curve.

One tip I can suggest, is if you need some extra quick heat to light your wood or keep it going if you have issues like I do sometimes, is throw in chunks of heat treated/kiln dried lumber. I go to Home Depot and buy all the non-pressure treated 70% off stuff then cut it into 2" chunks and fill up a trash can in the basement with them. I add them to the existing logs if not to temperature and it'll get it there quick. Don't burn kiln dried alone though, as the 0% moisture stuff burns *HOT *and you can over fire your stove.


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## kc90 (Feb 6, 2015)

Thanks


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## WiscWoody (Aug 26, 2018)

I just bought a house with one of these old Energy Mates in it. I might try it this winter but I think next summer I’ll take it out and put in a new wood stove and then a few years later I’ll change the water heater to a direct venting model and take down the block chimney. I wander how I would go about that? I suppose I’d take down what I could from the roof and then sledge hammer it from he basement until it all down...?


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