Energy king 385ek not heating whole house

[brenndatomu]

Easy to set up.
Just need to mount to wall or something, needs to be flat/level...put in oil, hook up hose, zero gauge, drill small hole in stovepipe, insert a small metal tube (1/4 copper, or brake line) in stovepipe, hook rubber tube to the metal tube, bam, done.

 

[Benjamin5985]

Example

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Ordered that exact one u sent me

thank you Any chance in the future you can show me a pic of how yours is mounted? Any location better then others? So I’m looking for heat loss in the chimney?

what numbers are good and what’s bad

 

[andym]

We are having a baby girl soon and wanna keep her room warm. Looking for some input or help.

Congrats, by the way! 61° is a little chilly, but I wouldn't freak out about it. Babies are usually wrapped up pretty warmly and actually handle cool temps pretty well. At least our 3 have!
I can't resist.....were you asking for input on the furnace or the baby? LOL!
I don't blame ya for wanting to improve the air distribution, I did some extensive revamping of our HVAC ducting a year ago with great results.

 

[brenndatomu]

Ordered that exact one u sent me

thank you Any chance in the future you can show me a pic of how yours is mounted? Any location better then others? So I’m looking for heat loss in the chimney?

what numbers are good and what’s bad

I just have mine mounted on a piece of plywood and then that's mounted on the wall.
You are measuring chimney draft...not sure what the specs are on your furnace, but -0.04 to -0.06" are pretty common specs.
If its much more than that, the draft speed is too high, and that pull lots of extra heat up the chimney...not good for warming the house.

 

[Benjamin5985]

Congrats, by the way! 61° is a little chilly, but I wouldn't freak out about it. Babies are usually wrapped up pretty warmly and actually handle cool temps pretty well. At least our 3 have!
I can't resist.....were you asking for input on the furnace or the baby? LOL!
I don't blame ya for wanting to improve the air distribution, I did some extensive revamping of our HVAC ducting a year ago with great results.

What things did you do for better result? Sad the house is only 4 years old but I want it to work great and lol I needed a doctor to make the baby so I may need help hahahah

 

[brenndatomu]

Page 19 of the manual says draft of -0.06" WC is not to be exceeded.
Edit: page 22 says -0.04 to -0.06", as I suspected...

https://www.energyking.com/manual/energyking-furnace-user-manual.pdf

 

[Benjamin5985]

I just have mine mounted on a piece of plywood and then that's mounted on the wall.
You are measuring chimney draft...not sure what the specs are on your furnace, but -0.04 to -0.06" are pretty common specs.
If its much more than that, the draft speed is too high, and that pull lots of extra heat up the chimney...not good for warming the house.

Well I am def going to give this a try for sure I will say this when the circulator fan is on I can feel air coming out of the furnace in the front. I personally don’t think that would be normal but again I am a a mature at this. I called energy king today with very little help to none sadly

 

[brenndatomu]

They are still in business? Many/most of the companies that made those older wood furnaces were gone soon after spring of 2020.

 

[Benjamin5985]

They are still in business? Many/most of the companies that made those older wood furnaces were gone soon after spring of 2020.

they are part of royal now I believe

so after looking at that page it ask for a dampener in the chimney pipe I def don’t see one of those on mine

 

[brenndatomu]

I noticed that...that's what made me question the draft.
Get yours tested first, and then the damper can be installed if needed...

 

[brenndatomu]

You may want to read through the manual, see if your setup conforms to requirements...lots of info on ductwork, etc...

 

[andym]

What things did you do for better result?

My ductwork was not original. The supply and return ducting for the (partial) 2nd floor were routed through the attic with flex duct. You couldn't tell if the AC was on or not, virtually no air flow. I ran new ducting inside the main floor walls and ceiling. It worked out beautifully. This past summer we did not use our 2nd floor window unit at all. The temps do stay warmer in summer and cooler in winter up there, but you won't get away from that without installing a separate zone. I may add a multi head minisplit up there someday when the children are older.

Does the baby's room have a return register? Is the door left open? Return air can make a big difference.

 

[Benjamin5985]

You may want to read through the manual, see if your setup conforms to requirements...lots of info on ductwork, etc...

Def trying to do that. I asked the chimney guy that when he came he didn’t say anything except installing a clean out. I’ll test it and keep in touch. That def could be a issue for sure

 

[Benjamin5985]

My ductwork was not original. The supply and return ducting for the (partial) 2nd floor were routed through the attic with flex duct. You couldn't tell if the AC was on or not, virtually no air flow. I ran new ducting inside the main floor walls and ceiling. It worked out beautifully. This past summer we did not use our 2nd floor window unit at all. The temps do stay warmer in summer and cooler in winter up there, but you won't get away from that without installing a separate zone. I may add a multi head minisplit up there someday when the children are older.

Does the baby's room have a return register? Is the door left open? Return air can make a big difference.

we out three vents in her room one high two low, and the new return ia in the room Right next to it

 

[brenndatomu]

we out three vents in her room one high two low, and the new return ia in the room Right next to it

Return right next to the supply vent?
If so, that isn't good...it will just short circuit...should be as far away from each other as possible...

 

[Benjamin5985]

Return right next to the supply vent?
If so, that isn't good...it will just short circuit...should be as far away from each other as possible...

The room
Right next to her sorry. Total super are room the return is in

I have a return in my master bedroom, spare bedroom and two mains in the hallway

 

[maple1]

Seems to me some accurate temperature measuring would be in order here? Of several things. Flue temps, plenum temps, register temps...

 

[sloeffle]

Huh?
Well, if the wood furnace is having to breath through a MERV 11 filter, that is WAY too high...that will kill your air flow right there!
Drop a cheapy blue MERV 2 fiberglass in it and see what happens...or a white fiberglass MERV 4...

I started running MERV 11 filters in my wood burning furnace this year because I noticed the house was always very dusty when I was burning wood. The new filters have definitely cut down on the dust in my house. I ran the junky blue air filters from Menards earlier this year, and for years before that and I haven't noticed much of a difference on how the house heats since switching over to the MERV 11 filters.

For the OP's issue I definitely don't think it wouldn't hurt to use a lower MERV filter as test to see if it helps.

 

[brenndatomu]

I started running MERV 11 filters in my wood burning furnace this year because I noticed the house was always very dusty when I was burning wood. The new filters have definitely cut down on the dust in my house. I ran the junky blue air filters from Menards earlier this year, and for years before that and I haven't noticed much of a difference on how the house heats since switching over to the MERV 11 filters.

For the OP's issue I definitely don't think it wouldn't hurt to use a lower MERV filter as test to see if it helps.

You aren't having issues pushing heat to the far end of the house though either...and probably have a larger filter than OP's...if its working for you fine, but I would watch things like a hawk...not gonna take long to get dirty enough to plug up enough to restrict the air and get things hot...that just happened on my sisters Tundra the other night, she called saying it smelled hot...she gave me all the relevant numbers and I told her to pull the air filter out...plenum temp dropped like a rock...filter was dirty...didn't look that bad though. She is running a MERV 6...gonna switch to a 4 though.

 

[brenndatomu]

Seems to me some accurate temperature measuring would be in order here? Of several things. Flue temps, plenum temps, register temps...

Yes...that needs to happen too.

 

[sloeffle]

You aren't having issues pushing heat to the far end of the house though either...and probably have a larger filter than OP's...if its working for you fine, but I would watch things like a hawk...not gonna take long to get dirty enough to plug up enough to restrict the air and get things hot

Correct, I'm actually having the opposite issue, I need to slow the air down going through my furnace. I figured the higher MERV filters would help with that too. I have the same MERV number filter on my geo furnace, and I agree that you need to watch them like a hawk or they will get plugged up pretty fast. My particular version of Caddy has two 12x12 filters.

Being a frugal person , I usually take them to barn every month or so and blow them out with my air compressor.

 

[Benjamin5985]

Seems to me some accurate temperature measuring would be in order here? Of several things. Flue temps, plenum temps, register temps...

I will look into on how to do this thank u for the input

 

[Benjamin5985]

Seems to me some accurate temperature measuring would be in order here? Of several things. Flue temps, plenum temps, register temps...

Any recommendations on kits for this so I can measure each one

 

[Benjamin5985]

Condar stovepipe probe thermometers

stovepipe probe thermometers

www.condar.com

This work for the stove pipe? Or is a digital unit better suited

 

[woodey]

Amazon product ASIN B005HN2Z9E

I have been buying my filters from purolatorairfilters.com, the same filter that came with the wood furnace-- P312 - 14x24x1/ MERV 4.
Nice filters, a case of 12 delivered for $53.73 .