Mrpelletburner
Minister of Fire
Thanks for the link... I now have to review what is different between that model and the Tundra.
Everything Drolet Tundra - Heatmax...
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Mrpelletburner
Minister of Fire
What’s up man... long summer!
Need to to get my stuff together and place the order.
Need to to get my stuff together and place the order.
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Yeah pretty hard to sell a wood burner outside of heating season...interested shoppers should pick up in the next month or two...
You're right I got the red carpet shipping too. They are going to get it down my stairs for me. For the same price everyone else is before shipping. Stellar deal.
New to this site, looking at purchasing a new high efficiency wood furnace. Not new to burning wood but definitely behind the curve with the newer high efficiency furnaces. I have been waiting for a Kuuma vapor fire 200 for almost a year and talked to them last week and it sounds like it will be another six months before they start building them again due to new EPA testing. My old stove it shot. Wondering if there are any other options out there, I have read a ton of negative reviews about the fire chiefs shelters and tundras. I want a quality efficient furnace, willing to shell out the dollars but can’t wait another six months as the temps are already in the 40’s overnight. Any advice would be greatly appreciated
The shipping company will do this?! I have never heard of such a thing, except for when buying from a dealer. Sounds like you did well.
What are you using now? It is unusable right now? Do you have backup heat (gas, oil, etc) that you could use until the 200's are available again? It would be a shame to miss out on a Kuuma but for a few more months of waiting. Have you looked for a used one? I have seen more VF200's for sale used than 100's...still not a ton, but some. You could also have Dale at Lamppa give you a call if he hears of one for sale too...that's how I got my VF100. And he basically sold the VF200 that I had previously for me too.
As far as the Tundras, you heard negative reviews on the T1, probably not on the T2 though...I haven't really heard of any.
The other option would be a PSG Caddy...same parent company that builds the Tundra, but a Caddy needs to be bought from a dealer. Will be priced about halfway between a Tundra II, and a VF200. Very similar to the T2, just "better"
They also make the Mini Caddy, and Max Caddy, the Mini is small, Caddy medium, and the Max large. The box store versions of these are the Drolet Heatpack, the Tundra II, and the Heatpro. (S, M, L)
Me personally, the Drolet's are the only wood furnace line that are available at a box store that I'd even consider right now. Hopefully some other company's get their crap together and come up with some decent "budget" wood furnace options...if not Kuuma will have a monopoly on hot air wood furnaces by next spring...I mean good for them, but I know some (many) people will not be able to afford one...which is too bad.
Just so I am clear, you ordered from Northern then? Who is the shipper? Is the shipping some special deal? I'd like to know more about this "deliver to the basement" deal!
No no, I ordered from my fireplace products. Idk they offer free shipping or "red carpet" which is delivered and brought into where you want it, for 250$.
Oh so its free shipping, but getting it into the basement is $250? Probably a good deal for many people, especially if you have challenging stairs! (wonder how long they are willing to fool around tryin to get one down a tight set of stairs?!
)Haha I'm curious about this too because mine aren't going to be easy which is why I opted for it.. not really sure how they can offer this. They ship everywhere in the country. How can they afford to send 3 guys anywhere in the country to move a 450# stove into a basement theyve never visited? they sent a pdf I need to fill out which askes questions about the smallest door and smallest negotiable turn they need to make.Oh so its free shipping, but getting it into the basement is $250? Probably a good deal for many people, especially if you have challenging stairs! (wonder how long they are willing to fool around tryin to get one down a tight set of stairs?!
What are you using now? It is unusable right now? Do you have backup heat (gas, oil, etc) that you could use until the 200's are available again? It would be a shame to miss out on a Kuuma but for a few more months of waiting. Have you looked for a used one? I have seen more VF200's for sale used than 100's...still not a ton, but some. You could also have Dale at Lamppa give you a call if he hears of one for sale too...that's how I got my VF100. And he basically sold the VF200 that I had previously for me too.
As far as the Tundras, you heard negative reviews on the T1, probably not on the T2 though...I haven't really heard of any.
The other option would be a PSG Caddy...same parent company that builds the Tundra, but a Caddy needs to be bought from a dealer. Will be priced about halfway between a Tundra II, and a VF200. Very similar to the T2, just "better"
They also make the Mini Caddy, and Max Caddy, the Mini is small, Caddy medium, and the Max large. The box store versions of these are the Drolet Heatpack, the Tundra II, and the Heatpro. (S, M, L)
Me personally, the Drolet's are the only wood furnace line that are available at a box store that I'd even consider right now. Hopefully some other company's get their crap together and come up with some decent "budget" wood furnace options...if not Kuuma will have a monopoly on hot air wood furnaces by next spring...I mean good for them, but I know some (many) people will not be able to afford one...which is too bad.
Thanks for the info, the stove which I used last winter is a old home made woodboiler that looks like it was converted to just a stove, radiant heat only. I just have it a once over last week and found several cracks in the fire box, and it was incredibly inefficient, only a manual dampener that I would have to adjust ever hour or it burned through a load of wood in an hour or so. I do have electric base boards through the main floor but doubt that’s enough to heat my 1800 sft, (that’s including unfinished basement main floor and half second story) plus I’m don’t really want to pay to run the base boards haha. I’ve been in contact with Lamppa about used VF 200’s and haven’t heard anything back. I should add that I had my home spray foamed when I remodeled the entire house so it is well insulated. I’ve also looked at dimensions of units and think the tundra II and VF200 might be the only unit that will fit through my narrow basement steps. Any more thoughts would be great!
A Mini Caddy work? Close to you?
(broken link removed to https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/csw/for/d/big-lake-wood-add-on-furnace/6921785565.html)
I think even the mini might be to wide to get down the basement steps, my stairs measure 28 1/4” I think the mini caddy measures 29 7/8, unless that’s the assembled width. And I’m not sure if that unit would provide enough heat for 1800 square feet. It’s not abnormal to have air temps in the -40s where I live
Anyone ever split two stainless flex flu liners together? I found a 25 footer for half price and I need a little more than that.
The Mini is smaller than the Tundra I'm sure...and yeah, I dunno if it would keep up with your heat load or not.
Edit, the Mini is 23.75" wide when the controller is taken off...the 29 7/8 you saw is fully assembled.
https://sbiweb.blob.core.windows.net/media/1603/pf01302_mini-caddy.pdf
Tundra is 26.125", Caddy is 25.625" with controller removed.
How about something like a used Wonderwood? (or Wondercoal...about the same unit) They are not too big, fairly light, and can be bought pretty cheap used...just run that until the VF200 is available? These things will make some heat for sure...not terribly efficient, but may be what the doctor ordered for a stopgap stove...
The newer "EPA" Wonderwood version is available from TSC brand new for something like $750, or less on sale. My friend has one, he seems to like it well enough.
(broken link removed)
Do you think a tundra would be over kill for 1000 sq ft of living space and 500 sq ft of basement.? I was also worried it would over heat the house in most instance .
You could probably make it work by short loading it. It would be plenty for sure
Short loading it would reduce overall burn time I assume? Which do u think would be better suited the heatpack or the tundra
Yes, shorter burn time, less btu output.
Heatpack should be fine, but it depends totally on your heat load...local weather and your houses insulation/ air sealing level... which you'll have to forgive me, if you mentioned these details before I don't recall right now.
And what is your backup heat? Do you plan on heating 100% with wood? People tend to get too hung up on that in my opinion...if the gas or oil kicks on a few times during a cold snap, so what? You still knocked your heat bill down by 90% plus...
Heatpack should be fine, but it depends totally on your heat load...local weather and your houses insulation/ air sealing level... which you'll have to forgive me, if you mentioned these details before I don't recall right now.
And what is your backup heat? Do you plan on heating 100% with wood? People tend to get too hung up on that in my opinion...if the gas or oil kicks on a few times during a cold snap, so what? You still knocked your heat bill down by 90% plus...
Might be a good idea to start a new thread with all the peticulars and how you got to where you are now. I'm sure there will be install questions, so that would help people keep track of things to be able to help better. Also make it easier for people to find the information when searching in the future, since this thread is such a monster now, easy to "lose" things...
For most of the USA the winters are not real severe and spend much more time above 20*F than below 20. IMO you are better off sizing to the majority of the heating season...as long as you have backup heat anyways. Little different off grid, or single source heat...
