Everything Drolet Tundra - Heatmax...

[Matt78]

Max Caddy or HeatPro...
Tundra

 

[Matt78]

Insulation and airsealing! I cannot stress it enough. We struggled for years, now it's not an issue. We have a Caddy, but currently there's a small coalbed and it's 75 in the house. It's 16 and dropping with chills in the single digits.

It's on the hunny do list!

 

[brenndatomu]

I meant as a way to get more heat...Max Caddy or HeatPro...
Bad joke I guess...

 

[Matt78]

I meant as a way to get more heat...Max Caddy or HeatPro...
Bad joke I guess...

You'll have to excuse me...I'm a little slow!

 

[DoubleB]

Anyone ever figure how to get more heat out of this thing? My biggest problem is the wood seems to coal up a lot when it gets about 20 degrees out.

Can you elaborate on what "more heat" means for you? (Does that mean longer between refills, your house is too cold in the morning, the coal stage doesn't make much heat, etc.?) The answer could be very different depending upon what you seek.

If you have too much coals, open the damper and throw a small split in the firebox. The split will kick out good heat for the hour that the coals burn down.

If your house is too cold in the morning, use a tstat to open the damper once the house cools down; warm up the house higher the night before; use denser and drier firewood, or just don't sleep so long.

 

[Matt78]

Can you elaborate on what "more heat" means for you? (Does that mean longer between refills, your house is too cold in the morning, the coal stage doesn't make much heat, etc.?) The answer could be very different depending upon what you seek.

Just meant in general.I think bren was doing some. I was actually thinking about welding fins on to the outside of the heat tubes. Fins get hot air blows over them and boom more heat. Just my mind working.

 

[Matt78]

If you have too much coals, open the damper and throw a small split in the firebox. The split will kick out good heat for the hour that the coals burn down.

I actually do this a lot. It does work well

 

[3fordasho]

Just meant in general.I think bren was doing some. I was actually thinking about welding fins on to the outside of the heat tubes. Fins get hot air blows over them and boom more heat. Just my mind working.

During shoulder season I find more build up in the heat exchanger tubes and am finding cleaning them every two weeks helps with furnace output. The supplied cleaning tool is OK but find the Sooteater to not only be quicker but also do a better job. A few minutes with the sooteater and vacuum and done.

 

[NaturalCauses]

I'm trying to get a flue temp controller wired up to my Caddy furnace, and for the life of me can't seem to get it figured out. I bought the Omega CN418v-r1-r2 controller that 3fordasho used in his original posts. I configured it per the manual and the settings that he shared early in this thread, but there isn't any voltage being supplied through either the output or alarm terminals when measured on my multi-meter. The LED's are lit on the front saying that they should be giving power. Has anyone that uses this controller experienced this?

 

[Matt78]

During shoulder season I find more build up in the heat exchanger tubes and am finding cleaning them every two weeks helps with furnace output. The supplied cleaning tool is OK but find the Sooteater to not only be quicker but also do a better job. A few minutes with the sooteater and vacuum and done.

I notice the same. I also use the sooteater, but replaced the red plastic whips with metal cable. Works really well.

 

[Matt78]

I'm trying to get a flue temp controller wired up to my Caddy furnace, and for the life of me can't seem to get it figured out. I bought the Omega CN418v-r1-r2 controller that 3fordasho used in his original posts. I configured it per the manual and the settings that he shared early in this thread, but there isn't any voltage being supplied through either the output or alarm terminals when measured on my multi-meter. The LED's are lit on the front saying that they should be giving power. Has anyone that uses this controller experienced this?

I use the same as what 3fordasho made. Haven't noticed anything like that. Maybe your controller is bad?

 

[NaturalCauses]

I use the same as what 3fordasho made. Haven't noticed anything like that. Maybe your controller is bad?

I'm starting to wonder the same thing. I'm writing an email to their support detailing my setup, and we'll see what they have to say. Hopefully I'm just missing something small.

 

[3fordasho]

I'm starting to wonder the same thing. I'm writing an email to their support detailing my setup, and we'll see what they have to say. Hopefully I'm just missing something small.

The output and alarm are just relay contacts, disconnect wiring to those terminals, with power off you should have continuity between the common and normally closed terminals (0 ohms on ohm meter) then power the unit up, adjust your set points so you get the output indicators (LEDs) on and then check for 0 ohms between the common and normally open terminals. If this checks out it's probably your wiring or maybe a setting - I don't recall if a setting could cause this malfunction or not.

 

[NaturalCauses]

The output and alarm are just relay contacts, disconnect wiring to those terminals, with power off you should have continuity between the common and normally closed terminals (0 ohms on ohm meter) then power the unit up, adjust your set points so you get the output indicators (LEDs) on and then check for 0 ohms between the common and normally open terminals. If this checks out it's probably your wiring or maybe a setting - I don't recall if a setting could cause this malfunction or not.

Wow, I feel like an idiot. That was it exactly. For some reason I thought I had to run both wires from the transformer to the controller, not just the hot leg... Thanks for pointing out the error of my ways! Guess I should just stick to software development (my day job)

 

[Matt78]

Insulation and airsealing! I cannot stress it enough. We struggled for years, now it's not an issue. We have a Caddy, but currently there's a small coalbed and it's 75 in the house. It's 16 and dropping with chills in the single digits.

Got that energy audit scheduled! Thanks for the motivation!

 

[laynes69]

Got that energy audit scheduled! Thanks for the motivation!

Best thing you can do!

 

[JRHAWK9]

Out of curiosity, did you notice any difference in being able to keep your house humidified after sealing things up and insulating? We currently have TWO whole home humidifiers going and are putting 6-9 gallons of water a day into the air to keep it around the 40% RH. The colder it is outside the more water we put in the air. If RH drops below a certain level the humidistat will kick in the April Aire, but I don't like to run it if I don't have to as it cools down my supply temps some. This is why I prefer to use the stand alone humidifiers.

@laynes69

 

[laynes69]

Yep, while we are still drafty in areas of the home, there's been a huge difference. We used to put gallons of water into the air, now we don't use a humidifier. It's 15 degrees out, 75 in the house and our humidity levels are at 30 percent now.

 

[JRHAWK9]

Yep, while we are still drafty in areas of the home, there's been a huge difference. We used to put gallons of water into the air, now we don't use a humidifier. It's 15 degrees out, 75 in the house and our humidity levels are at 30 percent now.

that would be nice. Yesterday I literally put ~14 gallons in the house.....lol It's staying right at 40% though.

 

[DoubleB]

FYI, it requires about 4700 Btu/hr every hour of the entire day to evaporate 14 gal. I'm sure you know that's a significant portion of the heat your Kuuma makes, especially this time of year which isn't the dead of winter yet.

(But maybe that's ok, since you have 10 yrs of firewood drying).

 

[brenndatomu]

that would be nice. Yesterday I literally put ~14 gallons in the house.....lol It's staying right at 40% though.

Wow, no kidding?! Seems like a lot. We don't use a humidifier at all and can maintain 40% normally. I do have the electric dryer vented to the basement in the winter though...heat and humidity, win win!

 

[JRHAWK9]

FYI, it requires about 4700 Btu/hr every hour of the entire day to evaporate 14 gal. I'm sure you know that's a significant portion of the heat your Kuuma makes, especially this time of year which isn't the dead of winter yet.

(But maybe that's ok, since you have 10 yrs of firewood drying).

damn......I don't seem to notice it when I use the separate home console ones. I do see a noticeable decrease in supply temps when I kick on the April Aire though, which is attached to the wood furnace plenum. I think a few degrees IIRC.

Wow, no kidding?! Seems like a lot. We don't use a humidifier at all and can maintain 40% normally. I do have the electric dryer vented to the basement in the winter though...heat and humidity, win win!

you are not kidding....it IS a lot! LOL I have TWO of -(broken link removed) running 24/7. They are both on medium during the day and then one gets put on high when we sleep. When it gets real cold out I will put both on high when we sleep (we both sleep to a fan, so the noise is our sleep aide). I have been basically refilling three of the 2.5 gallon tanks twice a day, once when I get home from work and once in the morning. I was on a mission this year to keep humidity in the house throughout the year. The photo below was taken last year about this time, notice the humidity level. I just had one of them running at that time. This year I'm not messing around....lol

I could do the drier vent trick too, however we wouldn't be around for long (LP dryer) ;-)




My April Aire is set to come on if humidly levels drop below the levels listed below on #5 (35%)

 

[JRHAWK9]

FYI, it requires about 4700 Btu/hr every hour of the entire day to evaporate 14 gal.

I just did the math myself, and I got the same thing (well 4,694 to be exact). I never thought I would be using latent heat outside of a school setting! lol

 

[3fordasho]

that would be nice. Yesterday I literally put ~14 gallons in the house.....lol It's staying right at 40% though.

I would be concerned pumping 14 gallons a day into my old house that's for sure, it would be collecting as frost on windows, inside walls, all kinds of places you don't want it especially when outside temps warm up and it all melts. Hope your vapor barriers are in good shape. ( I suspect if they were, you would not need 14 gallons a day).

 

[JRHAWK9]

I would be concerned pumping 14 gallons a day into my old house that's for sure, it would be collecting as frost on windows, inside walls, all kinds of places you don't want it especially when outside temps warm up and it all melts. Hope your vapor barriers are in good shape. ( I suspect if they were, you would not need 14 gallons a day).

What vapor barriers? Believe it or not, house was built in 2000 and has NO vapor barrier. Don't ask me why. I couldn't believe it either.

We don't get any water buildup anywhere I can see, except for in the bathroom windows after taking a shower, but that evaporates quickly. Never seen any water buildup on any of the other windows.

Last night after work I filled ALL four 2.5 gallon containers (after they were just filled in the morning). This morning I filled two of them but the other two were partially gone, but should be enough to make it till I get home today.

Maybe I shouldn't be putting so much water in the air, but if I don't our skin gets dry and itchy and the cats get zapped when trying to pet them. It's not like I'm trying to keep it 60% RH or something. I don't see anything wrong with keeping humidity levels 35-40% in the winter, depending on how cold it is outside.

For the record, it's a log cabin A frame style house with loft. I'm heating ~3,200SF (30,000CF in volume) in total, including the basement. We have both humidifiers in the loft near the edge, so they are both in the center of the house in the complete open and seeing they are in the loft at the edge they are able to blow up and disperse throughout the house nicely.
It's my opinion the house was just not tightly constructed and the warm/humidified air is escaping and it's being replaced with cool/dry air. The rate at which this happens depends on the delta between inside and outside temps. There are numerous places where one can feel cold air entering near the tops of the vertical walls where it meets the "A frame"......all around. There are literally marks on the painted walls from this air passing over these spots over time (see photos below). The front closet is also un-insulated and cold as hell in the winter. The two short false walls in the loft are also cold to the touch. Sorry, I'm just venting...lol Just irritates me. House was built by my GF and her ex along with a group of their friends back when they were young. Proper insulation was the furthest thing from their young minds and neither of them are detailed orientated people. He was a concrete contractor, that should tell you something.....lol They did use those styrofoam-like forms though when pouring the basement walls, so those are well insulated.


EDIT: Added photos of "air stains". Hard to se in the photos, but those darker areas are not shadows.