Fire Chief 1000 or Caddy

[sloeffle]

From your picture, that looks to be same unit I have. Mine is about 7 or 8 years old though.

Kinda piling out at this point. The Caddy has been around along time and doesn't have any really known issues like the T1. If you aren't on any kind of budget, and the Caddy is in good shape, I'd opt for the Caddy.

If you do buy either one of the units, make sure you take the brick and baffle out before you move it.

 

[laynes69]

From your picture, that looks to be same unit I have. Mine is about 7 or 8 years old though.

Kinda piling out at this point. The Caddy has been around along time and doesn't have any really known issues like the T1. If you aren't on any kind of budget, and the Caddy is in good shape, I'd opt for the Caddy.

If you do buy either one of the units, make sure you take the brick and baffle out before you move it.

Yep! Pull the burn tubes, baffle, firebrick, door and the heat exchanger door. It will take alot of weight off of moving it. Ours has a cold air return built In and a hot side like a central furnace. I had to disassemble the cabinet from the firebox to get it in the basement.

 

[brenndatomu]

I'll add that I'm not afraid of some nice mods (might have already made a slight mod to the FC1000

Does it look like this?

 

[OldStoneHouse]

I think it’s important to consider what type of structure you are heating as much as the size of it. I didn’t catch what you were heating butI had a Caddy in a 2400 square foot limestone and it couldn’t handle it, we had to take it out after a year and a half. A similar, modern, structure would likely be fine.

 

[brenndatomu]

Yup, its all about heat load...you have to at least somewhat match heat output with heat load...or wish you had.
But its always good to pick a heater that is user friendly too...or at least one that doesn't have the manners of a P.O.'d badger!
Sounds like you would have been better suited to a Max Caddy @OldStoneHouse

 

[OldStoneHouse]

Yes, a Max Caddy would have been better but we didn’t have the ceiling height to make it work (plus they released it after we did this). In the end we entirely took out the forced air and went with hot water and a gasifier.

 

[NH_burner]

Does it look like this?
View attachment 252993

That would be the most expensive target I've ever shot at!

My HVAC guy said that the fan on the fc1000 was way too big for two 8" round ducts and it would be bottlenecking, so I cut an 8x16 rectangle for the plenum. I'll have to market it as an upgrade.

Pull the burn tubes, baffle, firebrick, door and the heat exchanger door

I did pick up the Caddy yesterday and the guy ended up deciding to meet me halfway so I totally forgot about the suggestions to take things out first. Aside from the bricks, should I have taken those things out to prevent damage in shipping or just to make it lighter?

I didn't have a chance to do a full bore inspection but at a quick glance all I see is that there are some cracked firebricks. What is the best source for replacements?

 

[brenndatomu]

didn't have a chance to do a full bore inspection but at a quick glance all I see is that there are some cracked firebricks. What is the best source for replacements?

IMO, TSC...

 

[NH_burner]

IMO, TSC...

IMO??

The fc1000 had really lightweight bricks on top and the bricks on the bottom were about 3x as heavy even though they were the same dimensions. Do I have to worry about anything like that with the caddy? It's not at the house we live in now so I can't check for myself until the weekend.

 

[maple1]

In My Opinion

 

[NH_burner]

I'm a dummy, I know that IMO means in my opinion, but in that context I thought he was listing a second distributor next to TSC. lmao...

 

[sloeffle]

I have a few cracked firebricks in my Caddy. Personally, I wouldn't worry about it if they are just cracks. If the the two cracked pieces have a large gap in between them or there are chunks missing then I'd be concerned.

 

[brenndatomu]

Yup, cracked doesn't mean much unless gapped open, or they are going to fall out during loading.
If they have a single crack, and are not all eroded away, I recently heard of repairing them with furnace cement...I tried it on one and it seemed to work well!
This is what I used... Amazon product ASIN B002CTQYMK

 

[NH_burner]

I think it’s important to consider what type of structure you are heating as much as the size of it. I didn’t catch what you were heating butI had a Caddy in a 2400 square foot limestone and it couldn’t handle it, we had to take it out after a year and a half. A similar, modern, structure would likely be fine.

I'm building right now, so it will be really well insulated new construction. IIRC, the insulation company said R49 in the attic. It's a 2-story with a 30x42 footprint so that comes out to about 2520 sf. However, the living room is open to the 2nd floor so the actual livable/usable square footage is around 2250sf. Although all of it needs heat so for heating purposes I'd call it 2500sf.

There was no easy way to get a full trunk of ductwork to the 2nd floor, so I have the wood and a propane furnace on one duct system for the 1st floor and a second propane furnace in the attic with its own duct system for the 2nd floor. I do want to try to heat the 2nd floor with the wood furnace though so I sent a small 7" oval duct to each of the 2nd floor bedrooms to force some more of the wood heat up there. Hopefully that combined with some natural convection will be enough to avoid using the propane altogether.

 

[maple1]

Furnace in the attic - ugh. I'm sure it is done lots and may be acceptable practice, but something about having a heat source in an unheated/unconditioned space just kind of gives me the willies.

 

[NH_burner]

Furnace in the attic - ugh. I'm sure it is done lots and may be acceptable practice, but something about having a heat source in an unheated/unconditioned space just kind of gives me the willies.

I'm with you!

But it is a high efficiency condensing furnace, and therefore is required to be in a heated space. So I had to build and insulated closet for it to live in. And I'll have it set for the fan to run even if the furnace isn't to circulate the heat into the room.

 

[Medic21]

Thanks for the advice guys, think I'll spring for that Caddy.

Now what to do with the FC1000......

I gave the plasma cutter a workout with mine.

 

[NH_burner]

I gave the plasma cutter a workout with mine.

I'd prefer not to plasma cut $800! I'm thinking I will just try to resell it at a loss, with some sort of disclaimer, one that I did not get from pelletburner...

 

[Medic21]

I'd prefer not to plasma cut $800! I'm thinking I will just try to resell it at a loss, with some sort of disclaimer, one that I did not get from pelletburner...

I couldnt sell it in good faith to anyone. Thing is dangerous and has the potential to kill someone.

Sometimes in life you gotta just cut your losses, like an ex wife, and move on.

 

[NH_burner]

This may be covered already somewhere else but what are people's opinions on double wall stove pipe?? I have all the parts for a 6" double wall stainless steel chimney that will end up being about 25 to 27 feet, all outside. I also have the parts to connect to the chimney with double wall stove pipe, it will probably end up being about 8' including a 45 degree elbow.

Are there advantages/disadvantages to double wall vs single wall for the stove pipe? The obvious advantage of course is less heat loss=warmer chimney. But I might have a hard time finding a BD to fit right into the double wall if needed.

 

[brenndatomu]

My chimney is 27' ish in total, I run single wall stainless to the wall...it works good.

 

[brenndatomu]

Doublewall does tend to stay a little cleaner...and I think most doublewall is stainless inside too...elcheapo singlewall steel pipe from the local hardware doesnt last but a couple seasons, at least in my experience.

 

[Medic21]

I would only use the double wall stove pipe inside.

Less creosote because it’s insulated and stays hotter. That helps with holding draft too.

2nd at the peak of the burn right at the stove you can touch it bare handed and not get burnt. I threw a magnetic thermometer on the pipe and was at the hottest 225 degrees surface temp while the probe said 650-700. To me that’s a piece of mind. I had to die to clearance issues also.

 

[Case1030]

I used single wall stove pipe inside. With the chimney height you have I wouldn't worry about draft... you will have plenty and BD is a must for your chimney height!

Make sure if you do use single wall pipe you follow proper clearance.

 

[NH_burner]

and BD is a must for your chimney height!

Has anyone found a BD that fits with their double-wall? The thing I've noticed with double-wall vs single wall is that each manufacturer has slightly different dimensions and they are not all compatible. My double-wall stove pipe is made by Metal-Fab and they don't offer a BD or manual damper so I bought a duravent double wall damper section but it's not compatible. So, either I modify the manual damper section to fit, or I find a way to incorporate a single wall BD?

Double-wall helps with my clearance. My chimney pipe is coming into the house between my floor joists (16" OC) so the chimney pipe has proper clearance, but technically as soon as I got the double-wall 45 I no longer have the proper clearance. But I am going down (no longer between floor joists) as soon as it converts to the stove pipe, so the clearance violation is minimal.