First look at Drolet's new EPA 2020 wood furnace...

[brenndatomu]

hmmm, "self-regulated combustion" and "rectification in the event of a loss of flame" tells me they are not too confident in their "self-regulated combustion" system!

I guess the way I read that, I think maybe they have the "idle speed" turned down so low that they need to be able to "re-spark" if it flames out? Especially if someone is trying to burn less than dry wood...I dunno, just spitballin...

 

[JRHAWK9]

I guess the way I read that, I think maybe they have the "idle speed" turned down so low that they need to be able to "re-spark" if it flames out? Especially if someone is trying to burn less than dry wood...I dunno, just spitballin...

could be. I was just playing devil's advocate. One would think if it even comes close to flaming out it wouldn't be burning clean right before flame-out...?

I've always found it hard to believe the marketing stuff though. Heck, back when doing my research on the Kuuma, it's the reason I literally looked at all the reviewers names on Lamppa's site and stalked as many of them I could find the number for. I literally went down the list one by one and searched for phone numbers for as many of them as I could find. Once I had my list of numbers I started calling. I did not necessarily believe the marketing hype, including Stihly's review on here, as I had no way of knowing at the time if he was being paid or was even an employee of the company. I wanted to hear from as many people who had as much real world usage time as I could.

Although, I'm the type of guy who can't buy a freakin' roll of TP without researching it first.

 

[brenndatomu]

Although, I'm the type of guy who can't buy a freakin' roll of TP without researching it first.

Boy, I bad that put you in a bad spot back when it was "better buy whatever you can get your hands on" earlier this year!

 

[laynes69]

I mean if drolet would like to send me a furnace.....I'd be more than happy to test it lol.

 

[sloeffle]

Personally, I'd wait until the dust settles before buying a new model of anything. Think T1 ......

 

[brenndatomu]

Personally, I'd wait until the dust settles before buying a new model of anything. Think T1 ......

Meh...if they're just gonna send ya one to try...nobody said anything about buying one

 

[sloeffle]

Meh...if they're just gonna send ya one to try...nobody said anything about buying one

Free furnaces are like free beer, I've never turned one down.

 

[woodey]

Free furnaces are like free beer, I've never turned one down.

I hear ya, but I find that the best of both are made by independently owned "Micro" companies.

 

[lampmfg]

From our best estimation with the Drolet quick ignition, the ignition depends on what the remote stat says. If your room temperature is higher than the setting, it's not going to activate the higher ignition part of the 2 stage control & then, consequently, the fire will die down & possibly smolder (creosote, smoke, & pollution) for who knows how long.

For instance, if you had a catalytic furnace, the test would require you to turn off the remote stat before any wood is loaded for the test. Then it would "full idle" for the entire burn with the pilot air you have provided for the unit in case your remote stat is satisfied for however long it may be (hr or hrs?) What's the pollution then the EPA needs to know right?

 

[brenndatomu]

If your room temperature is higher than the setting, it's not going to activate the higher ignition part of the 2 stage control & then, consequently, the fire will die down & possibly smolder (creosote, smoke, & pollution) for who knows how long.

Playing devils advocate here...what makes you think they didn't basically copy the Vaporfire's control logic? But instead of the manual low/medium/high adjustment, they have the remote Tstat changing the setting to "high" automatically...when Tstat is satisfied the program just reverts back to idle/low...?
Since there is apparently an internal thermocouple, and a stepper motor to control the air, its certainly possible...and it looks like they still have the RTD temp sensor from the Tundra II, which allows the blower motor to change speeds as plenum temps allow...

 

[Highbeam]

One person’s low smoldering polluting idle is another person’s clean burning lowest possible clean burning rate. Stoves have been regulated to have a non smoldering low setting for decades.

 

[lampmfg]

One person’s low smoldering polluting idle is another person’s clean burning lowest possible clean burning rate. Stoves have been regulated to have a non smoldering low setting for decades.

Playing devils advocate here...what makes you think they didn't basically copy the Vaporfire's control logic? But instead of the manual low/medium/high adjustment, they have the remote Tstat changing the setting to "high" automatically...when Tstat is satisfied the program just reverts back to idle/low...?
Since there is apparently an internal thermocouple, and a stepper motor to control the air, its certainly possible...and it looks like they still have the RTD temp sensor from the Tundra II, which allows the blower motor to change speeds as plenum temps allow...

From what we have seen we don’t think this is possible with their design. Especially with our patent just being published last week. I’m not going to go into a lot of details because they are our design secrets.

 

[brenndatomu]

Congrats on the patent...surprised you are just now getting one though.
And totally understand not wanting to discuss this stuff on open forum...

 

[lampmfg]

Congrats on the patent...surprised you are just now getting one though.
And totally understand not wanting to discuss this stuff on open forum...

We had one before but it expired. This is a new one encompassing our design.

 

[blades]

Us patent office makes molassas that has been standing outside in Jan. look like the Colorado River in spring.

 

[brenndatomu]

Must be some parts on backorder for these things...the available ship date they show on the site keeps getting pushed back...they do have manuals posted now though...

 

[brenndatomu]

I see an upper and a lower thermocouple, and a stepper motor on both the primary and secondary air...
(broken link removed to https://myfireplaceproducts.com/media/contentmanager/content/products_documents/46201A_2020-09-22.pdf)

 

[laynes69]

I want one! It sounds impressive and quite advanced. I like that it has motors to keep combustion optimal but also uses a thermostat to regulate the thermostat in the home. I also see they used firebrick to protect the face of the furnace.

 

[Highbeam]

And they ditched the ash plug for a grate.

 

[brenndatomu]

I want one!

Just click the add to cart button...

HEAT COMMANDER WOOD FURNACE

Among the most efficient systems on the market based on distributed energy, the Heat Commander is a central heating system that is both cutting edge and accessible thanks to its innovative design and ease of use. EPA certified, its 310,000 BTU capacity

myfireplaceproducts.com

It sounds impressive and quite advanced. I like that it has motors to keep combustion optimal but also uses a thermostat to regulate the thermostat in the home. I also see they used firebrick to protect the face of the furnace.

Yeah it will be interesting to see how it works out...we all know how using the Tstat on normal secondary burn fireboxes works out.
Guess they didn't want a repeat of Tundra with the face cracking...most of the air comes in the back now so probably pretty easy to protect the front.

And they ditched the ash plug for a grate.

I guess so...hadn't noticed that...no loss in my mind...using that setup was a waste of time...plus the ashes break down further if left to build up in the firebox for a week or so...

 

[laynes69]

Just click the add to cart button...

HEAT COMMANDER WOOD FURNACE

Among the most efficient systems on the market based on distributed energy, the Heat Commander is a central heating system that is both cutting edge and accessible thanks to its innovative design and ease of use. EPA certified, its 310,000 BTU capacity

myfireplaceproducts.com

Yeah it will be interesting to see how it works out...we all know how using the Tstat on normal secondary burn fireboxes works out.
Guess they didn't want a repeat of Tundra with the face cracking...most of the air comes in the back now so probably pretty easy to protect the front.

I guess so...hadn't noticed that...no loss in my mind...using that setup was a waste of time...plus the ashes break down further if left to build up in the firebox for a week or so...

Lol....I'd love to! My wife is looking at a new vehicle and I bought a tractor so it's more of a pipe dream! SBI won awards for their automated stoves in a competition, and I think this is the technology. While I understand Kuuma is patented, this seems a little more advanced. Speaking with Bert years ago, they had been working on the technology, so for SBI it's nothing new.

 

[lampmfg]

They still don't have the tests available on their website.

 

[brenndatomu]

this seems a little more advanced. Speaking with Bert years ago, they had been working on the technology, so for SBI it's nothing new.

Meh...if they had used a lambda sensor I'd say it was "advanced technology" (compared to existing forced air furnaces...it's been around a while in boilers) but as is it just a different spiced up flavor of "me too". I like that they are controlling secondary air too...but some manual stoves have done that for years so...

 

[Highbeam]

I keep thinking about this furnace, it's that time of year you know. There seems to be this worry about low/idle pollution but that is silly. This thing will just run hot enough that it is always clean and then run hotter when the thermostat calls for heat. Like all of the other noncat stoves, the regulations simply prevent a low setting from ever happening. Seems so easy I must be missing why anybody is worried about the pollution at low. There is no low. The way to get less heat is to let the fire go out.

2799$ with free shipping, available on 10/5 per today's check at the above link.

 

[SpaceBus]

Meh...if they had used a lambda sensor I'd say it was "advanced technology" (compared to existing forced air furnaces...it's been around a while in boilers) but as is it just a different spiced up flavor of "me too". I like that they are controlling secondary air too...but some manual stoves have done that for years so...

My thoughts exactly about the lambda sensor.