shaw24 said:
Mike when I look on Yukons website at the SuperJack...there all all the different options at the bottom like fans and plenums and safety heat dumps....Did you purchase this stuff? You probably got one of the fans bc of putting yours in your garage but whats the other stuff? Would I need a fan for the wood burner if its directly next to my furnace?
The heat dump protects your plenum from overheating. I left the front door open one day, just to watch the fire for 10 minutes, fire hit 800 degrees pretty fast. The heat dump popped and saved me from my stupidity, so I think it is necessary. I've heard that other units have a super high blower switch to do this - kicks in all the blowers at very high, and shuts off the air supplies to fire, but I don't have experience with that.
The key to the system (any wood furnace) is to move air over all that hot steal picking up the heat and distributing it. You have to have a blower to do this (if you have a HVAC friend, they always have used blowers from removed furnaces, lots cheaper than new), but if you see a way to do it with your furnace blower, maybe bypassing your current plenum and taking all air through the wood furnace before entering the vents, then no, you don't need Yukons blower, and if you don't need a blower you don't need a blower cabinet.
The thermostat is definitely optional, I bought a not-digital one at fireplace store for 31.00. I have 3 thermostats, one above front door, lets me see temp of steal there, one on side panel of stove, just to see the heat I'm generating, and one inserted into stovepipe (this is the most important one). Cost for all 3 was about 60.00.
The plenum is necessary to come out of the yukon and tie into your existing system. Either your HVAC guy has to make one, or you can buy that one, just see what is cheaper.
Print out the owners manual, call a HVAC person for a FREE BID ON PUTTING IN AN ADD ON WOOD FURNACE, let them talk you though it and get an idea what it will cost. They are all looking for work now anyway, so you should be able to get some good advice, and a decent bid. Cost me 800.00 to duct mine (he was a friend, and long runs) but if you are putting it in next to the furnace, should be only 200.00 - 300.00 or so I would think ($80.00/hr, 2 or 3 hours, + parts)
