I felt I should clarify that my home is not new or air tight. It was built in 1978. Most of the threads I have seen about fresh air intake have been related to a house that is too tight, or has other appliances that are pulling to create a negative pressure. In my case I believe it is due to the leaks in the house that was causing a negative pressure in the basement.
New Furnace Day: Drolet Heat Commander
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brenndatomu
Minister of Fire
Hey all, just wanted to share a pretty cool video showing the secondary combustion in the HC. There are two completely separate flames. (I'm not burning flexible duct, it is a reflection... )
https://photos.app.goo.gl/fhJpL6SngaKTBpN76
https://photos.app.goo.gl/fhJpL6SngaKTBpN76
Looks good! Beautiful flames how do you get those flexible ducts to catch though? I can’t seem to get mine to light
woodey
Feeling the Heat
I soak mine in gasoline for 24 hrs, seems to help!
brenndatomu
Minister of Fire
Kinda quiet around here this fall...everybody that put their new HC in last year must be toasty, warm, and overall happy with how they are working?
It’s been mild up here in the great white north it was 10 degrees today! Only been burning small loads so far. My HC has really only been connected for about a week now I want to wait until it’s a bit colder to give a real review of it but man oh man what a difference compared to my old stove.
JRHAWK9
Minister of Fire
Rumor has it you prefer one w/o a window though.
I really think I would miss not having a view of the fire. If a vf100 showed up I would definitely try it out!
trx250r87
Burning Hunk
If I didn't have the window ony HC I would be 50% more productive. I get sucked into the view all too often.
brenndatomu
Minister of Fire
I've been burning mine for a few weeks now; I don't have my return air hooked up yet, hope to have it hooked up next week. Overall I'm happy with the HC, my biggest gripe is probably that when the thermostat is satisfied, the blower cycles a lot. The blower is really quiet, so the sound doesn't bother me. The computer raises the cut in/cut off temp when the thermostat is satisfied, but if there's a decent fire going the thing cycles a lot, sometimes every couple minutes. To me its not lessening the amount of heat being delivered, its giving a blast of hotter air every few minutes versus a steady supply of cooler air. It doesn't seem like the air controls are choking down the fire a lot, but I know they are trying to keep the burn clean too.
Got down to 22 overnight. I loaded it up half locust half ash at 9:30 last night, thermostat set on 70. I woke up with my kid about 1:30 a.m, there was still some big glowing chunks of locust and a bunch of coals. I threw two smaller pieces of locust in there. Went down at 5:30 am to a super thick bed of coals. Threw a few 2x4s in to try to burn them down some. House was 69.
The coal burn down on mine doesn't seem as good as some have made it sound on here, but there's a lot of variables there.
Got down to 22 overnight. I loaded it up half locust half ash at 9:30 last night, thermostat set on 70. I woke up with my kid about 1:30 a.m, there was still some big glowing chunks of locust and a bunch of coals. I threw two smaller pieces of locust in there. Went down at 5:30 am to a super thick bed of coals. Threw a few 2x4s in to try to burn them down some. House was 69.
The coal burn down on mine doesn't seem as good as some have made it sound on here, but there's a lot of variables there.
So far so good on my end. Heating about 4200 sqft. Our temps have been getting down into the 20s (F). I have our thermostat set to 72F in the bedroom area. I have three 6" supplies heating about 1000 sqft on the bedroom side. The temps in the morning are about 72F. The other 2000 sqft of our upstairs is in the upper 60s! The wood burned has a huge impact on what you'll get out of this. I can burn 1+ year seasoned and I'll get decent heat out of it. My 2+ year hardwood gives me huge coals that burn for a LONG time.
My supply runs are far from optimal right now and I expect to see even more efficiency. I also have a liner that I am putting in -- that should help provide greater consistency in the burn since my draft fluctuates quite a bit right now (even with the barometric damper).
I still need to run two more supplies to the living area and cut some holes for returns. So far I am very satisfied. I'll be curious to see how it handles <20F temps for our home.
I usually need to reload every 3 to 4 hours. At night I'm seeing about 5 hours of burn before we start to lose temp.
My BIGGEST complaint so far is that it will continue to run the blower if the thermostat is calling for heat, but heat is NOT available... I see this at the end of a burn when the coals are low. If there is no heat available, why is the blower running!?
My supply runs are far from optimal right now and I expect to see even more efficiency. I also have a liner that I am putting in -- that should help provide greater consistency in the burn since my draft fluctuates quite a bit right now (even with the barometric damper).
I still need to run two more supplies to the living area and cut some holes for returns. So far I am very satisfied. I'll be curious to see how it handles <20F temps for our home.
I usually need to reload every 3 to 4 hours. At night I'm seeing about 5 hours of burn before we start to lose temp.
My BIGGEST complaint so far is that it will continue to run the blower if the thermostat is calling for heat, but heat is NOT available... I see this at the end of a burn when the coals are low. If there is no heat available, why is the blower running!?
trx250r87
Burning Hunk
That does not seem right. My HC fan cycles once I am at the coaling stage if there is enough plenum temperature to kick the fan on, regardless of thermostat condition. This often happens for hours.
Eric
Eric
JRHAWK9
Minister of Fire
You will learn to load for the heat load to minimize the effect of the thermostat. If it's going to be warmer and you don't need the heat, just don't load as much, or at all. The heat has to go somewhere, as it's not going to (or at least not supposed to) smolder the fire.
Let me see if I am understanding correctly... If the thermostat is calling for heat, and the status light isn't indicating there is enough heat (not blinking), your HC fan does NOT run?
trx250r87
Burning Hunk
I believe my fan will kick in if the light is OFF, thermostat condition does not matter (from what I recall)
Eric
Eric
woodey
Feeling the Heat
Why such short burn times? Are these full loads all North-South or Log cabin style loadings? I see sleewok is heating a large area, but even so?
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I agree about the short burn times. Look through the back and see if the grate air is closing completely when the furnace comes up to temperature. It was 23 this morning and I loaded the woodfurnace at 4:30 am. When I got home at 3:00 pm, I raked the coals forward, pressed the button and threw some wood in it. Currently it's 35 degrees out. I set the thermostat for 72 degrees when I left for work and it was 72 when I returned. Make sure the draft is set correctly and good dry wood is being used.
JRHAWK9
Minister of Fire
This can happen when a heat load is more than what a thermostatically controlled unit can comfortably put out. It spends a lot of time with the air open to try to satisfy the call for heat by the thermostat. This leads to wood-be-gone.
Not saying that is the issue here, but it could be.
brenndatomu
Minister of Fire
Fixing these 2 issues could make a huge difference in performance! IIRC (6) 6" ducts are the minimum allowed supply lines...and if you don't have proper draft, you have nothing...remember, the chimney is the engine the powers the firebox.
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This can happen when a heat load is more than what a thermostatically controlled unit can comfortably put out. It spends a lot of time with the air open to try to satisfy the call for heat by the thermostat. This leads to wood-be-gone.
Do you suppose emissions ratings and efficiency ratings are determined with the furnace being called on for heat or at idle? Or maybe some arbitrary mixture?
JRHAWK9
Minister of Fire
It depends on the category of the burn. For Cat 1.....there must be no call for heat and no draft blower. This is the cat where they test the unit for the absolute minimum burn that the user would use it for in real life. IE, no call for heat and a firebox full of wood. Hence why SBI's new ones seem to raise the low limit blower temp when there is no call for heat and a fire in the firebox. They have to keep the fire burning clean, but they also have to do something with the heat it produces, as they can't just snub the fire out.
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