Newbie In Need of Some Help!

[shaw24]

Hey All,

Earlier this week our LP bill went up to $287/month. We are on the budget currently so we will be paying that monthly. Needless to say I'm ready to try something else. My neighbor and some other ppl I know have the outdoor wood furnaces and I was seriously considering it until I started looking at indoor wood furnaces.

I have been looking at the Yukon-Eagle SuperJack add-on and have a ton of questions. I have a chimney that goes from the basement all the way up (obviously) but I'm guessing I will need to have a flue put in. Nothing else is using the chimney so I'm good there. I have the room in my basement as well so that's not a problem.

We are comfortable at about 65-67 degrees...How often would i have to resupply wood to the fire (very rough I know)?
Is our house going to have a "smokey" smell?
Will I have a problem with our insurance company about this....we have 7' ceilings in the basement.
And lastly the furnace costs about $2500...how much will I spend after it is said and done? I know someone who will install it and probably not charge me anything.

Thanks in advance..I really appreciate the help.

Shaw

 

[smokinj]

Hey All,

Earlier this week our LP bill went up to $287/month. We are on the budget currently so we will be paying that monthly. Needless to say I'm ready to try something else. My neighbor and some other ppl I know have the outdoor wood furnaces and I was seriously considering it until I started looking at indoor wood furnaces.

I have been looking at the Yukon-Eagle SuperJack add-on and have a ton of questions. I have a chimney that goes from the basement all the way up (obviously) but I'm guessing I will need to have a flue put in. Nothing else is using the chimney so I'm good there. I have the room in my basement as well so that's not a problem.

We are comfortable at about 65-67 degrees...How often would i have to resupply wood to the fire (very rough I know)?
Is our house going to have a "smokey" smell?
Will I have a problem with our insurance company about this....we have 7' ceilings in the basement.
And lastly the furnace costs about $2500...how much will I spend after it is said and done? I know someone who will install it and probably not charge me anything.

Thanks in advance..I really appreciate the help.

Shaw

just have to add the price of chimmey and duct work to tie the furances together.Insurance is no problem if done right.(and 65-67 now with wood should be more like 70+)can you get your wood cheap?

 

[shaw24]

Yea I should be able to get a lot of wood free if not all. What is installation like....I know a guy pretty well who does HVAC at a big plant and hes really bright.

 

[smokinj]

Yea I should be able to get a lot of wood free if not all. What is installation like....I know a guy pretty well who does HVAC at a big plant and hes really bright.

its pretty stright foward. how far apart will the 2 furances be?

 

[shaw24]

I dont know yet...not very far apart at all. Will our house have a smoke smell at all?

 

[smokinj]

I dont know yet...not very far apart at all. Will our house have a smoke smell at all?

not if its done right when the furances are close its alot cheeper to do (the only differnce are fuel and the wood is much hotter heat)no smells of smoke may get a wiff of it outside

 

[Plumbit]

I would rather smell a little wood smoke then smell dollars burning up the flue

 

[shaw24]

Good info...thanks SmokinJ

Any ideas on how often I would have to stoke it....I know its a rough guess but still.

 

[Duetech]

Shaw24,
My insurance company charged an additional premium for solid fuel burning appliances in the house. We switched companies a few years later and they did the same thing then our agent left the area and we were switched to a new office and they wanted to add a new boost to the premium. We put a wood boiler in an out building and got away from the solid fuel appliance premium. Smoke can happen so you need to think about draft fan options for smoke control for when you open the door to the firebox. I cleaned my own chimney so I had to have the brush and enough rod to reach the extremities of the chimney and a clean-out access point. Use a chimney cap also. In the summer rain will come down the chimney and add moisture to the pipes and will give off that smoked smell. The added moisture when mixed with creosote produces an acid that will corrode steel and stainless steel and eat up your investment. The spark arrestor screen can collect creosote quite quickly and become plugged and become quite a nuisance and create back pressure that can back up in the pipes and leak out. Just things we have run into. We have heated with wood for 20 years and had a few smoke mishaps but we got through them and found they were short lived and weren't the end of the world. Only use real dry wood and you will reduce the chance for smoke tremendously.

 

[shaw24]

Wow thanks Cave2K that is some really good info.

 

[atlarge54]

Wow thanks Cave2K that is some really good info.

Cave2K is correct on all counts. More details about your home and chimney will generate more help. Hope the chimney is inside and not on an exterior wall, cold makes a chimney unhappy and prone to creosote buildup. Use the search feature at the bottom of the page for more Yukon information. I'd guess 8hr burn time would be about as good as you might expect, lots of variables could change that. Know going into this that wood heat is NOT FREE, but most of the brotherhood of woodburners would never change unless there was no other choice.

 

[mike1234]

I've only been burning mine since November, but to answer your questions the best I can:
Over 4500 sq ft house on 2 levels, is always 74, because that is where fam likes it.
We used to keep house at 68, everyone had on layers and complained. Now they all wear t-shirts and no complaints.
Had burn time issues to start with, but can get 7.5 hours now (stoke it at 10, house is 74, turn thermostat down to 70, wake up at 5.30, house is 70 or 69, lots of coals to get the fire roaring again). If it's 2 degrees out, won't get 7.5 hours.
I have a smoke issue, it's not all that big of a deal for me, the furnace is in the garage, smoke stays out there. I think I need a taller pipe to fix draft issue, going to cost me another 250 or so I think.
Insurance cost me a little more (50.00 per year I think) for the wood burning furnace. Call your agent before you start.
My total cost - furnace (2500) + stove pipe (1000, installed all this myself) + hooking to existing propane furnace (800.00), (don't forget it will cost you money for wood or chainsaw, splitter, axe...).
I think my payback is 2.25 years, unless I find a splitter this spring, then extend that a few months.

I think the question is, knowing now what I know would I do it the same? Yes, same stove, same set up (higher stovepipe).

 

[shaw24]

I've only been burning mine since November, but to answer your questions the best I can:
Over 4500 sq ft house on 2 levels, is always 74, because that is where fam likes it.
We used to keep house at 68, everyone had on layers and complained. Now they all wear t-shirts and no complaints.
Had burn time issues to start with, but can get 7.5 hours now (stoke it at 10, house is 74, turn thermostat down to 70, wake up at 5.30, house is 70 or 69, lots of coals to get the fire roaring again). If it's 2 degrees out, won't get 7.5 hours.
I have a smoke issue, it's not all that big of a deal for me, the furnace is in the garage, smoke stays out there. I think I need a taller pipe to fix draft issue, going to cost me another 250 or so I think.
Insurance cost me a little more (50.00 per year I think) for the wood burning furnace. Call your agent before you start.
My total cost - furnace (2500) + stove pipe (1000, installed all this myself) + hooking to existing propane furnace (800.00), (don't forget it will cost you money for wood or chainsaw, splitter, axe...).
I think my payback is 2.25 years, unless I find a splitter this spring, then extend that a few months.

I think the question is, knowing now what I know would I do it the same? Yes, same stove, same set up (higher stovepipe).

Awesome Mike...this is exactly what I'm looking for! We have a four square house that is 3 levels (basement is not used for living space) each level is about 900 square feet. So we are trying to heat around 2000sf. Our chimney goes straight up the middle of our house so its not on any outer walls.

I'm kinda concerned about the cost of getting our chimney ready for this...But I know it will pay for itself very quick.

Mike how much propane do you use now? I'm glad you like that stove bc I think its looks pretty good.

 

[mike1234]

I use propane to heat water, it's about 20 gal of propane a month or so (in the winter, much less in the summer). When we left on vacation right after Christmas for a week the propane furnace did run to keep the house above 60 (my wife says it's bad for the Piano to be below 60), and of course that uses propane. I Expect to use about 300 gal of propane for the year? I guess I will know those numbers better next November.

 

[shaw24]

Mike have you ever considered that hot rod from Yukon that heats your water? I was thinking about it but dont really know enough info yet.

 

[mike1234]

It would be quite a bit of plumbing for me, from center of house to the garage, and then I would have to do something to drain it when the stove was not running or it might freeze. Maybe in the future, but not ready to do it now.

 

[shaw24]

Would I need to have a supply of fresh air or will the air in my basement be sufficient?

 

[mike1234]

That is a big argument among the members here. I say, and Yukon says yes, but if you search for this topic, you will see some different opinions.
Since my opinion is yes, what I would do in your place is figure out how to run 6" PVC to the furnace, nothing fancy, and pretty cheap. I might even put a valve in it to turn it off if I didn't want air flowing. In fact I was talking to Steve at Yukon, and he said, as important as they think it is, they have some documentation recently that says outside air is even more important than they originally said. They would say, it is basically mandatory if you want a good burn and no smoke.

 

[smokinj]

That is a big argument among the members here. I say, and Yukon says yes, but if you search for this topic, you will see some different opinions.
Since my opinion is yes, what I would do in your place is figure out how to run 6" PVC to the furnace, nothing fancy, and pretty cheap. I might even put a valve in it to turn it off if I didn't want air flowing. In fact I was talking to Steve at Yukon, and he said, as important as they think it is, they have some documentation recently that says outside air is even more important than they originally said. They would say, it is basically mandatory if you want a good burn and no smoke.

mike where are you running the fresh air to the cold air return?

 

[mike1234]

I have tried to post a picture of it here, but for some reason my satellite internet does not like to post pics here.
The kitchen is next to the garage, so return air come out of the kitchen to the stove, then gets sent to basement to be distributed throughout the house by existing heating vents.
The fresh air is PVC pipe that runs from the overhang of the garage through the attic down to in front of the furnace. I took pics, so at work tomorrow I'll post them with the fast internet.

 

[mike1234]

OK, pics were too big, but figured that out.
Just to explain photos, return air from house comes into right side of furnace from kitchen, very short run. Goes through stove to plenum on top of furnace, comes out left and right side of plenum and goes into basement to join the existing piping.
1 side of hot air is insulated, the rest is not but needs to be.
White PVC is only 2 inches, will change that with 4" or 6" soon.
One things I will say that was good for me was putting this in the garage. Wood is going to be somewhat messy, there is not a lot you can do about that.

 

[shaw24]

It's nice to see some pics to get an idea of what it will look like. I'm thinking about waiting until the end of this coming summer before buying one...that way I can do all the research I need to do and, save a little money, and see how this whole gathering/splitting/seasoning wood thing is gonna work for me. Any thoughts? I was originally thinking of buying one asap but I dont have any seasoned wood.

 

[smokinj]

Very nice set up mike,never seen one with fresh air! any way to get a close up of it?

 

[brickman]

Very nice set up Mike. I am interested in putting a wood add on furnace in my garage. I would have to run my ducting real similar to yours to get to my central furnace plenum. How far does your ducting run once in your basement to get to your existing duct work? Mine would have to run about 20' to get to my central furnace plenum. Don't know if the distribution fan on the wood burner would be able to push the air that far. Do you use your existing furnace fan to help, or just the fan on the wood burner? I see that your hot air ducts go to the wall, did you just run them thru the wood wall? I am thinking of either the hotblast 1557 or the clayton 1600. I've been told that the fans on the 1557 would be to small, so that is why i am considering the 1600

 

[mike1234]

Very nice set up Mike. I am interested in putting a wood add on furnace in my garage. I would have to run my ducting real similar to yours to get to my central furnace plenum. How far does your ducting run once in your basement to get to your existing duct work? Mine would have to run about 20' to get to my central furnace plenum. Don't know if the distribution fan on the wood burner would be able to push the air that far. Do you use your existing furnace fan to help, or just the fan on the wood burner? I see that your hot air ducts go to the wall, did you just run them thru the wood wall? I am thinking of either the hotblast 1557 or the clayton 1600. I've been told that the fans on the 1557 would be to small, so that is why i am considering the 1600

It's about a 20' run from the wood furnace to the end of the ducting of my propane furnace. I connected to the end of the run because the propane furnace is another 45' away, then it's another 30' to the other end of the house. I don't have it set up for the propane furnace to help move the air, in fact they really fight against each other if they are both on. I would of liked to set it up to have the propane furnace help with distribution, it was just impractical in my situation. I have the biggest furnace fan that Yukon sold, and it keeps the whole house warm. It does not move air like the propane fan, there is less pressure, but it keeps the house warm all over. I could put 2 fans in, one on each side of the furnace, and I still may do that someday, I think I would make it more efficient. I went through the sill of the house to get to the ducting in the basement. I did it in a place where it is safe (the builder is a friend, he and I discussed where I could put it and not cause any problems. I just cut out the end caps, not supporting timber).
(I've re-written this 3 times, it seems less than totally clear, but I'm not sure of how to clear it up.)