Newbie question re Wood add on.

[mainstation]

Hello, I have a really newbie question. I have a Lennox Elite Series Hi Eff OIl furnace in my basement. Backup to my wood insert. Is there any reason why I shouldn't be able to put a Wood add on furnace to the Lennox. My flue system exits up an exterior stone chimney. One flue is for the Lenno and the other flue is for the Wood insert.
Any basic help or pointing in the right direction would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

 

[Gasifier]

Hello, I have a really newbie question. I have a Lennox Elite Series Hi Eff OIl furnace in my basement. Backup to my wood insert. Is there any reason why I shouldn't be able to put a Wood add on furnace to the Lennox. My flue system exits up an exterior stone chimney. One flue is for the Lenno and the other flue is for the Wood insert.
Any basic help or pointing in the right direction would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

You are not suppose to use two fuel burners in the same flue. It can and has been done. But I do not believe it would meet code. You always want to do it to code. Do you have another way you could vent the Lennox or the add-on wood burner?

 

[mainstation]

Yes I understand that each heating system should have it's own flue. The scenario at my house now currently has this in place-- wood insert chimney separate from Oil furnace chimney . So how would I go about venting the Lennox differently venting the Wood Add On seperately from both the existing flue systems. 1st question: Can the Lennox accept a Wood Add On? . Do some Oil furnaces not allow Wood Add ons?

.

 

[Gasifier]

My flue system exits up an exterior stone chimney. One flue is for the Lenno and the other flue is for the Wood insert.

From what you wrote I thought you had two flues. One for Lennox and one for Wood insert. Then I thought you would be adding another unit. Which would mean a third flue would be required. I guess I am not following you correctly. Are you going to add the wood add-on and vent it out one of the two existing flues?

I was thinking you could power vent the lennox, then use it's existing flue for the add-on. Sorry for confusing, my fault.

 

[mainstation]

So it is possible to vent the Lennox a different way and use the current flue for the Lennox to vent the Wood Add On.
To be clear I have an exterior stone chimney with two flues venting from the top. One is a 6" SS flex--Wood insert and the other is a 7" Oil furnace flue. Side by each, with the Oil flue about half a foot taller than the SS flex.
What is involved in Power venting an Oil Furnace. Don't worry I won't try it on my own, just curious as to the process.

 

[Gasifier]

So it is possible to vent the Lennox a different way and use the current flue for the Lennox to vent the Wood Add On.
To be clear I have an exterior stone chimney with two flues venting from the top. One is a 6" SS flex--Wood insert and the other is a 7" Oil furnace flue. Side by each, with the Oil flue about half a foot taller than the SS flex.
What is involved in Power venting an Oil Furnace. Don't worry I won't try it on my own, just curious as to the process.

Yes. I have a Peerless oil boiler that is power vented out the wall. Works great. Turns on before your burner fires and runs for a short time after burner turns off. I believe the vent on the outside needs to be at least 5 feet from any window. But I am not positiev on that. Check your state code. Then you will be able to use the flue you were using for that for your wood add-on.

I will not try to tell you what is involved. I did not do mine. But it works great. I have a seperate chimney on the back of my house for wood boiler. Someone else will chime in who knows more than I do about installing that power vent. Good luck man and keep us posted. With pictures! :coolsmile:

 

[laynes69]

As long as you have a dedicated flue for the add-on wood furnace you will be fine. There's two different setups, one is a parallel install with backdraft dampers and the other is series. Series uses the central furnaces blower to push the heat through the wood furnace into the ductwork. There's clearance issues that need to be followed in the ductwork and care be taken if there's a coil for central air or heat pump. With a woodfurnace you would eliminate the need of the insert. What are you looking at, and how's your current layout with the central furnace and ducting?

 

[maple1]

First thing you should do is get a local pro to look at your flues. I'm not sure if your 'oil furnace flue' can accomodate a wood burning unit, even if you direct vent your oil unit. If you can direct vent, and that flue can handle wood, you should be good - but it may require a different liner or something.

I have one flue that services both an oil burner, and a wood burner - it's a 7 inch insulated stainless chimney. The oil stack comes in above the wood stack ('oil over wood'). Local codes and your insurance may not allow that type of thing though.

 

[laynes69]

You cannot share a flue with the oil furnace and wood furnace. I just seen your location, and I believe in Canada it's also illegal to do a parallel installation. Parallel is only legal in the states. A series install would be the only way other than a stand alone furnace. On the series most furnaces require a interlock which keeps the burner off on the central furnace when the plenum of the wood furnace is a certain temperature for safety. It seems things are stricter in Canada than the US.

 

[maple1]

My install was done by pros, to code, 15 years ago. It is a combo unit, maybe that has something to do with it. Coming up from the cleanout at the very bottom, a foot up from the cleanout the smoke pipe comes in, then another foot or so up the oil pipe comes in, then another foot or so and the pipe goes into the bottom of the stainless chimney. As I said, check with local codes, but mine was installed & inspected.