Indoor forced air wood furnace recommendations

[alleyyooper]

I burn dead Ask that is standing like that for at least 5 years. I don't even fall and cut it up till the fall Stuff is as dry as hay in a barn.
I also bring in and stack behind the furnace enough wood for a week and a half usually never let it get down to a weeks worth. Never know when some thing will happen to me and Wife will need to fill the furnace.

Al

 

[flotek]

The Englander IMHO is better than a hotblast . It's more efficient it's a lot better made ( higher level of craftsmanship ) and provides tons of heat (to do so it will eat some wood though) .. However if you add a several hundred more the drolet tundra may be a better answer in terms of burn time ease of operation and efficiency . In real world use after Having had both I would say the Englander will heat a bigger area closer to 2500 sq ft but as mentioned it has drawbacks.. I would rate the drolet to be suited for 1800 sq ft with good efficiency for the money

 

[joe kelsch]

I'm leaning towards the Englander. I just looked it up on home depot's website and I can get it delivered to my house for $1298 plus tax. That's hard to beat. I would like a Drolet but I need to keep my costs down. I wish there was a menard's near me. If there was I'd probably go with the Drolet for sure. With shipping a Drolet would be over $2000. Maybe I'm still in the market for one. I don't plan on doing this till August or September. Maybe there will be a sale or something.

I have lots of dead standing trees so my wood supply will only cost me fuel for my chainsaw and time, though my property is 5 miles from my house. Before I had kids I was cutting in the early spring (like March or April whenever the snow starts to melt off). I'd split and stack on my property. Then in November or so (when the bugs aren't crawling) I'd start hauling it over to the house. Now time is precious. I can't do anything without scheduling then rescheduling then doing something else till I get time again.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

My brother heats his house with a Hot Blast.

Seems to work ok, but the fire box is quite small IMO. I think it would need to be nearly doubled in size to be a "good" primary heat source. With as small as the firebox is, it's very much a "load every few hours" type stove. His house isn't huge, 2 story place, maybe 1600ish sq ft. Iit's nearly a full time job keeping that stove going.
I'd have to think there is something designed like a Blaze King in a furnace format that would get at least 12hrs on a load of wood?

The smoke curtain plate in the Hot Blast firebox is a frigging hazard IMO. It blocks the door opening and gets your arm everytime... which is real great when it's hot.

He is on stove #2, the first one cracked in several places in the first season and was replaced under warranty. Hasn't fired the new one yet. The company claimed they had a few come back and suspect they ended up with some bad quality steel.
It cracked along the corners of the door frame and across the front near the top of the firebox.

 

[brenndatomu]

I'd have to think there is something designed like a Blaze King in a furnace format that would get at least 12hrs on a load of wood?

http://www.blazeking.com/PDF/brochures/en/current/furnace/78135_BK_APEX-CBT.pdf

 

[blades]

Ah - very interesting. Considering where Blaze King pricing factors are with their stoves I will take an uneducated guess of $3-4 grand maybe more for the furnace. In that area I would be much more disposed to go with the Kuma and a proven track record.

 

[brenndatomu]

I will take an uneducated guess of $3-4 grand maybe more for the furnace

I'd guess more. And the really weird thing is that huge firebox is only "rated" to heat 1400 sq ft.!? From what I hear BK is a lil conservative on their ratings though.
I'm with blades, I'd go Kuuma, between the two anyways. But since we are over double the OPs price range, this is all just chatter

 

[joe kelsch]

Yeah, those furnaces are way out of my price range. I would have to heat my home for a very long time before I'd recoup my costs over NG. The Englander (or maybe even the drolet) would be recouped in a year or two. I can live with that.

 

[flotek]

There is a quality EPA wood furnace with a giant firebox that heats 2500-3000 sq ft for over 12 hours ,it's called a Max caddy . Takes 26" long wood and burns clean. Unfortunately for you Its about 4 times your budget ( good things are seldom cheap and cheap things are seldom good !) .... The woodblast I mean hotblast has a huge 7cubic ft firebox I don't know how you could want anything bigger lol ( my dad has used the same old tired hotblast unit for the last 20 years ) it's problem is it's completely inefficient at claiming or exchanging the heat and it ultimately sends it right up the flue along with the smoke ,That is why you get 5 hours burn instead of the 10 it should get... Now if I was dead set on spending no more than 1200 bucks then the Englander furnace would be difficult to beat for the money . Yes it's not real efficient ( can burn 8-9 hours when fully loaded and damped down ) or easy on wood ( expect 6-7 full cords) but it will burn a fairly long time and throws plenty of heat without problems ..As mentioned if you plan to go that route don't mess around and wait because new strict laws are outlawing sales of those type units this year . Once that is in effect people will be buying them up and you'll be screwed with few options

 

[joe kelsch]

Has anyone tried doing a loop for hot water in an Englander, or any other furnace? I know US Stove sells a kit for their bigger furnaces. From the pictures it doesn't seem that involved.

 

[brenndatomu]

Although shows "out of stock" currently, keep an eye on these guys, factory second Englander 28-3500 $999 delivered. http://www.amfmenergy.com/50trw35--addon-wood-furnace--3050353001.html This place seems to have a pretty good rep over on that other site.
Also, FYI, there is a used Englander furnace over in NH listed on fleabay for "$500 buy it now" or best offer, guy has a 100% rating. Might cost a few hundred more to have palleted up and shipped...

 

[stihly dan]

Looked at the hot blast at TS today. All I can say is I now understand why some people are afraid to burn when no one is home.