Norsman 2400 questions

[doubletrouble]

So we have a Norsman 2500 wood furnace in our 2000 sq.ft. home. I was wondering what my expected burn times should be. We seem to go through alot of wood and are checking it and adding wood about every 3 hours. I thought that we should get longer burn times than this. Any suggestions or input would be appreciated.

Btw, we are burning mostly ash and see slightly damp oak (about 26%)

 

[doubletrouble]

No one?

 

[stratton]

Mr Double, The only way to burn less wood is to cut down intake air or draft air, which obviously will produce less heat. The two solutions would be a key damper in the stack or baffle plate in the top of firebox. Try one or both ideas, Your making a %sit ton of heat in the box but your loosing it out the stack.

 

[doubletrouble]

I have a barometric damper in the stack already. There is also a baffle plate in the firebox ( I beleive that's what it is ) the smoke doesn't go straight to the flu pipe, it has to go around a large plate or roof in the firebox first the to the flu.

 

[dave_dj1]

Gotta regulate the air flow and find a happy medium that will still keep the house warm and have as long a burn time as possible.
Of course that all changes daily with the weather.
How well is your house insulated and does it have good windows?

 

[doubletrouble]

House isn't insulated very well, it's an old farm house. We will be replacing windows over the summer this year and hope to add insulation as well. We will also be reworking our duct work. I just figured we should be able to get a longer burn time especially with the mild winter we've had here in NW Ohio.
I did notice that the ash door at the bottom is drawing some air in. The door isn't sealing tight. Could be part of the problem. Our chimney has a ton of draft. I have been considering installing a cap of some sort to possibly help reduce the draft. When the wind picks up the barometric damper will swing wide open trying to compensate.

 

[dave_dj1]

Is there a regular damper in the pipe? If not I would add one, wire the barometric one shut and give that a whirl. You will need to experiment with things.

 

[doubletrouble]

I do not have a regular damper in the pipe yet but will give it a shot. With all the upcoming changes ( windows and insulation and the revamp of the duct work ) I would like to be able to get a decent burn time next winter. Maybe an all nighter if possible.

 

[dave_dj1]

Can you find the specs on it? Like the cubic feet of firebox? I wonder if it's just sucking air and your sending a lot of heat up the stack. Does it draft from underneath? Does it have a grate?
It could be too small for the house as well. When it comes to wood heating there are a lot of things to consider.
I hate to break it to you but they are not known for being a great unit.

 

[doubletrouble]

I know they aren't top of the line or anything. We wanted to get away from the rediculous price of propane so we found this on sale. Someday we will probably upgrade but no time soon. Just trying to get the most from what I have. The 2500 model is supposed to be large enough for 2500 sqft. All things considered, old house, lack of insulation, drafty windows and so on, it does pretty well. I would like to figure out how to extend the burn times mainly. Once we do the work listed previously it will only help I would think. I just sucks to have to set an alarm late at night or early morning to stoke the fire. Still better than paying for propane......lol

 

[dave_dj1]

About 30 years ago there was an article in Mother Earth News showing how to make a wood stove burn longer. What they did was put the colored pages from a catalog in between the layers of wood. I had an old parlor stove at the time so I tried it, it worked great. The idea is the colored pages will char over preventing the fire from burning the wood above it, then when the wood below it burns and the wood above falls down and crumples/crushes the colored paper then that layer of wood would burn and so on. You have to use a few pages thick. Maybe if you searched MEN site you could find the article.
If that thing does have a grate, put a layer of firebrick over the grate and try that. I've never been a fan of burning from underneath.

 

[doubletrouble]

It does have grates under the wood but I keep the ash door closed and the spin damper closed as well. I only use the damper on the loading door. There is only low/med/high settings on it.

 

[doubletrouble]

After doing some searching and reading here on AS I think I will invest in a monometer to monitor my draft. The manual for the furnace says it needs .05 water column (?) To operate efficiently. I have no idea where it's at now but I'm sure it's more than that. I will also be installing a cast iron damper in the flu to help regulate the draft as well. Is there a way to leave something in the flu for hooking up the manometer? A fitting of some sort maybe?

 

[dave_dj1]

All the ones I've seen they just drill a hole in the pipe.

 

[sbhooper]

We have had one for several years now. It is ducted into the main ducts for the whole house. The house is a 2300 sq.ft, two-story. If it is moderately cold, the wood does well with the box packed full and the dampers shut down. If it is very cold, then I am re-filling it every hour or so with the dampers open. It takes a lot of heat to get the box hot and turn on the double blowers.

This furnace has saved me a ton of money and warms the house better than the propane. It totally paid for installation in 1.5 seasons. I have access to tons of wood, though.

 

[doubletrouble]

Sounds similar to mine set up sbhooper. We switched to the Norsman from propane for the same reason. We have a plentiful wood supply as well. Couldn't see paying the high propane prices when it could heat for nearly free.
Our duct work is very inefficient right now. That will be changed over this upcoming summer to get a more even heat through the house. There are some other things on my list to help with insulation and such as well. This furnace isn't the most efficient out there but I'm sure it can do better than what it have so far by making a few changes. We love the nice warm heat you get only from burning wood. A propane furnace just don't compare.....

 

[NSMaple1]

My manometer is hooked up all the time. I used a short piece of brake line off the flue pipe (18"?), the fitting on the one end secured it to the hole I drilled in the flu pipe. (With a nut in the side inside the flu pipe). I stuck the hose that came with the manometer over the other end of the brake line. Just get the size of brake line (or whatever other steel pipe you can find) that the manometer hose will slide snugly over & go from there with your hole drilling on the flu pipe. Forget what size that turned out to be.

Do you have a pipe thermometer? Probe type is best.

 

[doubletrouble]

I have thermometers on both the firebox above the door and on the flu pipe but they are the magnetic type. I've read that those aren't the most accurate.

 

[NSMaple1]

I've read that those aren't the most accurate.

That's a bit of an understatement.

 

[doubletrouble]

Lol, OK. Any suggestions? I've thought about getting one of the laser temp readers from harbor freight. Are those any good for this purpose?