usstove hotblast furnace

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Nice setup Hedge, close to what I have (digital camera is charging atm). It isn't a bad stove for the price I agree, just don't like the front damper.

We had some back draft issues the first year we installed it; there were a lot of weather inversions in the area and my house is very old and suffers from the stack effect. We were burning mostly cheap (read: free) coal at the time and the stove was not doing so well. I decided to purchase an exhausto exhaust fan for the top of the tripple wall flue for it and it works well. Only when we have severe weather do we use the exhaust fan or when we start it dead cold (i.e. when we've been away).

We also have the draft inducer fan installed as well (works semi okay, we hardly use it though, since once we have the stove all lit and hot, we choke it down and it does extremely well at maintaining a nice temp).

This years project (apart from a new kid :p getting more wood etc) is going to be a) Install some kind of sensor (pressure sensor? Air flow?) so if whatever we're measuring drops below a certain point, the exhaust fan will kick on and b) purchase the rest of the 12V deep cycle batteries and generator. The plan is, if we're sleeping, we are away that if the juice goes off the blowers, exhaust fan and draft fan will automatically kick over to an emergency backup. This means a) We stay warm, b) if something happens to cause a major negative pressure in the house we won't wake up dead (that'd suck :p). I'd fit an alarm to it as well, to inform us of such a condition so we can check on things.

We're in the city my wife calls me paranoid - but I hate being without juice during the winter :) And as for backdrafting, again I'd hate to wake up dead ;-)

Tes
 
I completely agree about the air leak issue with the hotblast. I tightened up the door and keep the damper in the door closed all the time and only use the ash damper when burning. The ash damper is not usually opened over 1/2 turn and I am very surprised that I can shut everything completely down and still keep a pretty hot fire going all night. I have the packed double wall pipe which helps with the draft, but it would be nice to be able to shut it down completely if I needed to in a hurry.
 
I completely agree about the air leak issue with the hotblast. I tightened up the door and keep the damper in the door closed all the time and only use the ash damper when burning. The ash damper is not usually opened over 1/2 turn and I am very surprised that I can shut everything completely down and still keep a pretty hot fire going all night. I have the packed double wall pipe which helps with the draft, but it would be nice to be able to shut it down completely if I needed to in a hurry.

I've talked to US Stove a couple times about the feed door damper and they have no plans to create a replacement with a different style damper (unfortunately).

Have you had to replace any gaskets yet? Mine are still in good shape (can't say much for the shaker handle, I am on my 3rd atm :p) and I was expecting to have needed to replace them by now.

Tes
 
I looked at the 1557 really hard before I bought the 1600. The door construction and the draft arrangement, plus the ridiculously cheesy blower and ducting really put me off the 1557. Also looked at the wood only model, think it's the 1400? Been very happy with the 1600, more than enough heat, and a monstrous firebox, I sometimes get 14+ hour burns, not smoldering, either.

It is 100% of my heat, no furnace hooked in at all. I have one fire damper in the return and two in the supply, above set temp they pop and the spring closes off the duct to prevent fire/smoke spread. They were pretty cheap at my local HVAC supply house. I also added a Desert Spring humidifier on the return, makes a huge difference in the house, and never have to fill it!

Next furnace I buy will be a Caddy EPA-approved. Not much more than the one I have, but burning less wood is always a good thing. I use 10-12 cords per year, so even a 20% increase reduces my workload alot.

I've burned coal a couple times in mine, I just don't like dealing with the large amount of ash/cinders that coal produces. Used to burn nothing but coal, but wouldn't go back now, especially with "free" wood.
 
does anyone have one, how long have you used it? etc

Yes I have one and I've had it 3 heating seasons as of now, with no problems whatsoever it works great heating my 3500 sq ft well insulated auto repair shop. It paid for its self after 2 months (I gave $750 for it on sale) and has continued to pay off. I just bought a new 346xp with a small part of what I saved so far this year yahoo! FWIW I am thinking about getting one for the house for next year because corn and wood pellets went up so high this year I think I will be ahead not using the corn heater as much but who knows what next year will bring if I do??? HTH btw mine is a 1400 wood only unit.
 
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any pics of these installs? Can these be set in an attached garage then ducted to the main house ducts?

You could yes, they have an optional box that covers the fan so as it can be ducted too for return air it should be very simple to do depending on your hvac unit.

Kansas
 
Ok don't laugh!!!!!

My 1557
It runs us out of the house..

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heres how my us stove is set up its an 1800 series please excuse the mess it was a hurry up and get going for this winter so we didnt freeze it will be going in its own little shed this spring!!! as you can see in the pictures i have 18" return air duct running from inside of house to unit my discharge is also 18" duct that drops down to 12" at the end of the 60 foot run i was a little weak at the end so i did add a 12" pusher fan in the duct it really helped. this is our only heat source in 3200 sq. feet house i can keep it between 70 - 75 no problem can get it up to 80 - 85 if i throw the hickory and the air to it. i was at the us stove outlet store this morning there buried in orders said one of the best years they have had. looked at the hot blast quickly looks like nice unit
 
looking to buy a us hotblast 1557 furnace

After reading the manual for the hotblast 1557 furnace, it doens't seem to run off a thermostat, but a thermodisc. I'm a bit confused about this, is this what controls the blowers? If so I'm assuming it is attached to the plenum to monitor it temp and keep it from getting to hot. Is there any way to add a thermostat, or do I just adjust the dampers to get more or less heat?
 
Blowers to distribute heat through ducting are normally controled by a fan and limit switches.
Honeywell makes a full line of controls that would mount into the plenum.
Part of the fan & limit is that the limit side of the control will kill the power to what is making heat and send the blower to run non stop if a over heat situation occurs. It's a safety thing.
 
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heres how my us stove is set up its an 1800 series please excuse the mess it was a hurry up and get going for this winter so we didnt freeze it will be going in its own little shed this spring!!! as you can see in the pictures i have 18" return air duct running from inside of house to unit my discharge is also 18" duct that drops down to 12" at the end of the 60 foot run i was a little weak at the end so i did add a 12" pusher fan in the duct it really helped. this is our only heat source in 3200 sq. feet house i can keep it between 70 - 75 no problem can get it up to 80 - 85 if i throw the hickory and the air to it. i was at the us stove outlet store this morning there buried in orders said one of the best years they have had. looked at the hot blast quickly looks like nice unit

I'm normally not going to be too picky about a guys install ,but dude!!!
In pic#2 that plywood on top of your furnace could ignite.
It's so against heating code.
You have to have 18" of clearence to combustible surfaces.
All it takes is for the wood to get to 500 degree and it will start on fire.
Please save your home and remove it. Replace with a piece of sheetmetal instead if it needs to be there.
Please know I'm trying to save your home and possibly your life!!!!
 
I was going to post pics of my furnace, but I think the files are too big. Is there a way to save them to the album here and get them reduced so they fit the guidelines? This is my first attempt at the pics on this forum.
Thanks.:confused:

Just found my answer!
 
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Here is a trial run on pics of the furnace using photobucket. It is attached to the main ducts of the house. It does not reach all corners of the house real well, but it warms our living area real well. For quick warm ups we turn on the fan on our furnace which really helps move the air. It will raise the temp by a couple degrees within a few minutes. :clap:
Hope this works.


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I intend to do that. I got it done just to get it in service last fall, but I think that is going to be the next project with it. I just have to decide where to route the second one.

Layne, the duct is an 8" duct. Do you really think that there would be enough of an increase in airflow to warrant the extra duct? I really don't know and do appreciate the feedback.
 
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You mentioned you connected the 2 ducts to your main duct work in your house, I'm looking to do the same, but wasn't sure if blowing air back into my duct work would cause any problems with my primary gas furnace. Any thoughts ?
 
There has been no issue with that at all with my setup. If I am concerned, I can shut the duct off completely where it comes out of my gas furnace. However, it does not seem to affect anything.

I was concerned about the flow back into my wood furnace if the other one turned on and so I originally put one-way flappers in the duct work coming off the stove. That was a mistake. They impeded the airflow and got very hot. I would never recommend that.

My wood furnace is a long way from my gas furnace, so the blow back is diminished greatly by the distance. It could possibly be more of an issue if the wood furnace is added onto your gas furnace.
 
Do not buy the draft kit for your hotblast. It will EAT wood and the fans cool off the limit switch Crappie Keith was talking about. Then it cycles on and off , on and off. Disconnected mine , uses a lot less wood and heats the house better...Lanny
 
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