Introducing Brand New Wood Furnace to Market - The Drolet Tundra!

[Wisneaky]

I bought it never seen one before and very impressed with the quality

what is the difference between the caddy and the tundra? They are both made by sbi, right?

 

[Deleted member 83629]

ugh i need the finances for one of those. i use a old smoke dragon a ashley circulator and it rolls the heat and a fire will last 15 hrs filled up. but holy god it will clog up a flue with junk.

 

[newyorker]

what is the difference between the caddy and the tundra? They are both made by sbi, right?

Yea I'm not sure to much what the difference is I think the tundra is more of a lower end box store brand and their caddy is higher end the caddy has a plenum and the tundra doesnt which produces more BTUs

 

[newyorker]

When I was ready to buy I called the northeast salesman for SDI and he said the tundra was for a DIY and needed some tinkering and the caddy was perfection lol and the price really wasn't that much more

 

[Wisneaky]

let me know how it is replacing that. i still cant get my burn tubes out.

So I replaced the baffle. The burn tubes where a little pain to get out. I rotated them first about 10 times then was able to stick a flathead screw driver in the slot to push it out the rest of the way. The reason they don't come out good is because the metal shrinks and the ends expand because the way they are notched from the heat of the furnace. I emailed SBI and let them know about the problem and that I think the burn tubes should be heat treated before installed at the factory. They were going to send my information to the design department.

 

[djkost]

Question for Tundra owners ? Are you satisfied with its performace ? I am after using it this winter.

 

[Wisneaky]

Question for Tundra owners ? Are you satisfied with its performace ? I am after using it this winter.

Yes I am. I live in Wisconsin and we had a pretty long winter. I had mine going for a little over a month and I haven't used my LP furnace since and with the way LP was I saved at least $900 so far in LP cost at the $3.69 I paid for it. I know for awhile LP was close to $6 a gallon here so I probably even saved more money.

 

[oldbloke]

I just discovered this furnace and am looking at buying one. Can someone explain the ash pan "problem" to me please? I understand that the forced air blows through the ashes and into the duct work? I don't see how this could be legal from a safety standards point of view. Also, anyone have any serious complaints or likes about the furnace? Thanks.

 

[Wisneaky]

I just discovered this furnace and am looking at buying one. Can someone explain the ash pan "problem" to me please? I understand that the forced air blows through the ashes and into the duct work? I don't see how this could be legal from a safety standards point of view. Also, anyone have any serious complaints or likes about the furnace? Thanks.

I don't have any problems with my ash pan. The ash pan should only have ashes in it when it is time to clean it. Pull ash pan plug, put ashes in, pull pan and dump ashes. Ashes in pan are to be dumped right away and not to be left in pan when furnace is burning wood. I haven't had any problem and don't see how it could be a problem unless someone leaves the ashes in the pan.

 

[oldbloke]

Ok, so the ashes don't just fall into the pan while the fire burns? I was thinking they just dropped through some grates. I might now be understanding this. Thanks for the quick reply!

 

[Wisneaky]

Ok, so the ashes don't just fall into the pan while the fire burns? I was thinking they just dropped through some grates. I might now be understanding this. Thanks for the quick reply!

yes, there is no fire grate. There is fire brick on the bottom and a plug. After about a week or so usually in the morning when the fire is died down I will pull the plug and put the ashes in the pan. I pull the pan and dump.

 

[oldbloke]

That's awesome news. I have a Drolet Austral woodstove and that's how it works too. I can live with that. Thanks again!

 

[Wisneaky]

That's awesome news. I have a Drolet Austral woodstove and that's how it works too. I can live with that. Thanks again!

no problem. So far I really like it.

 

[NSMaple1]

Instead of messing with the plug & pan, couldn't you just scoop them out with an ash shovel?

 

[oldbloke]

That would make sense. It would keep the ash pan area clean and no ash etc would blow out from around it. I emailed Drolet and they replied that they have sealed off the ash pan and that it is no longer a problem.

 

[NSMaple1]

I don't have a Drolet, but my boiler has an ash pan.

It might be handy at the time to just pull the ashes out & let them fall in the pan - but before long you've got this big awkward pan full of ashes you have to do something with. I find it much easier to just scoop an ash shovel full out, into a 5 gallon metal foundation coating bucket, every time I light a fire. When the bucket gets full, I take it outside & dump it. Much easier carrying a foundation coating bucket than an ash pan.

 

[blades]

hope that ain't a plastic bucket.

 

[NSMaple1]

Well, I did say it was metal.

 

[goatguy]

So, with my old furnace setup. During the summer, I could flip the switch and run just the fan if I wanted, that way I could cycle the cool air from the basement up to the mainfloor, worked pretty good in the shoulder season and kept me from running the AC for probably a good few weeks each fall and spring.

However, that stove is gone and replaced with a Tundra, anyone know how to manually trip this circulation fan for this stove so that I don't have to put the AC in yet?

 

[brenndatomu]

I think you'll hafta wire in a switch to do what you want. Just hook up to the same two wires that go to the thermo switch now, wahlah, "auto" or "manual"