wood furnace

[TESCH63]

I am looking to purchase a new inside wood furnace, either a Fire Chief or a Hot Blast and was looking for advice on which is a better furnace. Any help would be appreciated? Thanks.

 

[smokinj]

I dont know whats better...I am running a hot blast for about 5 years now all is till doing fine.

 

[discman400]

What kind of burn times do you get with your wood furnace?

 

[woodguy105]

Crappie Kieth should be by any minute to give you his input!


:monkey:

 

[reaperman]

I am looking to purchase a new inside wood furnace, either a Fire Chief or a Hot Blast and was looking for advice on which is a better furnace. Any help would be appreciated? Thanks.

I have a firechief going on its fourth season. Dont be sold on the "thermostatically controlled" aspect of this furnace. In theory, it may work, but in real life its basically useless. It runs like most wood burners do. I tried using a thermostat in the beginning but it didnt take long to figure out it doesnt matter what the thermostat says the furnace is always blowing warm air as long as you have a decent fire. There is no way of shutting down the furnaces plenum fan by a thermostat. This is the job of the limit switch on the side of the furnace. And if the furnace is hot, the fan is designed to operate for two reasons. First, to keep the furnace from getting too hot, and second, to provide hot air to the ductwork.

It is true that the thermostat will start the draft fan if the low temp setting is reached, but again you dont want this to happen. When the draft fan kicks in, the fire in the furnace roars into life. And it wont stop running until the desired home temp is reached. This desired room temp could take a long period of time to reach, depending on how your home/hvac, is setup. The problem is the fire inside the furnace turns into a raging inferno, and gets WAY to hot for safety reasons.

So basically, if you operate it like a woodstove you will be the one in control of the furnace, not a thermostat. And this to me, it the safer option. Just fill it with wood, the plenum fan will kick in when the furnace is hot, and it will stop when it cools down. And when the house gets too hot, welcome to wood burning.

I will admit its not the most wood friendly unit on the market. If epa wood furnaces were available when I built my home, I'd opt for one over a regular furnace. Most wood furnaces are created equal and are known for their appetite for wood.

The three speed plenum fan on the firechief seems to be larger and moves more air than many other models on the market. Also the 12" circular duct on the top of the furnace is larger than some models with only a 8" duct opening. As far a secondary burns on wood furnaces go, unless you have a epa furnace, dont count on a secondary burn. Even though they have a secondary burn chamber.

Good luck in choosing.

 

[laynes69]

I ran a 1500 hotblast for years. It was in operation for about 25 years before I removed it and replaced it with a EPA certified unit. Wouldn't go back for the world. I burn much less wood, have a cleaner flue and get good heat output. With all that said the old unit heated fine, but was far from efficient and used a good amount of wood. I would think the Firecheif is a better unit. Whats your square footage you are looking to heat, and how tight is the home?

 

[biggenius29]

I ran a 1500 hotblast for years. It was in operation for about 25 years before I removed it and replaced it with a EPA certified unit. Wouldn't go back for the world. I burn much less wood, have a cleaner flue and get good heat output. With all that said the old unit heated fine, but was far from efficient and used a good amount of wood. I would think the Firecheif is a better unit. Whats your square footage you are looking to heat, and how tight is the home?

:agree2::agree2:

Go check out the PSG Caddy (same as Layne has) Once you learn how to run it, it is very efficient and burns really well.

 

[TESCH63]

Inside wood furnace

About 2200 Sq. Ft. 1 story older ranch house with basement.

 

[blades]

If you can I wait a bit on that furnace. The mfg are just starting to produce units that have some semblance of control to them. I have a hotblast similar to the Daka or Norseman, (all in the 900-1200 green stamp range) as one of the other posters stated the thermostatic controls are a joke. I do not have any insight on units that are double that cost. Uss has some new units out if you go to their web sight. The only way I can control mine is by what I feed it, and it is a hog. I have not fired it yet this season, as I have a 30nc on the main floor which is doing just fine, 2000sq ft ranch.

 

[kstill361]

I know you didnt ask about Energy King but I have 2 , one in the basement and one in the garage.You should consider looking for a furnace with an automatic gravity fed draft. The forced air draft motors are more ideal for coal burning and when the power goes out the fire is still able to draw air thru the fan motor. My 480EK is set up on a thermostat and consistant witht the temp its set at, though I need to clean the flu more often, but im goin for comfort not convenience.

http://energyking.com/wood-coal-furnace_draftoptions.htm

Choosing which draft option is right for you depends on many factors. General recommendations are:

● Model 365EK Wood/Coal Furnaces & 385EK Wood Furnaces: Automatic Draft

● Model 480EK Wood/Coal Furnaces: Automatic Draft if wood is your primary fuel source or Forced Air Draft if coal is your primary fuel source

● Automatic Draft: When your home cools, the wall thermostat activates the automatic draft motor to open the draft damper, allowing your chimney’s natural draft to pull combustion air into the burn chamber of your ENERGY KING Wood/Coal Furnace. Once your home is at the desired temperature, the automatic draft motor closes the draft damper.

● Forced Air Draft: When your home cools, the wall thermostat of the Forced Air Draft system activates the 60CFM forced air draft blower to force combustion air into the burn chamber of your ENERGY KING Model 480EK Wood/Coal Furnace. The wall thermostat deactivates the forced air draft blower once your home is at the desired temperature.

● Manual Draft: The Manual Draft system is controlled by adjusting the manual draft dial. By opening or closing the draft dial, you can manually control the amount of air entering the burn chamber of your ENERGY KING Model 365EK Wood/Coal Furnace.

 

[CrappieKeith]

Crappie Kieth should be by any minute to give you his input!


:monkey:

It seems to me that there are many differences in opinion and as much as I want to scream ...RUN AWAY...from those lesser grade models I'm also trying to balance out my posts as non selling posts.

Firechief is a solid built furnace.
Hotblasts....lesser grade then the Firecheif.

Woodchuck and Charmaster are better choices.
Then there are the Yukons to look at.

I work here at the factory...no middle man/retailer markup and no sales taxes plus they fall into the bio mass tax credit.

What ever you choose make sure it can make all of the btu's available to you and that it has a decent warranty and that there is someone to stand behind it that knows what they are talking about.

 

[mattw24]

I purchased a Fire Chief last year and love it so far. May not be as fancy as others, but it heats the house no problem. I would purchase again if I did it all over. Good luck

 

[iowa]

Where are you in mo? I have a longwood and i have a 3000 sq ft house. It's hooked to a thermostat and I keep it 76 in my house all winter! We love it.

 

[merlynr]

I have the Fire Chief 700 with thermostat control of firebox draft and I have the input air the to the draft 3/4 blocked off with the adjustable plate. So if the thermostat calls for more heat, the blower kicks on but doesn't put too much air into firebox thereby not giving the fire too much air. This is one of those compromising situations depending upon the size and type of wood at the time. The Fire Chief is well built and I haven't had any trble in 5th year of heating except for replacing some firebricks purchased from Orschelns. I can't compare it to other makes as this is the only furnace I've had except for a Woodchuck stove with much smaller blower. To me the thermostat gives some control of the amout of heat produced.

 

[stumpknocker]

FireChief 700 FOR SALE

I have a slightly used FireChief 700 for sale, Will come with a new factory warranty. Call 410-808-4994 for more info Thanks

 

[dhopkins55]

I have a Yukon-Eagle IV "Klondike." It's capable of burning wood or anthracite coal. I absolutely love the furnace! :msp_biggrin: Going on it's third year of use at my 2500sq ft house in the U.P. It puts out so much heat, whether on wood or coal, that if the daytime temps are going to be above 45degF or so, we literally have to open up the windows! I've also been very happy with the customer support provided by Yukon, so something to consider.