Introducing Brand New Wood Furnace to Market - The Drolet Tundra!
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I like my tundra and all I wanted to know was according to the manual your suppose to check the smoke pipe for cracks. I'm not sure where that is. I clean mine by moving the baffle forward, pulling sout from the center pipe and pushing the sout from the 2 others into the box. I clean all then with the shop vac. I only wanted to know how to remove the baffle cause the book said to check for ash on top of it. My fire is started by letting it burn. The stack temp gets up to around 450 internal. the fan kicks on and it drops in temp. Once the room is warmed up and the wood has burnt good I turn the thermostat on to take over. When I add more wood I make sure the new load is burning good then again the thermostat takes over. This works for me but for someone else they will have to get their own setting. Burning instructions are in the book.
Cloud IT
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newyorker
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im on a shoe string budget and I was looking at at Englander 28-3500 well I see farm and family has theses on sale for 1444 im handy I can make a few adjustments like the snap disk and sealing the jacket alittle bit better I can just shoval the ashes out and not use the ash pan at all. is this a solid furnace with a few adjustments that will last many years? or would I be better off with a Englander
spadjen
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yeah i have done the same thing. thought it was me.
spadjen
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I like it so far. I think most the problem is never by the first version of anything. Its is still relatively new so we will see how it goes as time passes. Other then the issues you mentioned i am happy with it. have 1600 sq feet and heat with only wood. nights get to 15 to -5 and have only used just under 2 1/2 cords. have a few air infiltration problems too that will be taken care of over the summer so that figure will go down.
I just shovel mine out, don't take long. Hopefully they will do a permanent fix on new models. Overall I like mine. I never changed anything on it other then using aluminium tape by the fan to seal it up . I heat my garage and house with it. About 1800-1900 square ft.
I've had both the drolet and the Englander . I won't say the Englander was bad in fact for that style of old school furnace it's pretty good compared it's counterparts and it heated our home and kept us warm for half a decade ...however it required a lot of wood and if you didn't pack it up to the baffle with the good stuff and damper it down( here's Where they burn real dirty) your burn time is not that great considering it's size. . It had drastic heat swings .. On low air it Burned dirty ( in fairness the wood quality could be better ) and went through a good portion more than the drolet . It did get hotter too but was an uneven heat and required running downstairs messing with it a lot . The drolet retains coals far far better and never needed much attention other than cleanings of ash and tossing wood in it the Englander often requires it's owner to play Boy Scout and get out kindling matches and fire starters The drolet will heat a 2,000 sq ft house and get several hours longer burns all on a smaller firebox .the air intake is tied into your thermostat so it does it's own thing if house cools down I'd guess a typical guy in the north in an average house would use 6 cords of wood in the Englander furnace and the drolet he'd use around 3.5-4 cords so it's pretty noticeable in usage . The drolet has a better blower quieter and stronger cfm and of coarse has secondary combustion if you have really dry wood you can get some incredible burn times as long as it's not 5 degrees out and windy but that really depends on many variables to say. Although the drolet has a few speed bumps to address (snap switch opening around the blower needs sealed *note new units are redesigned ash drawer ) it's a quality unit compared to box store junk you'd usually see in it's price range . Good welds good materials has some great thought out features ..Canada is not china they know a thing or two about heating appliances . The Englander is heavier and a bit more bulky it's made in Virginia both sbi ( makers of drolet) and Englander offer great customer support in my experiences with both companies . Keep in mind after this year the Englander will likely not be available due to strict EPA regulation requirements so that should be considered in your decision . Parts may get scarce as they are zoned out .also you can get a tax credit on the drolet. Hope that gave you some insight in my experiences with both
just tring to stay warm
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well after taking 2 days to read this whole thread. i have to make a choice. saturday i am going to go look at a psg caddy wood only. right now i use a drolet ht2000. but we want to centralize our heat throughout the house. with the caddy, blower, and fan limit i can get it for $1677. and the drolet heatmax/tundra i can get it for $1300. I do have a question, with the heatmax, do you have to hook up the cold air return?
brenndatomu
Hey you woodchucks, quit chucking my wood!
+1 on that! "Smokin" good deals! That's not a mini caddy, is it?
Dang, my local dealer wants $2800 for a Caddy W/O the blower! They are known to be a lil high though...
Dang, my local dealer wants $2800 for a Caddy W/O the blower! They are known to be a lil high though...
Drolet does not state that you have to... but they recommend it, and warn of damage from not using a filter.
A centralized furnace is severely handicapped without a connected return air system... for several reasons that include safety, performance and efficiency.
It is best that any centralized furnace or A/C unit have the return air connected, and depending on local code it may be required.
I find it interesting that Drolet recommends both the return air kit and filter kit (they even warn you not to use the furnace without the filter), yet neither is supplied with the furnace... you have to buy them at additional cost.
*
spadjen
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where are you getting that for $1300[/quote]
I'd love to know where your getting these prices . If you truly can get a caddy with blower at that price you better but 3 or 4 of them lol btw I don't use a cold return at all didn't on my last furnace either in fact no one I know that has a wood furnace has it hooked up this way . It makes it own loop and draws the cool air down stairs to the unit .. For me works like a champ very even heating and fully capable ..The tundra and drolet come with a free filter kit of you order it from the right places and the filter setup if you have to buy it is only 50$ .i change my filter every 10 -15 days keeps dust from getting into motor and of coarse into the ducting too where a lot of clunker box store units just have a blower on the back with no provisions or available kits
laynes69
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That's quite a deal for a Caddy. Just make sure it's not a discontinued model that doesn't contain the secondary burn system. It shouldn't be, but you never know. If it's only a few hundred more than a Tundra, I'd jump all over it.
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