Multi-Fuel Furnace?

[oppermancjo]

Found myself on one of the sponsor pages Yukon - Your Wood Furnace Company My interest was piqued when I saw the term "multi-fuel." Apparently these furnaces will burn wood/coal and oil/gas. Anyone have one or a smilar one? I've been considering an upgrade to the house for a while. I currently have hot water heat in the house but the boiler was manufactured in 1964. Time for an upgrade... My plan was to put a new forced air furnace in. A new water boiler would be the easiest way to go as all of the pipe and registers are already in place but I like the idea of being able to add air conditioning which the house currently does not have. I was thinking of installing the new furnace and duct work and then getting an add-on wood furnace to supplement with. I came across these though and thought maybe I could have the best of both worlds??

My other thought was to leave the current boiler in place and add the duct work and add-on wood furnace. I could easily heat the house with the wood furnace and the boiler would just be there as backup.

The house has a full, unfinished basement so installation of duct work should be pretty easy.

Anyone have thoughts? I'd be especially interested to hear if anyone has experience with one of these multi-fuel stoves. The house is about 2,000 square feet if you include the basement. About 1,000 is the upstairs living space which is the primary concern for heat. I don't currently heat the basement at all unless the boiler runs.

 

[stihly dan]

I also was intrigued by them. Then I did some research, and wasn't so much. Don't think they will be legal for long. I went for the efficient KUUMA. Very easy to use. The PSG caddy also looks pretty good. There are many good threads on both of these.

I had the same set up you did. I put in duct work, then took out the boiler. (needed the chimney)
Good luck.

 

[Steve NW WI]

I also was intrigued by them. Then I did some research, and wasn't so much. Don't think they will be legal for long. I went for the efficient KUUMA. Very easy to use. The PSG caddy also looks pretty good. There are many good threads on both of these.

I had the same set up you did. I put in duct work, then took out the boiler. (needed the chimney)
Good luck.

What makes you say that?

For the OP, there are a few different brands, Dan mentioned the ones I know of, but there are likely more, that offer combo units. I haven't seen a combo unit that has a real efficient fossil fuel burner attached, but if it's mainly a backup, that's probably not real important.

Pending Dan's answer, I see no reason the Yukon, Kuuma, or Caddy furnaces will be legislated out of existence anytime soon, all are much more efficient than the box store add on furnaces available.

 

[KyleOh]

The CL7260 we have at the shop is multi fuel. It works great, especially for lighting fires. It will run half and half, all wood, all propane, or starting mode. Heats a 140x70x20 real nice, heated floors.

 

[jh35]

Found myself on one of the sponsor pages Yukon - Your Wood Furnace Company My interest was piqued when I saw the term "multi-fuel." Apparently these furnaces will burn wood/coal and oil/gas. Anyone have one or a smilar one? I.....QUOTE]

My parents got their first one in 1980. I was 9 so I have experience with it. It was wood/fuel oil. It was nice because the oil flame shoots into the wood area and lights the fire for you . I don't think they had much if any trouble with it.

Fast forward to 2005 they replaced it for peace of mind with a new one just like it. No issues with it but dad put in a new Heatmor 400 owb last year and is very happy with that. The Yukon is now the backup.

Jeff

EDIT: I'm pretty sure the model of the Yukon was "Husky"

 

[oppermancjo]

Thanks for the info so far guys. I should have mentioned that my main concern is the mixture of wood and gas exhaust. A family friend owns a local company that services and installs boilers, furnaces, geothermal, etc... He expressed concern that I was piping both my basement wood stove and the propane boiler into the same chimney flu. He said when those exhaust gases combine that they are toxic and corrosive. I disconnected the wood stove which wasn't really a big deal as I primarily use the fireplace insert upstairs anyway which is a separate flu. Is there any concern of these exhaust gases combining with a multi-fuel stove? I assume that they are piped into the same flu.

 

[brenndatomu]

I just installed a Yukon Husky this past summer, love it! The oil burner exhausts into the wood (coal) firebox, and then yes, it uses just one flue pipe. Depending on what, exactly, your chimney is made out of, I guess you could have long term issues with the chimney being eaten up, depending on what fuel you are burning. I put in a stainless liner that was rated for anything the Yukon is designed to burn.

Just an FYI, I was considering an indoor wood fired boiler, but, since I had forced air already, it was a lot cheaper to stick with it. I'd recommend getting an estimate on having duct installed before you make any decisions, it's not cheap!
Also, even though Yukon says there is no issue with having an A/C coil sitting on top of the Husky,(other than retrofitting a metal drip pan) a lot of HVAC people told my they wouldn't subject their A coil to the kind of heat that it could possibly see during a power outage. I made my supply plenum and A/C line set such that I can easily slide the A coil out of the plenum for the winter.
If I was going to spend the money on a new unit (I found mine on CL, if ya wanna see it or read about the install read my thread -http://www.arboristsite.com/firewood-heating-wood-burning-equipment/210482.htm) I would look real hard at a Kuuma, not that I don't like my Yukon, I do, but the Kuuma furnace sounds like a real slick unit! Also PSG Caddy has backup fuel option too, (that's an EPA clean burn firebox too) I think the Caddy just uses one flue? If i were you, I'd consider leaving your existing boiler as a backup, installing your A/C in an air handler, then tying your wood furnace into that. Another slick idea I seen somewheres here, was that a downflow furnace was installed (with A/C) on top of the blower intake of the wood furnace, that solves some ducting issues.

 

[deadtrees]

My father in law had a combo wood oil furnace. I think it was a yukon. He burned 99% wood. I think he said that burning wood a long time would soot up the oil nozzle and the oil part would not burn clean when started on oil. He would have to clean the oil nozzle before using it.

 

[Fyrebug]

Combo wood/gas furnaces are no longer allowed due to some safety regulation changes. Some of the existing models have been grand-fathered and can still be sold to my knowledge.

If you have an existing furnace (Electric, gas, oil) you can connect a wood furnace in parallel in the duct work. That is allowed.

If I may, we also make the PSG line of EPA clean burning furnaces. They do multi-fuel wood/oil/electric. Follow the link below to find more or ask away!

All the best in your search...
View attachment 272559

 

[bayard]

wood oil

i have a old northland wood oil boiler. no problem with the flue, other than too cold at the top.it has been this way for 40 years.i just lined it this year/k

 

[smokee]

My folks had a Yukon oil/wood furnace installed when they built our house in 1979. Hell of a machine it was. My father didn't know much about the different types of wood so we burned everything and it did a fine job of it. It basically used oil at first with a large flame shot into the burn box onto the wood. If it was damp it would dry out pretty quick then it would regulate the O2 to control the temp in the house. I'm not sure of its output but we lived at the base of the Appalachians in Sw Pa where it seemed to always be cold and windy and that thing kept the house at 80* with no problems.

 

[MNfarmer]

One thing to keep in mind is that if you burn wood in it for a long time then switch to fuel oil your efficiency won't be that good. The heat exchangers build up with creosote and when burning oil won't exchange all the heat resulting in the lower efficiency. If your house if big enough to make it work then the creosot buildup in the exchanger shouldn't be too bad. I used a Yukon Klondike for a couple years and although they are a well built furnace and heat good they aren't as efficient as Yukon claims they are.

 

[jh35]

...... The heat exchangers build up with creosote and when burning oil won't exchange all the heat resulting in the lower efficiency. If your house if big enough to make it work then the creosot buildup in the exchanger shouldn't be too bad. ......

I used to help dad every three or four weeks remove the stovepipe and used a square wire brush type deal to push through the heat exchanger. It was a four square tubes parallel shape, it seems as is it was tough to get the brush through the outer tubes but its been a long time.

 

[Fyrebug]

One thing to keep in mind is that if you burn wood in it for a long time then switch to fuel oil your efficiency won't be that good. The heat exchangers build up with creosote and when burning oil won't exchange all the heat resulting in the lower efficiency. If your house if big enough to make it work then the creosot buildup in the exchanger shouldn't be too bad. I used a Yukon Klondike for a couple years and although they are a well built furnace and heat good they aren't as efficient as Yukon claims they are.

On the PSG Caddy line this is not the case... The oil burner is in its own combustion chamber below the wood combustion chamber. The oil burner can be a Beckett or Riello, 2 well known and dependable brands of oil burner.

If as always you burn dry wood and the installation is to spec you should not see any creosote in the heat exchange area or in the chimney for that matter. Whether you have a wood/oil combo or wood only furnace.

 

[cfarms]

I used to help dad every three or four weeks remove the stovepipe and used a square wire brush type deal to push through the heat exchanger. It was a four square tubes parallel shape, it seems as is it was tough to get the brush through the outer tubes but its been a long time.

Exactly right! I had a Yukon Eagle and had to brush the exchanger tubes every two to three weeks. With a build up of creosote in the tubes the oil was very inefficient. VERY happy with the Kuuma Vaporfire 100 I put in its place!!!

 

[brenndatomu]

Exactly right! I had a Yukon Eagle and had to brush the exchanger tubes every two to three weeks. With a build up of creosote in the tubes the oil was very inefficient. VERY happy with the Kuuma Vaporfire 100 I put in its place!!!

What the heck were you guys burning, tires?! The wood I have this year was cut 1 year ago, split and stacked 9 mo. ago. It is dry enough, but some of the harder stuff will be even better next year. I haven't cleaned the HX or chimney yet, been burning since Oct., I have checked it every couple weeks just to get a feel for normal since it's my first year with it. Not saying there is NO buildup, but sure not enough to mess with!

 

[stihly dan]

What makes you say that?

For the OP, there are a few different brands, Dan mentioned the ones I know of, but there are likely more, that offer combo units. I haven't seen a combo unit that has a real efficient fossil fuel burner attached, but if it's mainly a backup, that's probably not real important.

Pending Dan's answer, I see no reason the Yukon, Kuuma, or Caddy furnaces will be legislated out of existence anytime soon, all are much more efficient than the box store add on furnaces available.

Steve, The efficiency on the yukon is what made me feel they could be illegal soon. I know next year they come under new regulations. Did not want to chance going down the route of the old owb, not being able to use or sell it. Around here anyway.

 

[jh35]

What the heck were you guys burning, tires?! .......!

No tires but there was some unseasoned wood as we were never ahead of the game far enough.

Edit: I'm 3-4 years up right now depending on how much gets sold this year.