Add on wood furnace.

[jsd176]

I'm looking at getting an add-on furnace for my house (1300 SF). Right now I'm just about set on the Big Jack from Yukon. The specs and the price look good for my needs. For anyone who has one, can I get a 10 ~ 12 hour burn out of it? I'm starting my wood supply for next year, what length should I cut the rounds too? The box length is 24", right now I have wood around 16" to 18". Does anyone know if the Big Jack is eligible for the tax credit?

I also see where they offer a plenum and blower, do I need that if I am adding on to my forced air furnace and duct work?

Any advice on the furnace or any other recommendations would be great.

Thanks!

 

[Davej_07]

Im thinking about one of these as well. I'll be looking for the same answers.

Dave

 

[jburner]

crappiekeith is your guy. Yes, they qualify for tax credit.

 

[CrappieKeith]

Yes they do fall into the Energy Star tax credit.
The certificate is on our website for you to download and print off.
My home is about the same size as yours only I'm up in northern Mn. so my call for heat is much greater than yours if your south of me so 10-12 hours should not be an issue.
Sure you'll need dry hardwood to achieve these numbers.

The box is actually 28" deep.
So cut your wood to 2 foot.

If you have an A coil for A/C in your exsisting hot air plenum you'll need to do a parellel install and buy the blower.
If not you can use the exsisting blower if it's strong enough.
You'll also need 2 back flow dampers that run $200 each.
See the manual for the ducting config.
Page 14 shows you the different ducting installs.
Hit this link....
http://www.yukon-eagle.com/Portals/0/manuals/JackLineManual.pdf

I'm happy to hear you think the Jacks are what your needing.
I know after 12 years of working my BJ90 that when it comes to heating my home...there is no other option...well that is if I'm paying or in this case not paying for propane.LOL

 

[mikes mold]

Bj-90

:monkey:My next stove will be a BJ-90. But would like somebody to chime in on the 11-12hr burn. Keith is real easy to talk to and is knowledgeable. On days like we in MN been having(up and down temps) So 30 degree temp, I let the fire go down to coals and back up again. It gets 80 degree in the house. Below zero I run it hot. That's when you want the 11-12 burn. I have two fans on my add on, plus the furnace fan. This house is 76 feet long, and you can throw a cat through a few places. My add on uses a lot of wood and that's why my next stove will be the BJ-90. (my two cents worth)

 

[CrappieKeith]

:monkey:My next stove will be a BJ-90. But would like somebody to chime in on the 11-12hr burn. Keith is real easy to talk to and is knowledgeable. On days like we in MN been having(up and down temps) So 30 degree temp, I let the fire go down to coals and back up again. It gets 80 degree in the house. Below zero I run it hot. That's when you want the 11-12 burn. I have two fans on my add on, plus the furnace fan. This house is 76 feet long, and you can throw a cat through a few places. My add on uses a lot of wood and that's why my next stove will be the BJ-90. (my two cents worth)

Thanks for the vote of confidence Mike...it is 14 below right now at 8:31 a.m.
I loaded my furnace last night at 10:30 and this am I had a deep bed of coals.
I should say that my new wood guy delivered a bunch of 16"-18"splits so I'm not getting a full load and to be honest I'm thinking there's some soft wood mixed in.
Some pieces are pretty heavy and other are much lighter.
The only real bonus is this wood is as dry as a bone.
At 100$ for a full cord delivered who can complain.
At least next year I'll be back to my 2 foot long wood.

 

[jsd176]

I'm still working out all the logistics on getting the furnace setup. So far, so good. Weather permitting, I'm going to check out my chimney tomorrow to see what I have to work with.

My biggest concern right now is getting the thing unloaded and into my basement. The way my house is set up, my garage is in the basement with the back side of my basement day lighting out. The driveway is at about a 15% grade for 40 feet and then levels off right in front of my garage. The driveway is pea stone (don't ask me why) on the slope and then concetre right in front of my driveway. One nice thing is I can take the furnace in through my garge door, or around the side and through a side door, which may be easier to get it into the basement since there would be no confined hard turns. For everyone who has done this, how have you gotten the furnace from the truck (I'll need to pay the extra for one with a lift gate) to it's final location. I'm thinking I can get away with just buying/ renting a dolly and having the help of a few friends. I've seen one from Northern with a 1000 lb capacity and pneumatic tires for $100. It seems a little exspensive for a one time use. My dad also has a pallet jack for his shop, but he lives 3 hours away, and short of putting down plywood, it won't be able to get down my driveway. Other than that, I could rent a machine for $200 for a half day to move it around.

How are the furances packed? Do the come on a standard skid or do the come on a custom pallet?

What have you guys done to get your furnaces in place?

 

[jburner]

I'm still working out all the logistics on getting the furnace setup. So far, so good. Weather permitting, I'm going to check out my chimney tomorrow to see what I have to work with.

My biggest concern right now is getting the thing unloaded and into my basement. The way my house is set up, my garage is in the basement with the back side of my basement day lighting out. The driveway is at about a 15% grade for 40 feet and then levels off right in front of my garage. The driveway is pea stone (don't ask me why) on the slope and then concetre right in front of my driveway. One nice thing is I can take the furnace in through my garge door, or around the side and through a side door, which may be easier to get it into the basement since there would be no confined hard turns. For everyone who has done this, how have you gotten the furnace from the truck (I'll need to pay the extra for one with a lift gate) to it's final location. I'm thinking I can get away with just buying/ renting a dolly and having the help of a few friends. I've seen one from Northern with a 1000 lb capacity and pneumatic tires for $100. It seems a little exspensive for a one time use. My dad also has a pallet jack for his shop, but he lives 3 hours away, and short of putting down plywood, it won't be able to get down my driveway. Other than that, I could rent a machine for $200 for a half day to move it around.

How are the furances packed? Do the come on a standard skid or do the come on a custom pallet?

What have you guys done to get your furnaces in place?

First of all, I suggest that you buy a good dolly, you'll use it again. It's one of those tools that saves you a ton (literally) of work. I'm pretty sure it won't be a one time use.

Don't underestimate ramps. Use them wherever and whenever you can. Getting out of the truck, down steps, whatever. Work smarter, not harder as they say. Looking at your post again, it sounds like you don't have any steps. My advice having done this several times, get your vehicle as close as possible to the eventual site and go from there. Make sure you lighten up the furnace by removing firebrick, doors, grate, anything that can be removed to lighten the load.

 

[mikes mold]

Add on

:monkey: I would call Keith if he is not FISHING. Keith Nelson 800-358-0060. I took all the fire brick out and only had the shell, but still was very heavy. I had all of my five boys here to help lift. (Man power) J burner is right use ramps,anything helps.

 

[jsd176]

My biggest concern is the sloped portion of my driveway. I guess they won't back the truck udown the driveway, they'll only offload at the street. I'm guessing for liability reasons, but I'm okay with that. I spent a little extra time looking at rental rates and I can rent a small skid steer with forks for about $200 for a day. The entire distance I'd need to move the furnace is no more than 60 feet. If I had a paved or concrete driveway I could have managed with just a plain jane dolly. The skid steer looks like a pretty viable option, plus I could easily find a days worth of work around my house for it, assuming I can get the furance off loaded and into the basement in short order. I'd just like to keep things as simple as possible though.

I guess I'd also have to know the exact day the furnace would show up so I coudl be there and have the machine ready (if I decide to go that route).

 

[CrappieKeith]

The dispatcher from the trucking company will call you the day before they deliver.

 

[ran3465]

Just from my research I believe you guys have the best product out there, my question is Are the BJ90 and SJ125 safe to burn during power outages?

 

[super3]

I just got my Big Jack 2 wks ago. Unpack the boxes around the stove & leave strapped to the skid. 4 of us slid it out of the truck & sat it on the porch, cut straps from skid,strap to a appliance cart, 2 guys on 1 end & 2 on the other & down the stairs no problems. All of us in the 155-180lb range, so it doesn't take big fellers to move.

 

[kielbasa]

I'll chime in (too bad I didn't see this thread earlier).
I too purchased A BJ90. Had a similar unloading situation - I ended up taking out the firebrick, baffles, grate, ash pan, doors (whatever I could to get the weight down) and brought into my downstairs piece by piece.
I finally was able to burn with it as odftwo weeks ago.
I grew up with wood heat, so I wouldn't call myself a novice
It's in my downstairs and I was going to attach to my existing ductwork, but haven't had time to do that yet. My entire downstairs is also living quarters, but open concept with a large stairway leading to the upstairs. The setup works amazingly well without being tied into the ductwork, so much so that I just may leave it this way!
By playing with both air intake controls (the one on the door and the adjustable flap on the draft blower motor) and the BDR, I was able to get easy 10~11 hour burn times. However, it wasn't a hot heat. If it's above teens outside, the low heat is plenty (and I like it hot inside my house, usually 80+) And I also noticed that dry wood is KEY.
If it gets a little colder, I'll adjust for a little more air, but useable burn time gets to between 5~8 hours on a good sized armful of wood. (I've learned to just leave the BDR alone around .02~.03" H2O) and just adjust the air intake instead (although playing with the BDR gave me similar results).
My home is built of ICF construction and is extremely well insulated and airtight (I do have a 4" diameter hole bored thru my wall next to my BJ90 for combustion air intake into the area near the stove though) although my home is only 1800 sq ft, I've got a lot of volume to heat (9 foot ceilings downstairs and 11 foot ceilings upstairs.) And I usually end up relighting in the morning, since I just let the fire go out iby late afternoon because it just gets too hot to sleep at night. I wish there was something like a BJ60 or 50, that would have suited me better - but I'm not complaining!

 

[CrappieKeith]

On the very low end the furnace is rated for about 50,000 btus and not having a blower to take heat off will reduce the burn times. You see a blower will cycle the air in your home and get the heat to the stat quicker shutting down the draft blower sooner.

Oh...they do come on regular pallets.

 

[CrappieKeith]

Just from my research I believe you guys have the best product out there, my question is Are the BJ90 and SJ125 safe to burn during power outages?

Yes they are. I've been burning mine for 13 years without a blower.These furnaces are not lightweights. They are built with very thick steels and the rolled round tops makes warpage tuff to happen.
Ya pretty much need one of those M1A1 tanks to roll over it too hurt it.

 

[kielbasa]

update....today I burned with coal in my BJ90 for the first time - wow, what a nice alternative to wood - I put in a 2~3 gallon pail full at 2 pm, it's now midnight and the blower is still running with a small pile of glowing coals still there. I had the manual damper turned down to keep it from getting too hot, nice even heat that lasts a long time. And doesn't creosote up with heat output set at low. I was expecting a smokey chimney and smelly too, wow, nothing. I'm in love with coal now! Need to find a cheap source here in Wisconsin!

 

[ran3465]

The only thing I dont like about coal is cleaning out the ash pan. The ash is super fine.

 

[TomB]

update....today I burned with coal in my BJ90 for the first time - wow, what a nice alternative to wood - I put in a 2~3 gallon pail full at 2 pm, it's now midnight and the blower is still running with a small pile of glowing coals still there. I had the manual damper turned down to keep it from getting too hot, nice even heat that lasts a long time. And doesn't creosote up with heat output set at low. I was expecting a smokey chimney and smelly too, wow, nothing. I'm in love with coal now! Need to find a cheap source here in Wisconsin!

kiel,

where are you finding coal? and what's the cost/ton?
I've been using a Big Jack last two winter with not problems, just curious about burn coal, I haven't found any coal here near Rockford.
Thanks tom

 

[kielbasa]

Someone I knew had about 4 tons sitting in their basement from the 1950's...I gladly offered to to remove it from their basement. My wife and I grabbed some shovels and 5 gallon buckets and went to town. They were happy, now I'm happy!
I have no idea where to even get coal around here, I know the Amish folk have it shipped in on trains here, but I think they pay a premium for it. I would think it might be a little easier to find it in Illinois with the coal mines you guys have down there. And probably cheaper.
I have asked around here about buying coal, but I get strange looks on peoples faces and apparently I'm some sort of a weirdo for even the thought. Go figure!

P.S. the blower fan finally went off sometime after 3 a.m.! Here's the secret to REAL 12 hour burn times.