Advice on thermostat for 2 furnaces

[Procyrus]

Hello everyone, this is my first post and I hope to learn a lot here as I read through the forum. After 4 years I have finally purchased a Brunco 150, 3 years old, excellent condition from craigslist for $800. This will be my first time burning with wood to heat my home so this coming winter will be a trial and error for me. Any tips are appreciated.

I have been having a hard time finding an someone licensed to install it for insurance purposes. But I recently did come across a co worker that has his HVAC license and wants to take a stab at it. The other installers wont do it because I didnt buy the stove from them, whatever.

I am going to have everything setup as far as the wiring and thermostat controls so my installer can do the ductwork.

My question is, what type of thermostat am I looking for to control both furnaces? Im looking to keep the oil furnace so when I am on vacation in the winter or gone for a few days the backup (oil furnace) will kick on.

I havnt priced out coal for 4 years, I live an hour away from PA in Ohio. I can get seasoned hardwood cords for $150 delivered. Whats the ratio between burning coal and wood?

Thank you very much and have a great day!

 

[stihly dan]

Use 2 t-stats, or a 2 stage t-stat.

 

[brenndatomu]

I agree, use two stats. Just set your gas or oil stat a little lower than the one for the wood. If you want good info. on burning coal, check out nepacrossroads forum, I'm sure someone on there is using a brunco.

 

[WVwoodsman]

Before I had my furnace replaced last winter I was using 2 t-stats. With my new furnace, I specified that I wanted a 2 stage t-stat and it works great. My gas furnace is the "emergency" setting which is set lower and my owb is the normal t-stat setting. As far as burning coal, I usually don't do it until later Dec. or Jan. I have burned hard (anthricite) for that last 3 winters and it works great since I have shaker grates. Also with hard coal you don't get the smelly fumes or black cloud. I like to have a good solid 3 inch coal bed and then I put the coal in the middle with wood on the sides. I will place as much as 40-50 lbs. in at a time. Since the coal burns really hot, the cycle times for the blower motor to come on are less frequent. Lastly, the coal takes a little more stoking/tending, but I really like it when the temps are around 32 or lower. Burning coal is also great for banking the fire for over night too.

 

[Procyrus]

Ok thanks I will be looking for those t-stats, I like honeywells design and they seem to have pretty good reviews.


Can the wood furnace and oil furnace share the same flue? The chimney is all mason from basement to second story and I can tie into the mason black for the wood furnace right next to the oil furnace. I have ample room to do this, just dont know if its "allowed".

 

[Procyrus]

So the chimney is concrete block and brick with clay tile lining. It just has the 5 " flue hooked into it and sealed for the oil furnace. With that being said, can I run an 8" lining down the chimney directly to the wood furnace with the oil flue still attached?

Basically the wood vapors would be eliminated through the 8" metal flue and the oil vapors would be eliminated through the chimney around the wood flue. The total chimney cavity is 12" x 12".

The oil furnace would be used very seldom if any at all...and any advice on a good 8" flue for a wood/coal furnace would be appreciated.

 

[trouba]

I don't know if this will work with your application but I have been using 2 for over a year now and they are sweet!!

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[Procyrus]

I hooked up everything last week and i love it, the second story temperature climbed to 75 in a heartbeat, the oil furnace could never do that. I did upgrade to a new thermostat, but not a digital one yet. And Im glad I did because the original one was off by a few degrees.

Im still playing around with the wood, trying to adjust everything. I put a second damper in the flue. Ill post a picture sometime. Im still reading through the board here, about what coal to use and so forth.

My question is has anyone ever replaced/upgraded the control fan on the Brunco 120/150/190 units? Its a dayton 2e232 and it seems like it doesnt stay on long and then cuts off. When the blower is off, ill switch the control fan to manual, then back to auto and it will stay on for 5 mins or so. Anyways it may have got damaged during transport, I dunno. Before I replace it, is there a more advanced control fan unit that anyone has used for these brunco units?

Thanks for all the advice, I really like this place.

 

[laynes69]

My question is has anyone ever replaced/upgraded the control fan on the Brunco 120/150/190 units? Its a dayton 2e232 and it seems like it doesnt stay on long and then cuts off. When the blower is off, ill switch the control fan to manual, then back to auto and it will stay on for 5 mins or so. Anyways it may have got damaged during transport, I dunno. Before I replace it, is there a more advanced control fan unit that anyone has used for these brunco units?

There should be a fan/limit control on the furnace. This is a small box with a dial and temperature settings. A wood furnace will not run like a gas furnace. The temperatures cycle the fan control to stop and start the main blower. If these settings are close together (low and on) the blower will cycle often. Usually 100 off and 150 on is common, this should be specified in the manual. I wouldn't manually operate the blower, but let the controls do the job. As far as the flue is concerned, you cannot place two units into one flue (oil-wood) unless the unit is a combination furnace. There's safey concerns involved with it. You really need a dedicated flue for the wood furnace. I would NOT run a liner in a large flue and try to use the cavity around it also, it's just dangerous.