Charmaster

[hanko]

Hi everyone, I installed a new charmaster wood only type in my gagage this past fall. I gave up on a FireChief and went with the charmaster I guess because of my research on forced air wood furnaces. Its in my garage because i dont have a basemant. It seem to be doing a much better job than the fireChief. A litle more involved operating it but more heat, less wood. Does anyonr else out there have any experience with this type.

Thanks, Henry

 

[laynes69]

I have heard good things about the charmaster. What was wrong with the firecheif? I noticed the firecheifs are a bit expensive. I thought they would be better than most wood furnaces.

 

[farmermike]

my charmaster was installed in 1978 and still works perfectly. When this one craps out I'm gonna get another, I'm that impressed with them. Heats my old 104 year old house just great. I especially like the draft control and the build quality.

 

[hanko]

Actually the charmaster is more $ than the fire chief. After really getting into the specifics of forced air furnaces I came the conclusion that most of them are pretty much the same thing. a blower forces air around a heat exchanger into your duct work. Remember I said that I dont have a basement which I think is the trick for getting these things to work good. I think the firechief would have been just fine if #1 I had the correct supply and return ductwork installed properly, and #2 the furnace was below the house so it could gravity feed. Mu buddy just installed a Clayton which is appearance wise a real under engineered stove and his rocks in his basement. I probably should have put in a boiler and had a heat exchanger installed in my ductwork. Anyway the charmaster is a different breed in the way its designed and it has a 2600CFN blower. It seems to be heating my 1600 sq ft home better then its prediscesor on about 30% less wood so far. winter hasnt really set in here in Michigan yet. What bare you heating with?

 

[hanko]

hey, post a pic of that 30 year old charmaster, did they look the same back then? I think the quality and the design of the stove is the best ive seen in the forced air wood furnace line, thanks

HH

 

[hanko]

this is my mess

 

[farmermike]

mine's brown instead of tan and I don't have the louvers above the door. Otherwise they are the same. Don't know how to post pictures so thats a no go. I do like mine being in the basement. Warms the floor in two rooms. Also the free hot water is great. The system they use is simple and trouble free. Looks good for a 30 year old stove.

 

[hanko]

the tan I think makes it a chalet model which has a 24 inch fire box and the brown is the actuall charmaster with what, a 30 inch box? I think thats the way it works. looks like they havnt changed much ib 30 years

 

[farmermike]

I was wrong about the louvers, they're there. MIne has a 32 inch firebox I believe. The water coil does use up a few inches higher up in the box.