Drolet Tundra/Heatmax Setup Comparison

[tincherb]

Want to setup a comparison thread for Tundra/Heatmax owners and potential owners. Hopefully this will help figure out deficiencies in our own systems thru comparison. Some existing threads have the info but the background information is usually missing (ie house size, insulation, etc). Make changes to the format if new information is wanted.

 

[tincherb]

House Square Footage including Basement – 4900 sqft
Basement Sq Feet – 1800
Basement Insulation – None

1st Floor Sq Feet – 1800
Insulation – 2x4 walls R13 – No insulation in ceiling

2nd Floor Sq Feet – 1300
Insulation – 2x4 walls R13 – Ceiling R38

Location of Unit - Basement
What floor(s) is Drolet Tundra/Heatmax ducted to – 1st, but basement sees effect, heat loss to 2nd floor but not ducted.
Duct tie in method (existing system hot side, existing system cold side, stand alone system) – existing system hot side
Backflow prevention in duct- yes
Cold air return connected – yes
Thermostat Controlled - yes

Measured air outlet temp at unit – 80-120F
Snap Disc Fan Limit Installed (adjustable or standard) – adjustable Whites Rodgers 3F05-1 set at 105F on
Fan Speed setting – 2
Static Pressure - .22 inH20
Draft measurement – 0.05 to 0.07 in H20
Stack temperature measurement type – Magnetic
Stack temperature average – 250F

Average wood moisture (measured at skin and center) – 23%
Wood type - Oak

Unit Effectiveness notes – Unit performs well down to about 15F. Single digit temperatures outside will not heat home past 66F no matter how hard it’s fired. 20 degree nights set temp at 68F on thermostat and wake up with 66F house. The unit is slightly undersized for my house setup. Could improve insulation and possibly help out.

 

[aokpops]

I see there are 2 furnances . Is there any differences between the heatmax an tundra ?

 

[tincherb]

Just the look on the outside. Only reason I can see they do it is so stores that will do price matching won't be forced to price match because it technically a different model.

 

[flotek]

I have a heatmax .. It's just the. Sheet metal color and a couple outter cosmetic changes

 

[Lovin Locust]

I'm considering a Drolet Tundra for my home in N Central IL. My home is 2 story older home with decent insulation in the outside walls and R-65 in my attic with blown in fiberglass. Home is approximately 2500 sq ft. Currently I am heating with (2) gas furnaces. Both furnaces are in my basement. My ductwork plan off of the Drolet is to pipe those (2) 8" outlets into a plenum and from that plenum tie (1) into my main duct for the first floor. Because of my second floor ductwork is in my attic and contains flex ducting, I will utilize a 12"x16" laundry chute that runs from my basement to the second floor and drop a 10"x12" duct into that. Both upstairs and downstairs return air will be connected to the Drolet.

I was going to install electrical zone dampers in each duct. Like for instance during the day my main floor would require more heat than my upstairs, so the main floor T-stat would close the upstairs duct damper and force more heat to the main floor. Then at night I would have the upstairs T-stat do the same..

Anyone have any issues with my proposed setup? Let me know if I can improve on something or change something...


Thanks for your input.

 

[tincherb]

I think based on my setup you'll be good. Do you have a cold air return from downstairs? Where will the tundra set? I set my 2nd thread uP so people could copy but no luck so far. This would allow us to look at all different setups in one place. I would look at your gas furnace output rating. The drolet is around 55,000btu/hr output. Just use that to make sure you don't expect more than the unit can deliver. Keep in mind you gas units are prob oversized to quickly raise house temp.

 

[brenndatomu]

Keep in mind you gas units are prob oversized to quickly raise house temp.

but typically only run a small part of the day, whereas the Tundra will be chugging along for hours on end. So you really can't compre BTU output from a fossil fuel furnace. Also, the 55k BTU output number is peak, not average over the life of a load.

 

[newyorker]

My caddy is 106 btu max and 66k btu average this is off the top of my head

 

[brenndatomu]

Also, the 55k BTU output number is peak, not average over the life of a load.

My caddy is 106 btu max and 66k btu average this is off the top of my head

Hmm, maybe I'm wrong about that then...?
OK, I looked it up on Drolets site, 120k max input BTU/95 max out BTU. Doesn't give an average that I could find
Edit: This is curious, the Tundras owners manual shows the #s you said NY, 140k in/106k out/69k average. They need to make up their minds...

 

[newyorker]

106 is max output and 140 input I think on caddy

 

[tincherb]

The 55k is on the tag that comes with the stove. I agree a direct comparison can't be made since the ff will be continuous but it will give you a reference. All these numbers depend on the fuel source. 3 ft3 firebox x the weight of fuel x the btu of fuel. All that divided by time it takes to burn. What is your guys air temp coming out.

 

[Lovin Locust]

I think based on my setup you'll be good. Do you have a cold air return from downstairs? Where will the tundra set? I set my 2nd thread uP so people could copy but no luck so far. This would allow us to look at all different setups in one place. I would look at your gas furnace output rating. The drolet is around 55,000btu/hr output. Just use that to make sure you don't expect more than the unit can deliver. Keep in mind you gas units are prob oversized to quickly raise house temp.

I will be hooking both of my returns up the main floor return (downstairs) and my upstairs return will be tied into the wood furnace.

 

[Wisneaky]

House Square Footage including Basement – 1800 sqft
Basement Sq Feet – 800
Basement Insulation – None
1st Floor Sq Feet – 1000
Insulation – 2x4 walls R13 – Ceiling Insulated to R38
Windows - New low-e vinyl
Location of Unit - Basement
What floor(s) is Drolet Tundra/Heatmax ducted to – 1st, basement radiant heat from furnace keeps it over 70F.
Duct tie in method existing system hot side, no cold air
Backflow prevention in duct- yes both in Tundra ducts and in existing lp furnace plenum
Cold air return connected – no
Thermostat Controlled - yes
Measured air outlet temp at unit – 115F-125F
Snap Disc Fan Limit Installed (adjustable or standard) – standard top mount included with cold air kit
Fan Speed setting – 1
Static Pressure - I think the last time I checked about .21 inH20
Draft measurement – 0.04 to 0.05 in H20. Draft was extremely high over 0.09 so I installed a barometric damper, but was having a lot of issues with the damper first one would stick open on me and let smoke back into the house and even tried another one, but was having trouble getting it to regulate normally so I installed a regular cast iron pipe damper "even though they advise against it" and this evened out my draft problems and increased my burn time considerably.
Stack temperature measurement type – Both Probe and magnetic
Stack temperature average – Magnetic reads about 300F and probe 650F
Average wood moisture (measured at skin and center) – 17%
Wood type - White Oak
Unit Effectiveness notes – Its been as low as -25 here and it has a hard time keeping up when temps drop below zero. Over zero I average 8-10 hours and house will stay at 70 degree set point. I've had it go as long at 15 hours without refilling. Vermiculite baffle has cracked in half twice now and had to be replaced under warranty. I am not sure why it is cracking, but burn time drops considerably when it is broken. Burn tubes are starting to warp. This is my second season burning with it.

 

[KARB2014]

Hello everybody I have received information from sbi about the extra firebrick on the newest models. If you go on drolets website and look at the manual you will see the new brick they added to the front. I have been sending emails back and forth to sbi about the added brick. Finally I got in touch will somebody knowledgeable and they let me know that a updated kit for our older models will be available in 3 to 4 weeks. They said to just email them around that time and they will ship the update kit out. I have tried to post this on the other site but they have yet to approve me as a member no loss to me lol.

 

[Wisneaky]

Hello everybody I have received information from sbi about the extra firebrick on the newest models. If you go on drolets website and look at the manual you will see the new brick they added to the front. I have been sending emails back and forth to sbi about the added brick. Finally I got in touch will somebody knowledgeable and they let me know that a updated kit for our older models will be available in 3 to 4 weeks. They said to just email them around that time and they will ship the update kit out. I have tried to post this on the other site but they have yet to approve me as a member no loss to me lol.

I can post it over there if that's okay.

 

[KARB2014]

I can post it over there if that's okay.

If you could please do so. I just do want to see too many people going through the expense and time to fix it themselves.

 

[Wisneaky]

If you could please do so. I just do want to see too many people going through the expense and time to fix it themselves.

Sounds good. It's posted. Thanks for the information.

 

[djkost]

Don't to hijack your topic but has anyone seen the new wood furnace they are going to put out in October?

 

[brenndatomu]

Don't to hijack your topic but has anyone seen the new wood furnace they are going to put out in October?

Nope, it was supposed to be the 1st of Sept, but nothing as of yet that I've heard/seen