HI, I have an old Limited LTD. Wood furnace and I just can't get it to burn hot enough. I don't have much money but I decided to add a blower for draft induction to it. Its not an add on its just what I built but it should work. What do I need to wire it to the thermostat? I was just hoping to make this one burn hotter for the rest of the winter so I can save up for a better wood furnace. Thanks in advance for your help. Justin.
Forced draft blower help
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ericjeeper
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a little background for us please
Manufacturer of the furnace and the model. Burning good dry seasoned hardwoods?
I assume you already have your blower purchased. Is it 24 volt? or 120 volts?
How was the draft controlled on your woodburning furnace before?. If you have nothing besides a manually adjusted draft. You will need some sort of sensor to know when to kick on the blower and when to kick it off..
This could be from an old fuel oil fired furnace if you are jury rigging.
Manufacturer of the furnace and the model. Burning good dry seasoned hardwoods?
I assume you already have your blower purchased. Is it 24 volt? or 120 volts?
How was the draft controlled on your woodburning furnace before?. If you have nothing besides a manually adjusted draft. You will need some sort of sensor to know when to kick on the blower and when to kick it off..
This could be from an old fuel oil fired furnace if you are jury rigging.
Background Check
Well the furnace is a minimum of 60 years old manufactured by Jordahl Manufacturing Kewanee, ILL. It had a crappy cast Iron Draft control that you would just turn to change the amount of air. I haven't spent any money on the blower I actually took it out of a hand dryer like you would use at the gas station or a store. It is 110Volts and blows way too fast so I plan to use a transformer or resistor to drop the voltage to slow it down. Here are some pictures of my set up, This is my first year at this too I have learned alot that I didn't know about burning wood and I am very open to suggestions. The wood is seasoned well and I have Oak, Locust, Maple, Hackberry, and Elm. The pipe is 8in Black single wall inside the brick chimney with a chimney cap so the air between the pipe and brick will help insulate. It goes 2 feet above the highest peak of anything around it. This furnace is all I have for heat and It has been one cold winter, All the pipes have frozen(non have busted thank God). The wood burns in it but never gets very hot. I just feel like Im wasting wood why burn it if it doesn't warm me up hardly? Hope this helps. Thanks again.
Well the furnace is a minimum of 60 years old manufactured by Jordahl Manufacturing Kewanee, ILL. It had a crappy cast Iron Draft control that you would just turn to change the amount of air. I haven't spent any money on the blower I actually took it out of a hand dryer like you would use at the gas station or a store. It is 110Volts and blows way too fast so I plan to use a transformer or resistor to drop the voltage to slow it down. Here are some pictures of my set up, This is my first year at this too I have learned alot that I didn't know about burning wood and I am very open to suggestions. The wood is seasoned well and I have Oak, Locust, Maple, Hackberry, and Elm. The pipe is 8in Black single wall inside the brick chimney with a chimney cap so the air between the pipe and brick will help insulate. It goes 2 feet above the highest peak of anything around it. This furnace is all I have for heat and It has been one cold winter, All the pipes have frozen(non have busted thank God). The wood burns in it but never gets very hot. I just feel like Im wasting wood why burn it if it doesn't warm me up hardly? Hope this helps. Thanks again.
ericjeeper
Addicted to ArboristSite
Ok let me see.
Ok you need to find a temp sensor from an old fuel oil furnace.. or buy a new one. This will let you select a cut in and out temp for your draft blower.. Once the box temp drops to say 170 it will kick blower on.then once the air temp has reached 190 it will shut it off and let the fire coast.. Does it have a blower to blow into the ducts? I did not notice in the photos.. This switch I am speaking of will protrude into the air chamber around the firebox. Not directly into it.
Ok you need to find a temp sensor from an old fuel oil furnace.. or buy a new one. This will let you select a cut in and out temp for your draft blower.. Once the box temp drops to say 170 it will kick blower on.then once the air temp has reached 190 it will shut it off and let the fire coast.. Does it have a blower to blow into the ducts? I did not notice in the photos.. This switch I am speaking of will protrude into the air chamber around the firebox. Not directly into it.
Yes It has a blower with a limit cotrol switch. The blower kicks on when the air inside the plenem reaches 140 and shuts off when it gets to 90 or so. The blower is on the floor in the green box behind the furnace.
Looks like a coal furnace set up with the draft under the grates. Wood requires air on top to burn efficiently. Is it possible to cut a hole in the loading door & install a manual slide to control ? If you lower the voltage on a AC motor will it burn it up? Just my $0.02
ericjeeper
Addicted to ArboristSite
Links?
is the furnace hooked up to a thermostat in the house?
Or is it just running off the high and low limits? and duct blower runs all the time?
is the furnace hooked up to a thermostat in the house?
Or is it just running off the high and low limits? and duct blower runs all the time?
Up untill now it has been running off the limit control switch for the duct blower only and I have been pluging and unpluging the draft blower by hand. The air intake is above the wood too. I used one of those dimmer rehistats to slow the blower down. Can I use a thermostat and a relay? Thanks.
if you are burning seasoned oak, no reason firebox is not running hot enough.
make sure intake duct for warm air is coming from inside the house.
naturally intake air feeding firebox should be from outside.
if air feeding warm air duct is from cold garage air. then warm air delivery will have a hard time getting up to temps.
make sure intake duct for warm air is coming from inside the house.
naturally intake air feeding firebox should be from outside.
if air feeding warm air duct is from cold garage air. then warm air delivery will have a hard time getting up to temps.
ericjeeper
Addicted to ArboristSite
Do not use a light dimmer switch
Use a dimmer switch for a ceiling fan. big difference in load capacity.
Use a dimmer switch for a ceiling fan. big difference in load capacity.
Got It!!
Hey guys thank you so much for your help! I ended up using a thermostat and 24v relay to switch the Blower on and off. Wow!! The first heat Ive had all winter! It was actually 85Degrees In here!! Thanks again.
Hey guys thank you so much for your help! I ended up using a thermostat and 24v relay to switch the Blower on and off. Wow!! The first heat Ive had all winter! It was actually 85Degrees In here!! Thanks again.
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