Looking at add-on wood furnaces

[blsnelling]

Every winter I start longing for another wood burning stove. I bought my pellet stove 4 years ago. The year after, prices went WAY up on pellets. I'm now burning about $800 pellets/year. The convenience is nice though. However, an add-on wood furnace would heat my entire home and eliminate most of my gas bill. So, once again, I'm looking at wood burners.

It looks like the best bang for the buck is the New Englander 28-3500. HD has them listed at $1650. Lowes has what looks to be the identical stove under the name Summers Heat for $1510. I particularly like the glass window for checking the fire. The only drawback I see to these is that it has a manual damper control.

Next best appears to be something like the PSG Caddy, which has an automatic damper control. It also has a glass window. But price jumps up to $2358.

I have also seen the Yukon Super Jack. Price for it would be >$3000.

I spend most of my day in the basement where the stove would be. That's where my desk is. So I don't really see the manual draft control that big of a deal on the New Englander.

Either one would be plumbed into my exhisting central heating system. I would likely just leave the fan running at all times.

The chimney would have to go outside the basement wall, through a thimble, and out the roof.

Any input would be appreciated.

 

[mattw24]

You might look at the fire chief wood furnace. I just bought one and I love it. It has the secondary combustion chamber, automatic draft, well built, a big 3 speed blower, and all kinds of other goodies. I use it in tandem with my propane furnace, but never use the propane heating system. I purchased the FC 700 for a little under 2K.

I compared all those you are considering as well, and I finally went with the Fire Chief, and glad I did. Well worth looking at. Good luck.

 

[flotek]

the manual draft on the englander takes some getting used to but air control is not too bad and it works surprisingly well for the old school design plus it doesnt eat wood like a forced draft blower does. there are little mods that can make them better.. you should be able to find one much cheaper than the prices you listed also dont forget ebay sells 10% off lowes coupons for usually only a couple dollars and so that could save a ton of money in itself

 

[jburner]

flotek - What mods are you talking about to make the Englander burn better?

 

[WHIP1]

Add on furnace

I have an englander 28-3500 and i am satisfied with it's performance.with a little playing with it it is easily controlled with the manual damper as flotec said.
I keep my house between 75- 80 with ease window is nice
i am able to keep a fire from 1130pm till 6 am after listening to the advice i got here on this site.guy's here are very smart on how theses work home depot also gives a 10% discount to vets.i too went out my wall and up the house with dura vent triple wall ss pipe 21 feet. I have 18 inches of stove pipe connecting to my chimney excellent draw only problem i had to remove the screen from my cap blocking my draft.auto thermostat is a nice feature when i get House to temp i close bottom damper and open top damper to 1/4 open i have two temp gauges in my furnace one on the fire box and one on the stove pipe avg temp pipe 450 to 500 fire box 350 t0 450
hope thie is helpful
whip1

 

[blsnelling]

Thanks for the replies guys. Keep them coming. I'm a total newbie at these things.

 

[woodbooga]

I'm not familiar with any of the models you're considering - and mine would be completely impractical for what you have in mind. But I wanted to extend a warm welcome to the wonderful world of wood heat.

Though having said that, it might be fun to see a vid of one of your snellerized saws noodling through a sack of that bunny poop that's costing you $800 a year to burn

There's a guy called Crappie Kieth (another AS sponsor) that's real smart on the kind of advice you're seeking in this and the other thread.

 

[laynes69]

Whats your square footage you are looking to heat?

 

[blsnelling]

But I wanted to extend a warm welcome to the wonderful world of wood heat.

Thanks WoodBooga. I actually used to burn wood for several years. I had a large 60,000 BTU catalytic fireplace insert in my previous home.

This is a pic of one like mine.
http://**********/gallery/pics/fireplaces/source/image/comfort.jpg

 

[blsnelling]

Whats your square footage you are looking to heat?

1950 sq ft + full basement. The basement is semi-finished, and all used/heated. So a total of 3900 sq ft. I would be plumbing it into my current central air system.

 

[laynes69]

Thats alot of square footage to heat, but a furnace will throw radiant heat into the basement, then heat into the ducting into the home. You will want something that incorporates secondary air to help lower the wood consumption and will burn cleaner. We have a caddy and are happy with it.

 

[blsnelling]

Thats alot of square footage to heat, but a furnace will throw radiant heat into the basement, then heat into the ducting into the home. You will want something that incorporates secondary air to help lower the wood consumption and will burn cleaner. We have a caddy and are happy with it.

I was thinking of using single wall pipe to the wall, for some radiant heat. Do I want double or triple once outside? Where's the best place to get it?

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

Though having said that, it might be fun to see a vid of one of your snellerized saws noodling through a sack of that bunny poop that's costing you $800 a year to burn

ZzzzzziiiinnnG!


:hmm3grin2orange:

 

[skid row]

Brad,
Woodchuck and brunco wood furnaces are also very nice also. I have a jensen wood furnace that I have been using for many years. I heat 2100 sq. ft. and if I had more house it would not have any problem keeping up.

I went thru the basement wall with a complete wall kit, then added triple wall straight sections as needed. The straight sections were the only pieces I had to buy extra aside from some 24 gauge single wall.

The american made kit and triple wall sections were all bought wholesale locally and almost half the price as the other suppliers I priced.

With all that wood you cut you sould be heating with it too. If you need any chimney info PM me.
Good luck..

 

[Nosmo]

I was thinking of using single wall pipe to the wall, for some radiant heat. Do I want double or triple once outside? Where's the best place to get it?

I think this may have been answered in your other thread but just in case someone else needs the answer.

Single wall 24 gauge black pipe to the wall into a thimble. Then on the outside either double or triple wall pipe. Why double or triple ? For safety and performance reasons. Single wall pipe on the outside will allow cooling of the pipe much more than even double wall pipe which in turn will most certainly cause creosote buildup in the flue.

I have a neighbor who uses single wall through a thimble built in a window and single wall on up to the cap. He also will not use a seat belt in his pickup or car.

Nosmo

 

[havenodog]

I also have a 28-3500 and am very pleased with it. Although there are probably many nice units out there but if your on a budget the Englander is a good option. The manual dampers as floteck suggested are easy to operate and once set they usually don't have to be touched again after restart and your wood is going well. Dry wood is essential though. Its a tough well made unit although non cat. But with it set correctly and dry wood it does burn pretty clean.
I heat about 1500 sq. ft. but it does not run through my furnace ducts as I don't have any backup . Just ran 8" insulated duct to a few places in the basement up to the first floor ( its a rancher) and made 2 returns. One in the hallway and one in the daughters room, under the basement door also is a return. It heats the whole house and the basement (uninsulated) to a very comfortable 72 to 74 degrees. Basement is the size of the entire house. Hope this helps and good success on your hunt. Happy burning!
P.s. I go through about 6 cord in a normal winter. Mostly maple, cherry and oak with some locust.

 

[dwinch53]

Fire Chief VOTE here...I have a 500 and love it...check out their web sitehttp://www.firechiefwoodfurnace.com...even call them they are really nice and helpful...

 

[biggenius29]

Thats alot of square footage to heat, but a furnace will throw radiant heat into the basement, then heat into the ducting into the home. You will want something that incorporates secondary air to help lower the wood consumption and will burn cleaner. We have a caddy and are happy with it.

I think a Caddy would fit your need very well. I did alot of research and desided I was going to get a higher efficiancy furnace, that led me to either a Yukon or a Caddy. I ended up with a Caddy, because it was about $1000cheaper all said and done.

I started burning about 3 weeks ago and am still learning, but am learning the ins and outs of it. So far I am very pleased with it.

 

[flotek]

my opinion is this : if you got 1500 to play with get an englander now if you got around 2500 to spend as your budget get the caddy ,the secondary burn of the caddy will use less wood and burn cleaner but im not sure if it could heat over 3,000 sq feet efficiently though with its smaller firebox size.youd have to ask around to someone who owns one with a large home .another furnace i recently saw at a friends auto shop was a woodchuck ,not sure of the model but he really loves his and i must admit it seems to do pretty well heating his building on minimal wood

 

[blsnelling]

The problem with the Caddy, is that it everything is optional on it. The blower isn't even even included. By the time you were done with it, it'd be well over $3K I'm sure.