aaronmach1
ArboristSite Operative
Why dont they make an add on type wood furnace with a glass door. I would realy enjoy having the glass door on mine in my basement. So would my uncle in his garage. Is there such a thing?
no glass doors???
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A glass door on an add-on (or whole-home) furnace is sort'a counter-productive. The ceramic glass used is inferred transparent... in-other-words, nearly 100% of radiant heat passes directly through it. Typically a "furnace" is installed where you don't necessarily need, or even want that heat to go (such as a basement)... heat escaping through the glass cannot be used to heat the forced air, or, in the case of a boiler, the water.
Special Note; Somewhere I came across a company selling replacement glass panels that were "reflective" (can't find it now)... supposedly the glass was treated in some way that would cause it to reflect something like 65% of the radiant heat back into the firebox... they were damn expensive‼
A wood-fired furnace gives up a ton of heat to the air/water being forced through the air/water jacket... meaning it needs to burn at a relatively high rate to maintain firebox temperature during periods of high demand. A glass door would dump lot of that heat into an area not necessarily requiring heating... meaning the furnace would have to burn even more fuel, at an even higher rate, to comparably heat the forced air/water. That's not to say some radiant heat isn't lost through a steel or cast door (because some is lost)... but the percentage of loss is many, many, many times less.
Even so, there are a couple of add-on furnaces that have glass doors; the Englander 28-3500 and Drolet Tundra both do (and there's likely others)... and maybe they use a "reflective" type of glass (but I don't know that as a fact).
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Special Note; Somewhere I came across a company selling replacement glass panels that were "reflective" (can't find it now)... supposedly the glass was treated in some way that would cause it to reflect something like 65% of the radiant heat back into the firebox... they were damn expensive‼
A wood-fired furnace gives up a ton of heat to the air/water being forced through the air/water jacket... meaning it needs to burn at a relatively high rate to maintain firebox temperature during periods of high demand. A glass door would dump lot of that heat into an area not necessarily requiring heating... meaning the furnace would have to burn even more fuel, at an even higher rate, to comparably heat the forced air/water. That's not to say some radiant heat isn't lost through a steel or cast door (because some is lost)... but the percentage of loss is many, many, many times less.
Even so, there are a couple of add-on furnaces that have glass doors; the Englander 28-3500 and Drolet Tundra both do (and there's likely others)... and maybe they use a "reflective" type of glass (but I don't know that as a fact).
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There's a lot more furnaces than just a cheap Johnson energy / hotblast tsc special ...There's several furnace options with glass doors
Drolet
caddy
englander
Napoleon
Energy king
Harmon
And I'm sure there's more too
The issue is Heat radiates through the glass more than if it were just thick cast iron which some schools of thought think this is counterproductive but if you want to get some radiant heat in that room and enjoy a nice ambient appeal it is a real benefit . In practice it doesn't really lose much meaningful heat like you might think of coarse being able to see the status of your fire at a good distance without having to open the door and lose your heat is the obvious no brainer benefit too . Having had both I'd never want to go back to a solid door and guess. Solid door furnaces look ugly and utilitarian to me . Watching secondary ghost flames waft around and dance is almost hypnotic and therapeutic to the mind during a relaxing evening , something I've come to enjoy
Drolet
caddy
englander
Napoleon
Energy king
Harmon
And I'm sure there's more too
The issue is Heat radiates through the glass more than if it were just thick cast iron which some schools of thought think this is counterproductive but if you want to get some radiant heat in that room and enjoy a nice ambient appeal it is a real benefit . In practice it doesn't really lose much meaningful heat like you might think of coarse being able to see the status of your fire at a good distance without having to open the door and lose your heat is the obvious no brainer benefit too . Having had both I'd never want to go back to a solid door and guess. Solid door furnaces look ugly and utilitarian to me . Watching secondary ghost flames waft around and dance is almost hypnotic and therapeutic to the mind during a relaxing evening , something I've come to enjoy
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laynes69
Addicted to ArboristSite
I'm not sure if our furnace has reflective glass or not, but when I open the door my eyebrows about melt. I think some manufacturers would have them, but in order to keep them clean, they need an airwash. This would require re-design. Energy king did it with their 385 EK, but it's a tiny window. I like the window because it keeps our basement warm, while the ductwork heat the 2 floors above. I don't think the window reduces efficiency much, considering some of the cleanest burning wood stoves on the market contain them.
aaronmach1
ArboristSite Operative
thanks guys i have never seen one with glass ill be looking into them now!
aaronmach1
ArboristSite Operative
does anyone have this one?
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Englande...d-On-Furnace-28-3500/100185844#specifications
or this one. really like the look of this drolet one,
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/to...ci_sku=39678&gclid=CKuY-cn14bsCFSUOOgodVBEAOw
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Englande...d-On-Furnace-28-3500/100185844#specifications
or this one. really like the look of this drolet one,
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/to...ci_sku=39678&gclid=CKuY-cn14bsCFSUOOgodVBEAOw
aaronmach1
ArboristSite Operative
leaning more toward the englander one now after reading some of the specs on both of them. Home depots website is lacking some details though. Does it have an enclosed blower for tapping into my current cold air return or is the blower just out in the open?
Whats the fire box like? Firebrick on the sides and wood burns on a grate and ashes fall through to a ash pan?
What is the lever thing above the feed door? And also is there some type of air feed/ damper other than the round dial down on the ash door?
Really wish it had 2, 8 inch heat duct supplys like my current one does. Right now one ties into my ductwork and the other is half open throwing some heat into my basment. Would it still heat my basment enough with radiant heat?
Whats the fire box like? Firebrick on the sides and wood burns on a grate and ashes fall through to a ash pan?
What is the lever thing above the feed door? And also is there some type of air feed/ damper other than the round dial down on the ash door?
Really wish it had 2, 8 inch heat duct supplys like my current one does. Right now one ties into my ductwork and the other is half open throwing some heat into my basment. Would it still heat my basment enough with radiant heat?
alleyyooper
Addicted to ArboristSite
I have the Englander 28 3500 and it does have a glass in the door. I bought it from Home Depot because they gave me a 10% veterans discount and would deliver right to my house and the nearest England dealer wouldn't unless I paid even more that the cost to deliver to the store. Lowe's also sells the same stove under the brand name Summer heat and they also will give you a 10% veterans discount but would not deliver it to my home from the factory.
http://www.lowes.com/pd_375225-76845-50-SHW35_0__?productId=3664806&Ntt=wood furnace&pl=1¤tURL=?Ntt=wood+furnace&facetInfo=
Fire it up out doors before you move it in the house as it will smell and smoke at first.
I have had it in since Oct. It is frugal on wood and has kept the house warm with out running the fan. It is negative -11 outside this morning and is cooler in the house than it ever has been so far.
If you buy one take note the thing sets low to the floor so you may want to make some sort of a stand to put it on if you don't like bending over to fill it. I am also going to redsin a stop on the plate inside as I have banged it when loading and it has fell down forcing me to let the fire go out to replace it.
I was worried about not having a shaker grate but it burns so complete that ashes are like flour and fall thru to the pan below. The pan could be wider and have a fold down handle in the middle to ease it's removal. I wear welders gloves when removeing it to keep from burning my hands as it gets hot.
I think it has been well worth the money I spent other than the few bitches I have with it. Our family room, a bed room and my man cave is in the basement so I don't care about any heat in the basement from the window. It raises any way to keep the floors up stairs warm.
Al
http://www.lowes.com/pd_375225-76845-50-SHW35_0__?productId=3664806&Ntt=wood furnace&pl=1¤tURL=?Ntt=wood+furnace&facetInfo=
Fire it up out doors before you move it in the house as it will smell and smoke at first.
I have had it in since Oct. It is frugal on wood and has kept the house warm with out running the fan. It is negative -11 outside this morning and is cooler in the house than it ever has been so far.
If you buy one take note the thing sets low to the floor so you may want to make some sort of a stand to put it on if you don't like bending over to fill it. I am also going to redsin a stop on the plate inside as I have banged it when loading and it has fell down forcing me to let the fire go out to replace it.
I was worried about not having a shaker grate but it burns so complete that ashes are like flour and fall thru to the pan below. The pan could be wider and have a fold down handle in the middle to ease it's removal. I wear welders gloves when removeing it to keep from burning my hands as it gets hot.
I think it has been well worth the money I spent other than the few bitches I have with it. Our family room, a bed room and my man cave is in the basement so I don't care about any heat in the basement from the window. It raises any way to keep the floors up stairs warm.
Al
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stihly dan
Addicted to ArboristSite
Careful with the drolet, seems there are co problems in the house with those. The silent killer.
When I'm loading my owb I sometimes just sit there and watch the flames. I think there is something primitive wired in our brains about watching a fire.
I will have to strenuously argue that...
Without getting into the science of it...
I can sit a couple feet away from the solid cast door of my furnace for a considerable length of time, after a few minutes it will become uncomfortable, but not unbearable. But just a few seconds sitting a couple feet away from the glass door of my stove will heat clothing to unbearable levels, actually melt some cloths, cause wet leather gloves to steam and shrink profusely, singe hair, and even raise blisters on skin...
That's pretty damn "meaningful" in my world.
Which will make you sweat more on a bright, sunny (inferred), 100° day??
Standing under a piece of glass, or standing under a sun-blocking (infrared blocking/reflecting) piece of steel??
On a cold, but sunny winter day, which south-facing room will be warmer??
The one with plenty of glass windows letting infrared radiation enter, or the room with steel walls and no windows??
Yeah... steel will eventually absorb heat and begin to radiate it, but it also reflects much of it... the glass door absorbs heat but reflects very little.
Yeah... steel will lose heat through conduction/convection process... but so does the glass door‼
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aaronmach1
ArboristSite Operative
alleyyooper, how often do you have to clean the glass? Does it ever crack or break? Would be a worry of mine to have to shut it down and have no heat because the glass broke then have to wait for replacement.
aaronmach1
ArboristSite Operative
geese thats sounds terrible. How can they sell them?
stihly dan
Addicted to ArboristSite
read the last few pages of thread " introducing new furnace"
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