Wood Furnace Newbie Questions

[BubblySatisfaction]

First off, thanks to all in this forum. I have scoured a lot over the past couple of days as I'm learning about my wood furnace!

I bought a house and have been using the wood furnace for a little while now. I have recently replaced the fan limit switch and got it back up and running, but while I was troubleshooting I had a couple questions that I'm sure someone much smarter than me can help with.

My setup:
Wood burning add on furnace. It, as well as gas furnace both are in my basement. I have two separate thermostats upstairs. I turn the gas one off when I want to use wood.

When I was troubleshooting I noticed that when I increase the temperature on my wood burning thermostat (making request for heat) the little damper on the front pipe of my wood furnace (the air intake?) closed. However when I went back upstairs and turned the thermostat down to below current temp, the damper opened. I just wanted to confirm that is the way it should be?

Couple other random questions:
I have my limit switch set to about 125 to turn the blower on. However it stays on for quite some time now. Before I replaced the limit switch, it would come on and off a couple/few times an hour, so not sure if that was ideal then or if I have the correct temp settings now to keep things rolling longer.

Any tips for keeping our home warm over night? Prior to new limit switch install, I would load it up with wood, and go to bed, then wake up and it would be anywhere from 64-60 degrees in my home. Sometimes I would get lucky and it would remain 67-68ish but that was very rare

 

[HadleyPA]

I have a wood furnace I installed in my basement somewhere around November 2006 if I remember correctly. Been using it every year since. As for your damper question I can't help you with that without a picture of your setup so I know exactly what we're looking at. As for the limist switch I have replaced mine a couple of times when I felt it was acting up and boy are those things getting pricey anymore! I keep mine set at 150 to come on and 100 off. This allows it kick off from time to time but also keeps it blowing good heat and not be off for too long at a time. Works for me at those Temps anyway. As for not keeping house warm overnight sounds to me like it is either drafting too hard or getting to much intake air allowing the fire to burn out too quick. I normally load mine around 10 at night before going to bed and if I happen to wake up at some point during the night I go down and add some wood. However if I don't wake up and wait til I get up around 630 it will still be full of red-hot coals in the morning. The temp in the house in the morning depends on a bunch of variables though, ie.... how cold is it outside, how windy is it, how warm was the house when you went to bed, what species of wood are you burning, what is the moisture content of the wood, how old is the house/windows/doors, how well is the house insulated plus others. Answer these questions and maybe we can be of more help. Also, you didn't say what brand of wood furnace, that can make a huge difference.
In my case I usually keep the living room in the 70-73 degree range. Even on nights I don't wake up and add any wood it is very, very rare for it to ever get below 68. For instance it was relatively warm last night only going down to about 25 which is actually what the high was yesterday. Today we are having a very rare Feb day with some sun and a high of 40. Due to these Temps I loaded furnace last night at bedtime, woke up about 4 am and put 3 splits of about 4" x18" in and then woke up at 630 and added 2 more and it was 73 in the living room. Reason I didn't add more this morning is with 40 and sun today I need the fire to burn out otherwise it would be too hot in my house tonight to even bother making a fire so it needs to go out today. I have good insulation and newer windows and doors so that helps a lot. Good luck and get us some more details and we will go from there.

 

[Yarz]

When I was troubleshooting I noticed that when I increase the temperature on my wood burning thermostat (making request for heat) the little damper on the front pipe of my wood furnace (the air intake?) closed. However when I went back upstairs and turned the thermostat down to below current temp, the damper opened.

Based on that description, it sounds to me like that is working backwards. When my thermostat calls for heat, the intake damper opens, thus providing the fire with more air, increasing the temperature of the fire.

My fan limit switch is set very similarly to HadleyPA's ~150 on, ~100 off. (That's how it was when I bought the furnace, used)

 

[fields_mj]

Late to the party here. My setup is similar to the OP. I leave my gas furnace on but drop the thermostat to 68 degrees. If the house gets that cold over night, the wood fire has died down and isn't putting out enough heat to affect the gas furnace.

My 2nd thermostat is, or was connected to the draft blower on my 1980 wood furnace. I ended up disconnecting power to it. Mine does not automatically adjust. I have to set the draft manually. Once I get it topped off, a good fire going (no smoke), I set the draft where I want it for the night and go to bed. Where I set the draft, and what kind and size of wood I use determines my burn time and how warm the house will be in the morning.

if you're burning splits, if you put the bark side down towards the fire it will burn slower/longer. It takes a few seasons to most of it figured out.