Wood Stove Insert

[046]

Ok, since someone else mentioned JUCA first. I'll fess up.

this insert I've been describing is a JUCA L-8. their web site has the most information of any web site on WWW. Yes all JUCA meets EPA reg's. they are 100% legit!

they've been quietly build units for 20+ years and quality to details shows it. everything on my L-8 is designed unbelievibly well. everything works together, nothing extra. no fluff...

1/4in plate construction built to last a lifetime. construction is pretty complex, hollow chambers everywhere.
don't count on getting one anytime soon. they have a long backlog. Mine is the first L-8 they have produced in some time due to complexity. all L-8's are custom spec'd to fit exactly into customers fireplace demensions.

their design is better than anything else period! no one else even comes close. I've been using massive 2ft X 20in dia logs with no problems.

burns very clean with no cat converter. burns hotter than a normal fireplace, so little to no creosote is created. you control burn time with size of wood VS air tight controls with air supply resulting in a cool fire and incomplete burn. this of course results in creosote. quadaflame's system looks really good too. except for price and small firebox.

my L-8 JUCA's base is only $1,600 + shipping, did get veriable fan option and a little extra for oversized construction.

Again don't get too exited about getting one of these anytime soon. I waited three years and feel very lucky to get one finally.

 

[nateskate]

juca

My bro has a very interesting story on getting his juca. That is a very interesting company. No phone number just an email address. IF their rhetoric is legit, they are'nt real interested in making lots of stoves. My bro told them his story and why he needed a good insert and wahla (spelling?) they returned his em and built him one. Pretty strange but he loves it.

046, why didnt you mention Juca name to begin with?

 

[046]

mentioned that I was posting some information about my insert. they prefer that I not mention their name due to their backlog.

seems once folks find out about how good Juca's are and reasonably priced, they try to get one. only to find out it's not that easy to get one.

internal flow is designed from the ground up to deliver max effiency. this design pulls an enormous amout of heat out of the smoke. they have been using state of the art computer modeling for years.

what's amazing is JUCA's design is unique to it'self. no one else is producing anything remotely close. although designs like quadraflame is getting closer.

I've been slamming more huge 2ft X 20in dia logs in my firebox. use of large wood slows the burn down and allows longer burntime. less spliting wood and longer burn, pretty much a win win situation.

 

[surftile]

o46,
you have my insert!
Kidd'n. My brother told me about this thread,
you have the same color scheme as mine. what
a machine, and made for working folks pocketbook.

I have peice of ductwork sticking out of the top
of the left screen directing heat up the basement stairwell,
they could only mount 650 cu. inch blower due to my size
constraint.where did you put the aux. blower at?

 

[046]

don't have aux blower hooked up yet. still figuring out routing of ducting.

aux blower will reside in attic, with a relay hooked to thermo fan switch.

I could hook aux blower directly to insert, but noise would be unbearable for a living room install.

 

[surftile]

That hadn't occured to me, our furnace is right behind our
basement fireplace,all i kept thinking was how to run it without
pushing air the wrong direction, as the Juca site instructed.

I can see why we want to burn unsplit logs, this thing
devours wood {hot fire} with that free flow design.I also have a
chimney top damper it works well.

 

[046]

had to chop off my damper control, so I'm in the proccess of contruction another one.

insert been going night and day. so it's hard to get at to make new linkage to control damper.

once I do get controll of the damper again. I'll slow the smoke down some to allow more time for heat transfer.

will probably construct a duct internal in wall to attic. still trying to decide how to route duct work.

 

[v8titan]

I have a fireplace that would not accept a stove insert. I decided to put a full stove in it's place. The picture shows a Jotul Oslo. These stoves are well made and look good. The literature says it generates 70 kBtu but that is questionable. Using it this winter has cut my gas bill in half. I burned about 3 cords so far this season.

 

[v8titan]

Here is a photo I just took of our Jotul FireLight and Sizzle the dog..

We worry he gets too hot but there is no way to keep him away from the stove. If you look you will see just under our ash pan you will see the handle I've made to control secondary air input.

Dan



Thanks Dan,

I will try to keep my attachments under 100K in the future. I changed the picture but the attachment is still the larger size file. Don't know how to delete that. Anyway, nice firelite you got there. Looks like the dog wants to get his head right under the ash pan. Do you run your stove 24-7?

Tom

 

[v8titan]

Yes our stove is our main source of heat. I've been heating with wood since 1978.

I don't think large attachments are a problem as they are optional for the readers and they don't have to click on them if they don't want to.

Realize of course I'm speaking for myself. I don't think there is an official policy on embedded photo or attachment sizes here.

Looking at your install I was wondering what steps you have taken to make sure you don't loose heat up your chimney? Have you got a liner in there?

At any rate any air leaks in that area would take the hottest air in your house up the chimney. I'm just looking for reasons your stove may put out less heat than you expect.


Dan,

I am pleased with the heat output I get from the stove, it heats a good chunk of my house even on the coldest days here in Jersey. You are absolutely right about the brick heating up and then radiating that heat back later when the fire settles. It does however take a little longer to get the place warm from a cold start. I did think of the losses up the flu so I put a galvanized plate up where the old damper was. This keeps the heat from escaping up the chimney. I also rigged up a fan to help circulate some of that hot air out of the space above the stove.

Tom

 

[v8titan]

Here is a photo I just took of our Jotul FireLight and Sizzle the dog..

We worry he gets too hot but there is no way to keep him away from the stove. If you look you will see just under our ash pan you will see the handle I've made to control secondary air input.


Dan,

Can you explain to me the benefit in having seperate control over the secondary air tube input. Also, how do you regulate the opening under the stove? Can you take a picture?

Tom

 

[046]

a little feedback after using my JUCA L-8 insert.
it's working like a champ!

I've been slowly learning how it works and dialing in on how to use most effeciently.

rewired thermo switch with a veriable speed manual bypass option. this allow you to flip on blower motor for those times insert is not up to temp enough for themo sensor to turn on fan. then you slow blower motor speed down to allow air to heat up longer.

otherwise L-8's blower works exactly like a gas furnace. when temp get high enough, a thermo sensor kicks on the blower. when temp get too low, sensor kicks off fan.

finally hooked back up flue control. close it down, then barely open enough to pull smoke out. this slows smoke down from going up chimney too quickly. seemed like it doubled heat output.

still need to seal insert to fireplace mantle. so I can control intake air too.

with a base price of $1,500, best investment I ever made! buying a JUCA!!!

here's a pic of the huge heat exchanger tubes used.