wood furnace install question

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cds11

New Member
Dec 27, 2011
34
ohio
im in the process of installing an add on wood furnace. i was at menards last night just to see what they got and what i can use. my question is has anybody ever used the aluminum flex duct to run from the add on furnace to the plenum of the existing furnace? also the add on furnace was bought used and there are 8 out of 12 firebricks that are cracked, does this hurt the operation of them or is it just cosmetic? thanks
 
You need to run all metal galvanized ducting. The cracked firebrick won't hurt anything if they are intact. You can go to a local masonry yard or maybe even menards to get firebrick. They should be standard size.
 
laynes69 said:
You need to run all metal galvanized ducting. The cracked firebrick won't hurt anything if they are intact. You can go to a local masonry yard or maybe even menards to get firebrick. They should be standard size.

hi layne, well i got the furnace installed on saturday. i didnt get to fire it up until sunday afternoon. it works great but i need some schooling. it seems to be going threw alot of wood and it keeps getting hotter. it was 80 degrees when i went to bed last night which is way to hot. i would like to try and keep it around 70. it was midnight when i went to bed and i stuffed the furnace full around 1130pm and at 4am there were only a few coals in the bottom of it. i loaded it back up and at 7 this morning it was about empty. i loaded it back up and when i came home for lunch at 1230 the fire was out no coals and the furnace was cool to the touch.
 
There will be a learning curve for a new burner. You will need to find a spot between little smoke and long burns. The forced draft should have a flapper, shut it down to a 1/2" crack or so. How are you operating the furnace, how much air? When there's a full load and it finally catches it will burn hot if too much air. At that point theres over 75,000 btus going into the home. Smaller loads will help heat output, and larger pieces will help extend the burn. Those blowers will run until the fire gets low putting constant heat in the home, opposite from a central furnace.
 
the flapper on the force draft is set to 1/2" crack. it moves freely so i tightened the screw and completely closed it just now. it doesnt even come on unless its designated thermostat gets low enough which doesnt make any sense because if the thermostat gets low it means the furnace needs more wood not more air. i think that its only real purpose is if you burn coal in it and thats not going to happen so i will try it completely closed. even with it completely closed i can feel air being sucked in around the edge of the flapper. on the front of the furnace it has an auto adjustable air control knob. when set on high it opens the air control all the way up and when the furnace gets hot it will auto close it. i had it set on medium last night. right now i got it completely closed. right now i got a decent size fire in it with both air inlets completely closed and it is 72 degress in the house. but the thermometer on the front of the furnace says 200 which means its making creosoot? i just checked the fire and seems to be burning ok with the air turned off. i have yet to see any smoke come from the chimney since i started burning wood yesterday.
 
cds11 said:
the flapper on the force draft is set to 1/2" crack. it moves freely so i tightened the screw and completely closed it just now. it doesnt even come on unless its designated thermostat gets low enough which doesnt make any sense because if the thermostat gets low it means the furnace needs more wood not more air. i think that its only real purpose is if you burn coal in it and thats not going to happen so i will try it completely closed. even with it completely closed i can feel air being sucked in around the edge of the flapper. on the front of the furnace it has an auto adjustable air control knob. when set on high it opens the air control all the way up and when the furnace gets hot it will auto close it. i had it set on medium last night. right now i got it completely closed. right now i got a decent size fire in it with both air inlets completely closed and it is 72 degress in the house. but the thermometer on the front of the furnace says 200 which means its making creosoot? i just checked the fire and seems to be burning ok with the air turned off. i have yet to see any smoke come from the chimney since i started burning wood yesterday.

You may also want to check the sealing rope around the fuel feed door, and ensure the door closes *properly* as it can let too much air in and defeat the damper control. I had this issue on my old RSF100 and it could run almost full heat with the primary damper fully closed. Door was not closing and rope was squashed. Wife liked the 80 degs, though.
 
thecontrolguy said:
cds11 said:
the flapper on the force draft is set to 1/2" crack. it moves freely so i tightened the screw and completely closed it just now. it doesnt even come on unless its designated thermostat gets low enough which doesnt make any sense because if the thermostat gets low it means the furnace needs more wood not more air. i think that its only real purpose is if you burn coal in it and thats not going to happen so i will try it completely closed. even with it completely closed i can feel air being sucked in around the edge of the flapper. on the front of the furnace it has an auto adjustable air control knob. when set on high it opens the air control all the way up and when the furnace gets hot it will auto close it. i had it set on medium last night. right now i got it completely closed. right now i got a decent size fire in it with both air inlets completely closed and it is 72 degress in the house. but the thermometer on the front of the furnace says 200 which means its making creosoot? i just checked the fire and seems to be burning ok with the air turned off. i have yet to see any smoke come from the chimney since i started burning wood yesterday.

You may also want to check the sealing rope around the fuel feed door, and ensure the door closes *properly* as it can let too much air in and defeat the damper control. I had this issue on my old RSF100 and it could run almost full heat with the primary damper fully closed. Door was not closing and rope was squashed. Wife liked the 80 degs, though.

is there a way to check the door for sealing? the way the door is made i dont think i can do the paper test.
 
well after closing up all the drafts and dampers i can control the temperature alot better. right now it is 28 outside and 74 inside. it is still eating alot of wood though. i have almost burnt 1/3 of a cord since sunday. also since closing the flu damper all the way it seems to be smoking more out the chimney now. it also spills out the feed door when i open it up. flu temp is 200
 
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