Not getting enough heat from my husky. have a belt-driven squirrel cage blower that does not move enough hot air from the furnace through the ductwork. wondering if a direct drive blower with a high cfm rating would help? seems logical.Using good dry hardwood(oak,hickory,ash etc.with an average tested moisture content in the 12-18 range.seems like we're adding wood to the box every hour or two.Just not right! Unit is 32+ years old.Log cabin is about 1200sq.ft.with a full basement below and a half-loft above the main level. Am strongly considering a Kuuma 100 for next season,but in the meantime don't mind at all spending the money for a blower upgrade.Any advice on this subject or other ideas on how I can keep our old Kentucky cabin warmer? Thanks.
need advice on a blower for my yukon husky
- Thread starter artmos
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Fsappo
Minister of Fire
Have you gone thru and made sure the ratios from trunk to branches were all ok on ductwork? What CFM your existing blower moving air at?
laynes69
Minister of Fire
Good lord, sounds like some serious heat loss. That's a good sized furnace for that square footage. I would invest in some airsealing and insulation. I believe the furnace has a heat exchanger, has it been cleaned out?
Don't know about the ratios,but assume that the guy who installed it years ago knew what he was doing-? Was the local dealer for Yukon. Cfm Seems very low-probably 400cfm.
Fsappo
Minister of Fire
400CFM was standard equipment on that furnace? I also would not assume a fireplace shop would know all there is about efficient ductwork. But 400 CFM is wood stove type cfms. Not sure on that model furnace, but I'm used to seeing 1000-1500 CFMs on central heating equipment.
laynes69
Minister of Fire
That blower has to be at least a 1000 cfm, especially for the size of furnace. I think this is one of the first times I've heard someone talk of a lack of heat. That's where I'm thinking there's very high heat loss.
definitely will look into a bigger blower. Totally agree that mine is inadequate. will call my friendly hvac guy pronto!
heat loss will be taken care of! am looking now for a reputable chink/cauly or insulatin concern.
laynes69
Minister of Fire
On those belt drive blowers, you should be able to change pulleys to increase blower speeds. If the current motor is good, that would be your best option. Also when you were talking about adding wood every hour or two, what size and height is your chimney, and do you have a barometric damper or measured draft speeds?
chimney goes thro basement,main level and loft. way above the roof pitch-so probably not the problem.HAVE A BARO. DAMPER. WILL CHECK SETTINGS. THANX Art Sorry for the shout. forgot caps lock.duhh!
How hot does the ductwork get? If you are not moving enough air it should get real hot, to hot. Air filter plugged?
brenndatomu
Minister of Fire
Yeah, check the baro, I know the draft speed can affect the way these things burn BIG time! It should be set to -.03" WC.
Have you actually checked the blower? Belt shot? Squirrel cage plugged up? This is a DUH, but, is the filter plugged? I run my blower pulleys adjusted to full high speed in the summer for the A/C and full low speed in the winter and it still moves plenty of air. The Husky comes with a 1200 CFM blower BTW.
Does the supply plenum temp get hot enough to activate the high limit switch which closes the intake damper? If not then the blower is moving enough air to transfer all that heat away from the firebox to the ducts. Is the thermostat ever satisfied? If not, running with the damper open constantly will chew through some wood! How long have you owned this place? Was the Yukon working good for you in previous years?
I wonder if the baffles in the firebox are rotted out or knocked out of place when the heat exchanger was cleaned?
Also, I like to let a couple inches of ash build up over the grates, seems to help make a load last longer, definitely get longer lasting coals.
Do you have the manual for it? If not here is a link, very informational! http://www.yukon-eagle.com/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=AR29-glEVEY=&tabid=105&portalid=0&mid=429
Have you actually checked the blower? Belt shot? Squirrel cage plugged up? This is a DUH, but, is the filter plugged? I run my blower pulleys adjusted to full high speed in the summer for the A/C and full low speed in the winter and it still moves plenty of air. The Husky comes with a 1200 CFM blower BTW.
Does the supply plenum temp get hot enough to activate the high limit switch which closes the intake damper? If not then the blower is moving enough air to transfer all that heat away from the firebox to the ducts. Is the thermostat ever satisfied? If not, running with the damper open constantly will chew through some wood! How long have you owned this place? Was the Yukon working good for you in previous years?
I wonder if the baffles in the firebox are rotted out or knocked out of place when the heat exchanger was cleaned?
Also, I like to let a couple inches of ash build up over the grates, seems to help make a load last longer, definitely get longer lasting coals.
Do you have the manual for it? If not here is a link, very informational! http://www.yukon-eagle.com/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=AR29-glEVEY=&tabid=105&portalid=0&mid=429
Good stuff! Let's see-blower,belt and cage all good. filter new. not the original blower. the old one crapped out about 4 yrs. ago and was replaced . not sure of the new specs. belt driven.lived here 24 years. only in the last few years have we noticed a deterioration of the heat supply. furnace performed well before this. am now looking at the damper operation and will set to .03.-if not already there.been thru a s*** load of wood today. as the day progresses and the coals build the cabin becomes moderately comfortable. however, once the last load burns down-about an hour or so,it rapidly becomes cold in the cabin. coals burn down quickly.don't know about baffles. heat exch. is cleaned with a stiff rectangular brush rodded thru the 4 or 5 openings. fairly sure that no damage occurred,but not positive.will definitely start leaving a few inches of ash on the grates instead of cleaning them out every other day.still mystified why this behemouth has gone down hill.thanks for your thorough observations. art
brenndatomu
Minister of Fire
Just get a flashlight and have a look straight up in the firebox door before you load next time. The baffles are corrugated steel about 10-12" above the firebox door, they should cover the firebox completely except for a 3-4" gap opposite the side that the oil (or gas) burner is on
34 years old, been burned hard and put away wet. May be time to retire it. It would be if it was oil or gas too.
brenndatomu
Minister of Fire
I'd bet there are not too many oil/gas furnaces out there that have a 30 year warranty on the firebox/heat exchanger like the Yooks do though! (jus sayin)
Stihlys right thought, chances are she needs a lil TLC, if you wanna upgrade to a new modern clean burn furnace, it may be time to start lookin at that. Or if the Yukon is good enough when it's working correctly, then see what it needs parts wise (if anything) and call Yukon, they are really good to work with. All the parts for that machine are still available. They are pretty simple to work on too, BTW.
agree on need to think about upgrade to a Kuuma. in the meantime will call Yukon to see about needed parts,etc. thanks everyone! You guys are great! Art
brenndatomu
Minister of Fire
UPDATE had my furnace guy in today and we decided to enlarge one furnace run to the upstairs and add another one in the great room. he will also install a new high-cfm blower-not the belt driven kind.haha. thoroughly cleaned the heat exchanger-did a much more thorough job this time. recleaned the chimney also. had a fair amount of soot buildup in both areas.
also decided to have the entire cabin caulked from the outside. hopefully this will eliminate much of the heat loss.
if these actions don't show an appreciable improvement,then a call to the Kuuma people will be next for a new furnace.
also decided to have the entire cabin caulked from the outside. hopefully this will eliminate much of the heat loss.
if these actions don't show an appreciable improvement,then a call to the Kuuma people will be next for a new furnace.
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