New Install

tmajewski03 @gmail.com · Apr 22, 2015

Hello all,
I am new to the site and new burning wood. I am also currently building a new house. I am having the builder install a heat pump and electric furnace. I would like to get a wood furnace for heat also. I read some posts and saw some stoves I thought sounded nice. One of them was the Drolet Tundra/Heatmax. My new house is a 2 story house with a full basement. Total sq ft including basement is 4000. I don't think the tundra is big enough. I wondered if there is a comparable stove that is. I was considering an outdoor wood boiler, but it is a little out of my range with building a new house.
Thanks

DoubleB · Apr 22, 2015

Tmajewski, Welcome to Hearth!

I'm no expert, but if you expect to heat the whole house with a Tundra/Heatmax in all weather conditions, I'd tend to agree it's too small. However, if you want something that's good enough most of the time for W Virginia, and since your house is new I assume it's well sealed and insulated, and if you don't want to spend a lot of money, I'd argue you could consider the Tundra/Heatmax and probably do quite well with it. Member 3fordasho lives in Minnesota and heats about 3400 sqft if I recall correctly, and I think reports his Tundra keeps up until about 10F, so I think you could do the same. If you haven't already reviewed our big Tundra thread, he gives specifics somewhere in it, maybe pages 5+. Also I'd encourage you to add some high-temp protection since your house is so big, also something discussed in the thread:

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/everything-drolet-tundra-heatmax.140788/

If you want to go bigger, the Caddy and especially Max Caddy would be the next choices I would consider, followed by the Kuuma Vaporfire if you want to spend that much money (which the owners on here tend to agree is worth it to them).

I'm sure others will add additional good ideas.

Again, welcome!

brenndatomu · Apr 22, 2015

Max Caddy by PSG. It is the Tundras big bro, same company that builds the Tundra. Heat your house no problem
Edit: are you actually wanting to heat the whole place or more so the main floor? The Tundra would do the main floor no problem, especially depending on where you are in WV and also depending on the actual heat load (insulation/air seal level) of your house. If you spend some extra money on insulation/air seal now, it will forevermore pay you back, summer and winter. Do it well enough and you could heat the place with the candles on a sweet sixteen B-day cake! ;lol

Will the basement be finished (insulated)?

DoubleB · Apr 22, 2015

Heck, I just realized that if I include my basement, I have 3100 sqft of drafty old farmhouse, and my Tundra handled it pretty well in Wisconsin. I am probably pushing the envelope of the Tundra, though. But again, you might find it would take decades of backup electric furnace use to add up to the extra cost of a Max Caddy.

tmajewski03 @gmail.com · Apr 23, 2015

I would like to heat the whole house. My house will be fully insulated and wrapped and is 2x6 construction. My basement is not going to be finished right away but I will be doing it in the future and insulating also.

brenndatomu · Apr 23, 2015

Tundra would likely heat the place most of the winter, and still take a big bite out of your electric heat bill during those real cold snaps.
Max Caddy would heat the place all winter with no sweat, well, actually there may be sweat...yours! ;lol

Max might be a tad on the big side during the spring/fall/warmer parts of the winter.

laynes69 · Apr 23, 2015

We are heating a 2500 sqft victorian with 10' ceilings plus a 1200 sqft basement with a Caddy furnace. I know our climate is colder than in WV and we don't have any problems. With the square footage in mind, the Tundra would probably do the job, but I would want the Caddy due to the large plenum opening. You could do a series install for a seamless installation and eliminate the need for backdraft dampers.

STIHLY DAN · Apr 23, 2015

Did I not read on a tundra thread that SBI said 2000 sq ft was too much for the tundra? I believe it was about a warrantee. Also doesn't WV get real cold, or at least in the higher elevations?

DoubleB · Apr 24, 2015

STIHLY DAN said:
Did I not read on a tundra thread that SBI said 2000 sq ft was too much for the tundra? I believe it was about a warrantee. Also doesn't WV get real cold, or at least in the higher elevations?

Good memory, you're right, I don't remember my exact words, but I did report something about SBI telling me that they suggested I get a bigger furnace for my 2100 sqft of heated space. However, I also mentioned that they provided no explanation or reason, or any correlation to my cracking. I used 5.5 cords of low-density wood this winter for 95+% of my heat, which I don't think is unreasonable or suggestive that I abused it, although I indicated in post #4 above that I'm probably pushing it. SBI advertises it to heat up to 2500 sq ft, and they don't prohibit an owner from trying to heat more, as others have successfully done in climates much colder than WV. They also make no distinction between an older house with 2500 sq ft and a new house with 4000 sq ft that uses half the energy. They also make no distinction between cold and less cold climates. I also encouraged the OP to install heat-protection measures to prevent abusing it on really cold days as have been discussed on these threads.

I also agree the weather in WV depends upon elevation. I'm probably recalling the years I lived nearby in NOVA, which surprised me how warm it was, and it was rare to get down to 10F.

In the end, there's so much more to sizing a furnace than merely a sq ft range listed on a website. And I understood the OP was trying to get a handle on all of those other factors based on what has worked and hasn't worked for others.

For that matter, none of the Tundra, Caddy, Max Caddy, or Kuuma Vaporfires are rated for 4000 sq ft, but I think we all can agree that at least one of those will work for the OP's situation?

brenndatomu · Apr 24, 2015

Dunno where you are at in WV, but I see a 1 year used Caddy on the Pittsburgh PA. CL, seems like a pretty good deal...

STIHLY DAN · Apr 25, 2015

DoubleB said:
Good memory, you're right, I don't remember my exact words, but I did report something about SBI telling me that they suggested I get a bigger furnace for my 2100 sqft of heated space. However, I also mentioned that they provided no explanation or reason, or any correlation to my cracking. I used 5.5 cords of low-density wood this winter for 95+% of my heat, which I don't think is unreasonable or suggestive that I abused it, although I indicated in post #4 above that I'm probably pushing it. SBI advertises it to heat up to 2500 sq ft, and they don't prohibit an owner from trying to heat more, as others have successfully done in climates much colder than WV. They also make no distinction between an older house with 2500 sq ft and a new house with 4000 sq ft that uses half the energy. They also make no distinction between cold and less cold climates. I also encouraged the OP to install heat-protection measures to prevent abusing it on really cold days as have been discussed on these threads.

I also agree the weather in WV depends upon elevation. I'm probably recalling the years I lived nearby in NOVA, which surprised me how warm it was, and it was rare to get down to 10F.

In the end, there's so much more to sizing a furnace than merely a sq ft range listed on a website. And I understood the OP was trying to get a handle on all of those other factors based on what has worked and hasn't worked for others.

For that matter, none of the Tundra, Caddy, Max Caddy, or Kuuma Vaporfires are rated for 4000 sq ft, but I think we all can agree that at least one of those will work for the OP's situation?

I am not sure that any of these units can handle 4,000 sq ft. I am sure that the Kuuma will work the sme weather it can handle it or not. I do not think at 1000,000 btu's it can but it can be a very good help. I think if he used a Tundra as it works he would burn it out for sure. This is not to bash the tundra but every unit is different.

clayh88 · May 5, 2015

I am in a similar situation. I have 1600 sq ft upstairs plus a 1600 sq ft walk out basement.. I went with tundra becuase I read about it working well for others.. well it didnt work all that well for me in my climate here in nebraska. Above 15 degrees got good heat and good burn times. Then temp dropped. We were at close to zero for a month with miserable winds here in nebraska and the tundra couldnt keep up.. had to babysit it alot to use electic backup to keep house warm and keep tundra from over heating and that was just the upstairs. My house is about 15 years old with average insulation and windows but i live on a large hill with few trees and the wind is rough.. Long and behold I started reading about cracks and found them on mine.. so now im in search for a furnace that will do the job.. I keep hearing the max caddy it to big maybe if your low temps are 15 degrees? Im curious what kind of winters and temps you guys are in.. and dont want to hi jack your thread but that's my experience with the tundra..

leon · May 5, 2015

Have you looked at coal stoker furnaces??

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