So far, I've owner this stove for 1.5 winters and must say that it does an excellent job heating my house. My house is a 2200 sq. ft. colonial which was just built 3.5 years ago so it is well insulated. My Englander is located in the basement and is connected directly to the main trunk of my Hydro-Air system. I only use the small 850 cfm blower to move the air through the ductwork and it does a fine job. Temps on my first floor are usually between 75-80 degrees while my second floor is usually between 70-75 degrees since it is just gravity fed from the first floor. Some nights I have actually had to open windows and the rear sliding door to cool the house off as the temps reached above 80 degrees.
In an attempt to improve burn times, I placed a small piece of stainless steel screen on the floor inside the unit in order to prevent some of the larger ashes from falling through the large open grates in the floor and into the ash pan. This allows them to burn down resulting in only fine ash to enter the pan below. This has helped keep hot ashes in the firebox longer thus creating longer burning times than before.
My next modification will include attaching a universal cold air return filter box made by US Stove Company to the rear of the unit around the blower. This will hopefully help with my allergies since it is basically drawing the dusty basement air into the unit and through my duct work. I am also contemplating repositioning the warm air supply duct to the top of the plenum in my Hydro-Air unit in order to take advantage of this unit's blower and return system. Of course, I would have to put an elbow inside the plenum facing away from the hot air/ac coil so that it does not overheat the coil.
I would say that I probably burned about 5-6 cords at the most last year while burning from November through March which I don't think is too bad. I damper it down almost all the way at night before bed and wake up to first floor temps between 70-75 degrees and second floor temps between 68-73 degrees and some hot coals left over. So I don't have much to complain about regarding this furnace other than the dirty air being forced through unit and into the main living area right now driving my allergies CRAZY. Hopefully that filter box will cure that. I also run a whole house humidifier and usually leave it set to 40-45% because the house does get really dry from the warm air. Any other suggestions on how I can get the most out of this furnace?
In an attempt to improve burn times, I placed a small piece of stainless steel screen on the floor inside the unit in order to prevent some of the larger ashes from falling through the large open grates in the floor and into the ash pan. This allows them to burn down resulting in only fine ash to enter the pan below. This has helped keep hot ashes in the firebox longer thus creating longer burning times than before.
My next modification will include attaching a universal cold air return filter box made by US Stove Company to the rear of the unit around the blower. This will hopefully help with my allergies since it is basically drawing the dusty basement air into the unit and through my duct work. I am also contemplating repositioning the warm air supply duct to the top of the plenum in my Hydro-Air unit in order to take advantage of this unit's blower and return system. Of course, I would have to put an elbow inside the plenum facing away from the hot air/ac coil so that it does not overheat the coil.
I would say that I probably burned about 5-6 cords at the most last year while burning from November through March which I don't think is too bad. I damper it down almost all the way at night before bed and wake up to first floor temps between 70-75 degrees and second floor temps between 68-73 degrees and some hot coals left over. So I don't have much to complain about regarding this furnace other than the dirty air being forced through unit and into the main living area right now driving my allergies CRAZY. Hopefully that filter box will cure that. I also run a whole house humidifier and usually leave it set to 40-45% because the house does get really dry from the warm air. Any other suggestions on how I can get the most out of this furnace?
