I Finally finished my woodchuck installation and fired it up. I love it, wished I wished I would have bought one sometime ago. I have been burning hours it for almost 24 hours now and it keeps my house in the low to mid 70's with almost no use of the draft blower. This was a budget installation of a used woodchuck 2900 with new 8" superpro pipe with through wall kit, new fire bricks, and new duct work to tie into exsting duct, and some rewiring on the furnace, coming in at just under $2000. So far I am very happy with it, I will just have to wait and see how much wood I go through.
Finally finished Woodchuck installation
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stee6043
Minister of Fire
Here are the pics of the woodchuck instalation, I have a few small things to do like a humidifer and permenant power, dedicted circuit. I am going run pipe from my panel to the furnace, but I am out of breakers. Next project is a new breaker box and conduit to furnace.
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stee6043
Minister of Fire
There ya go. Cool.
Quick question - is that single wall black pipe on your flue? Is that back wall concrete? I figure it's concrete but if it's drywall or something else I'm guessing your pipe might be running a bit close...
Enjoy the warmth...
Quick question - is that single wall black pipe on your flue? Is that back wall concrete? I figure it's concrete but if it's drywall or something else I'm guessing your pipe might be running a bit close...
Enjoy the warmth...
Gooserider
Mod Emeritus
One option that might get you out of needing a new breaker box - have you looked to see if they make double breakers for your model box? These are half thickness breakers that put two breakers into one slot, thus freeing up a slot. I've used them a couple times on my panel and they've been a real budget and work saver... You will need to have the specs on your panel, as not all panels will support them, and sometimes only certain slots in a given panel...
Gooserider
Gooserider
Yes that is a concrete wall behind the stove pipe with 6" clearance the 90 going through the wall is double wall and the first foot connected to is is also. I put that in becuse I was about 10" from my floor joices I also added metal backed insulation. The 90 goes through an old window I covered with a metal pelate on each side then caulked around, a lot easier than drilling the concrete out and easily reversible.
As far a as the breaker box goes I could put double breakers in but I am rewiring the whole house anyway, upgrading form aluminum to cooper. I don't really care for the brand of panel that is in the house or how its made so for about a $150 I will upgrade to a new 200 amp siemens with 42 pole spaces.
The olny problem I seem to have with the furnace is it doesn't burn hot enough unless the draft blower is running then it takes no time for the house to get in the upper 70's and into 80's. With oout the draft blower running it seems to smolder and smoke. I am burning good dry wood from a tree that was standing dead over 2 years. Any advice?
As far a as the breaker box goes I could put double breakers in but I am rewiring the whole house anyway, upgrading form aluminum to cooper. I don't really care for the brand of panel that is in the house or how its made so for about a $150 I will upgrade to a new 200 amp siemens with 42 pole spaces.
The olny problem I seem to have with the furnace is it doesn't burn hot enough unless the draft blower is running then it takes no time for the house to get in the upper 70's and into 80's. With oout the draft blower running it seems to smolder and smoke. I am burning good dry wood from a tree that was standing dead over 2 years. Any advice?
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Gooserider
Mod Emeritus
Sounds like the connector pipe install is fairly reasonable, except what are you running for a stack on the outside? Is it "Class A" pre-fab chimney? (anything less wouldn't be per code...) Also I'm not sure double-wall connector would be legal for going through the wall like that, I think the through wall fittings are also supposed to be Class A...
On the electrical, it makes sense to replace the box if you are rewiring anyway, I was just trying to suggest a cost savings if the need for extra slots was the only reason you were looking at replacement...
No real suggestions on the draft / smoke question... It sounds to me like you might be oversized on the furnace, so you are meeting your demand quickly and going into idle mode most of the time... As you get further into the winter season that part should get better as your demand increases. The only other thing to try might be to build smaller fires and load more often...
Gooserider
On the electrical, it makes sense to replace the box if you are rewiring anyway, I was just trying to suggest a cost savings if the need for extra slots was the only reason you were looking at replacement...
No real suggestions on the draft / smoke question... It sounds to me like you might be oversized on the furnace, so you are meeting your demand quickly and going into idle mode most of the time... As you get further into the winter season that part should get better as your demand increases. The only other thing to try might be to build smaller fires and load more often...
Gooserider
The outside chimney is 8" class A super pro by selkirk. I put up 15' foot of pipe up with a clean out T clearning my roof by about 6' and the piece going through the wall is a 1' foot piece of class A with about 3" sticking out past the metal plate. The double wall non insulated is inside only, I used this because it was with in 2 foot of the floor joices. In case anyone was ondering the small pipe on the left of the chimney is for a future exhaust fan for a shower.
As far the smoke and low burn temps goes I switched wood from ash that may not be seasoned long enough to maple that was standing dead for more than 2 years and very dry. Also if the fire seems to be burning low I crack the door letting it burn hotter, if the house gets too hot I open the door letting cold air in from the garage. It is going to get cold her the next couple of days, then I will really put it to the test.
As far the smoke and low burn temps goes I switched wood from ash that may not be seasoned long enough to maple that was standing dead for more than 2 years and very dry. Also if the fire seems to be burning low I crack the door letting it burn hotter, if the house gets too hot I open the door letting cold air in from the garage. It is going to get cold her the next couple of days, then I will really put it to the test.
Gooserider
Mod Emeritus
Sounds like you are doing stuff right then... It was a little hard to be certain from your description and the photos.
Gooserider
Gooserider
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